Murder by Pinching Pennies

A heavy sigh came through the phone. "That brat! I never imagined she'd be the death of me."

Immediately after, the voice of my mother-in-law, Gina Reed, was replaced by the frantic shouts of the medical personnel. "The patient has stopped breathing! Begin emergency resuscitation now!"

I clutched the money I had scraped together over the years and rushed to the hospital, but I was too late.

Gina had passed away after suffering massive blood loss in the accident.

I fought back the tears welling up as I held the cash in my hand.

After arranging for Gina to be taken to the funeral home, I went back home. Since she was Sophie Devine's mother, Sophie would have to handle the funeral arrangements herself.

When I opened the door, I found several people in the living room.

Emily Gellar sat on the couch with her legs crossed, streaks of blood covering her face. "Damn it. Just wait until I get my hands on her next time. What? Does she think bringing a few extra people means she can beat me? I'm Yewton's kickboxing champion."

Ron Gellar, her brother and Sophie's assistant, carefully tended to her wound with a pair of tweezers. "Listen to me, okay? Stop getting into fights. Money isn't the issue. It breaks my heart to see you hurt."

Emily shot Sophie a confident look. "What's there to worry about? No matter how much she asks for in settlement, Ms. Devine will take care of it for me."

Then she turned to look at Ron and smiled slyly. "I think Ms. Devine has her eye on you. You two should just get married."

A hint of awkwardness crossed Ron's face. "Don't talk nonsense. Ms. Devine is already married. Nothing could ever happen between us."

Sophie, who had been sitting quietly beside them, finally reacted. She stood up and patted Emily on the shoulder. "Behave yourself. Stop causing trouble for Ron."

It wasn't until my son, Terry Parker, walked out of the playroom and called out to me that Sophie and the others finally noticed me.

Ron quickly walked over to me. "Aaron, why do you look so pale?"

I ignored him and went over to Sophie. "She didn't make it. Her body is at the funeral home now."

Disbelief flashed across Sophie's face. "Just because I didn't give you money, you're going to come up with such a ridiculous lie? Your mom only has high blood pressure. How could she possibly have died from that? Besides, I'm just her daughter-in-law. It's not my duty to handle her funeral."

With that, she leaned back against the couch.

My hands couldn't stop shaking. I dared not imagine just how heartless she would be if it really had been Mom who died.

I tossed the death certificate I'd been clutching onto the coffee table and yelled, "Sophie, aren't you at least a bit upset about her death? If you think I'm lying to you, check the death certificate yourself."