Chapter 5: The Culprit Behind Their Parent’s Death

Cristofer had run out of his patience. “I have no time for this crap.”

“They were gorgeous.”

“Estelle Hudson, don’t challenge my patience!”

“I’ll give you the divorce settlement. I’ve already mailed it off, and you’ll have them in seven days.”

Cristofer’s breathing sounded heavier, and she could feel his rage over the phone. “You deceived me again! Estelle Hudson, is there a grain of truth in what you say? You fooled me five years ago and keep fooling me even now!”

However, Estelle was not angry at all, and her voice remained gentle. “I’m not fooling you, and I’ve never deceived you.”

“If you have any conscience, if you have any feelings of guilt for my parents, you should divorce me at once and get the fuck away from me!”

She laughed. “I saw the new clause you added to the divorce settlement, saying that you want me to leave Hadale forever.”

Cristofer replied, “Yes, that’s because I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“I can do what you want. In seven days, I will disappear completely and never show up before you and Gretchen. But Cristofer… can you watch the stars with me one more time? Any day is fine. It’s just for one night.”

Beep, beep, beep–

The phone was hung up directly.

Cristofer didn’t say yes and wasn’t willing to listen to her voice any longer.

His indifference did not surprise Estelle, who had been used to it for the past four years. At this moment, she was numb with heartache.

****

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.” A clear, childish voice came from nearby.

A little boy of five or six years old sat in a corner at the hospital entrance and sang the song off and on, resting his chin on his hands.

Estelle walked over and squatted before him, asking, “Hey, little boy. Why are you here alone? Where’s your Mom?”

The outgoing boy replied in a sweet voice, “Mommy is a cleaner in the hospital, and I’m waiting for her to get off work.”

“Then why don’t you wait inside the hospital?”

He pouted his lips. “It’s tiring to be a cleaner. And Mommy doesn’t want me to see how tired she is. Do you work in the hospital, too?”

Deeply touched, Estelle said softly, “No, I’m sick, and I’m here to see the doctor.”

“It costs a lot when you get sick!” The boy could not help the quiver in his voice as his eyes turned red. “If I didn’t get sick, Mommy wouldn’t have to work as a cleaner.”

Estelle didn’t know how to comfort him.

She took all the banknotes from her purse and put them in his arms. “Here you are. Take them to your Mom.”

There were about ten thousand dollars. The banknotes were so heavy that the boy held them with difficulty. “Really? I can have them all?”

She nodded with a smile. “Yes.”

“But Mommy says that accepting gifts from others without her permission is unacceptable.”

Estelle thought for a while and came up with an idea. “How about singing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ for me in return?”

The boy nodded firmly.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.”

With his back straightened, he sang earnestly while struggling to hold all the banknotes in his arms as if they were all his hope.

On Estelle’s way back, that lovely song still echoed in her ears. And she couldn’t help thinking to herself.

Money is so powerful. It either saves lives or destroys lives.

Longing for more money, my mother and uncle orchestrated a car crash that killed Cristofer’s parents. However, I could also use my money to save the poor boy and his mother.

When Estelle was almost home, she saw a woman standing at the gate from a distance.

The woman wore delicate light makeup and a pink dress, with her black hair cascading over her shoulders. 

She greeted Estelle in a sweet voice, “Hi, Ms. Hudson. I’m Gretchen Abrams.”

Estelle nodded. “What do you want?”

Gretchen took out a wedding invitation from her handbag and handed it to Estelle. 

“Cristofer and I are getting married in seven days, and we’d like to invite you to our wedding.”

Estelle did not reach out her hand but chuckled, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll make a scene at your wedding?”

“You won’t,” Gretchen responded with a confident smile, “Unless you want to lose your son.”

The smile on Estelle’s face vanished. Her heart skipped a beat. 

“How did you know….”

How did you know about my son? I’ve done many things to keep it a secret. Even Cristofer knows nothing about his existence. How is it possible?! Estelle wondered.

“Of course, I know about it. It was my mother who helped you deliver your baby.” Gretchen put on a vicious smile, “What a poor boy! He was born with sepsis, so he has always stayed in the ICU.”

“It was you?! My son got sick because of you?!”

Estelle had thought that her son’s sepsis had been caused by a medical accident all along. But it was not an accident but premeditation.

Gretchen thrust the wedding invitation into Estelle’s hand and sneered, “Ms. Hudson, if you want to save your son, just get divorced as soon as possible. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that the car accident that took your father’s and Cristofer’s parents’ lives five years ago was also planned by me. Just a little glitch in the brakes, and that was enough to handle three troublemakers. How wonderful!”

Estelle froze with shock. “You even killed my father and Cristofer’s parents. Why?! How could you?!”

“Cristofer’s parents liked you so much and only wanted you to be their daughter-in-law. If they were alive, how was it possible for me to replace you and marry Cristofer?” 

Gretchen patted Estelle’s face and approached her, saying in a condescending tone, “Well, you should be grateful that I told you the truth. After all, you will never find out the truth by yourself. And telling you the truth doesn’t matter to me now as you and your son are dying anyway.”

“Ah–” Someone suddenly screamed.