Chapter 3

Pauline continued, "Nady may be a spoiled brat, but she's still your flesh and blood. I think we should give her some food. If something happens to her, what would the others think?"

But in her mind, she sneered. "That wench had better be rotting in the basement right now. I don't want to get my hands dirty if I can help it."

When Dad heard that, he sighed and held her hands. "You're such a kind soul. She called you a wretched homewrecker in her mind, but you're still pleading her case. You've always been the type to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Well, since you asked, this will be the last day we're starving her. Just give her some leftovers tomorrow morning."

I remained floating in the air as I watched the absurd farce play out.

Dad was kissing his worst enemy's feet.

Howard was still crying, but Pauline stuffed some pork into his mouth to shut him up.

I used to love pork, but now, I felt nothing but disgust when I saw it.

…

Early the next morning, the villa was quiet as usual.

Dad had an important contract to go over that day, so he got up quite early.

He stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his tie. He had a spirited smile on his face.

The company had been doing well these days, and his wife was "loving and supportive". He felt like he was winning at life.

Pauline was helping him hold his briefcase while thinking of ways to max out his credit card.

But to Dad, it seemed that she was thinking, "Honey, you're working so hard. I'll support you as much as I can."

He kissed Pauline, feeling satisfied. "I'm off to work. Get some rest, okay? Oh, by the way, remember to put some food in the basement. We don't want her to actually die. That's bad luck."

Pauline nodded, compliant. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of Nady."

Just then, a bloodcurdling scream rang out from the basement. "Ahh!"

It was the maid, Mrs. Hobson.

Frowning, Dad paused in his tracks. He said with displeasure, "What's all the fuss about? The sun's barely out, for goodness' sake!"

A hint of panic flashed across Pauline's eyes, but it soon turned into hidden excitement.

She thought, "Is this it? Did she finally die?"

Mrs. Hobson scrambled up the stairs. Her face was pale, and her legs were shaking. "Mr. Fowler… Mr. Fowler! It's Ms. Fowler! Ms. Fowler is… She's dead!"

Dad was adjusting his tie, but he froze when he heard that. "What did you just say? She's dead?"

He instinctively retorted, "That's impossible! Just yesterday, she was still hurling insults at me in her mind! How could she die after just a few days of starvation? She must have faked it! I can't believe she'd do something like this just to trick me into letting her out!"

He turned around, fuming, then stormed toward the basement. "Let's see how long she can keep up that act!"

Pauline was right on his heels. She tried to look anxious and worried, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning upward.

I drifted behind them, following them back to the dim and humid prison.

The iron door was wide open.

An intense smell of blood and rot invaded their senses.

Dad rushed in, but when he saw what was inside the cage, he was rooted to the floor.

My body was curled up in a corner of the cage.

It had already gone stiff, still in an extremely painful position.

The rug under the cage was soaked in blood, and it had already turned dark brown.

My fist was still tightly closed around the dirty piece of bread, which I never got to eat.

My eyes were wide open, and my vacant stare was directed straight at the entrance.

That was where Dad had just entered.

Dad's eyes immediately widened.

He reached out a trembling hand to see if I was breathing, but when his fingertips touched my cold skin, he quickly retracted them as if he had been electrocuted.

I was really dead.

I had stopped breathing, and my heart had stopped beating.

Even my body had turned completely cold.

"Nady…" He parted his lips, and his voice was bitter and hoarse.

His mind went blank from the immense shock.

Just then, Pauline walked up to him.

She looked at my tragic corpse, her heart bursting with manic delight. She thought, "Haha! She's finally dead! The little wench is finally dead! The old geezer didn't even realize that I had swapped out his medicine to make him hallucinate.

"Now, once this old geezer is dead, the hundreds of millions of dollars of family fortune will all be mine! I've put up with this for many years, and I had to fake it every single day. Ugh, that was disgusting. I'm celebrating tonight!"

This time, there were no inversions.

Dad could clearly read every single thought and even hear the sinister cackling in Pauline's mind.