Chapter 3

After Anastasia left, I spent a large sum of money hiring another funeral home to properly handle Margot's body and set up a wake room. Then, I had a lawyer draft the divorce papers and called Anastasia to sign them.

Louis ultimately answered the phone, and in the background was Anastasia's labored breathing.

"Hey, Gabriel," he muttered. "Ana is busy and can't take your call. She told you not to use divorce to cancel the settlement agreement. It won't work."

With that, he deliberately left the call on, allowing more unholy sounds to come through the speaker.

I forced myself to endure the nausea and recorded the call. Since Anastasia refused to agree to a divorce, I had no choice but to sue. I submitted a divorce filing on my phone and sent a screenshot to her.

"See you in court, then."

…

On the day the medical dispute case went to trial, I had just arrived at the courthouse when I received a notice that my divorce filing had been dismissed. Immediately, I understood Anastasia had interfered.

Right after that, the funeral home called. The wake room had been trashed, and Margot's body had been forcibly taken away. The staff sent me a video. When I opened it, my eyes burned red with rage.

Margot, who should've been resting in a glass coffin, had been replaced with a specimen from the medical school. A tag hung from the specimen, clearly bearing my mom's name. The wreaths and mourning banners around it were filled with vicious insults aimed at her.

Just then, Louis walked over with his arm around Anastasia's waist. She caught sight of the screen on my phone, satisfaction thick in her voice.

"This is what happens when you refuse to bend to my will, Gabriel. If you insist on stepping into the courtroom today, don't even think about getting her body back."

Louis pointed at the specimen in the video. "Look, doesn't she look like your mom? Ana and I picked it especially for you. They're both corpses anyway. Your relatives and friends won't know the difference."

"Her real body will only be returned to you after Louis is found not guilty," Anastasia said.

I never imagined they could be this shameless. They only cornered me with such force because they believed the one who died was Mom.

I slammed my fist into Louis' face. "You animals!"

Anastasia rushed to shield him behind her. "I'll sue you for assault and send you behind bars, Gabriel—try me!"

My bloodshot eyes fixed on her. "You two should be the ones put behind bars! You desecrated a corpse and obstructed justice! You two aren't getting away with it!"

She looked at me with contempt. "Did you forget who I am? I'm the last person who could possibly go to jail! You'd better think twice—do you want to go to trial, or do you want your mom's body back?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Anastasia, have you ever considered the possibility that this isn't my mother's body at all, but yours?"