Chapter 4

Just when I thought I could proceed with the next stage of settling the score as planned, something unexpected happened.

That afternoon, I had just reached the front door when I heard Isabelle and Brody arguing fiercely inside.

There was a trace of panic in Isabelle's voice. "Brody, Bill came looking for me again. He said if I don't give him 50,000 dollars, he'll expose everything and make a scene at your hospital!"

Brody's voice was lowered, intense annoyance seeping through every word he said. "Why isn't he dead yet? You were already fooling around with him before you married David, and now he's back to blackmail you?"

I raised an eyebrow outside the door.

Well, well. Now that was quite the bombshell. So, Isabelle wasn't some pure and innocent widow after all.

The comments popped up right on cue.

"Major bombshell incoming! Isabelle used to be an escort. She was secretly hooking up with another man behind David's back. Now that man is back for more money!"

"Brody knows the truth, but he has a savior complex. He thinks Isabelle is the victim, so he's been hiding everything from everyone and paying off her debts for her. Even David's death back then might have had something to do with that man."

I leaned against the wall and listened to what was happening inside.

"Brody, please help me one last time. Mortgage the house and get me 50,000 dollars. I promise I'll make him disappear forever!" Isabelle pleaded desperately.

"The house… It's already been transferred to Roxanne." Brody raked his fingers irritably through his hair.

Isabelle shrieked, "What? Are you crazy? You gave the house to that woman? What am I supposed to do? If she kicks you out, you won't even have a place to live!"

Brody was still as confident as ever. "She won't. She loves me too much. She only did it to shield me from the debt."

Isabelle began throwing a tantrum. "No! You have to make her mortgage the house and get the money. Brody, I'm pregnant!"

Standing outside the door, I felt my mind go blank following a loud buzz.

Brody lowered his voice, anxiety evident in his tone. "Are you crazy? Didn't I tell you to take the pills every time?"

Isabelle said, "I secretly stopped taking them. David has been dead for so many years. I've had enough of sneaking around. I want to have your child. Wouldn't it be better if we could finally be together openly?"

Brody hissed in exasperation, "Openly? How exactly do you expect us to be together openly? You want the whole world to know I got my rescuer's widow pregnant? Do you want me to become a director or not? If this gets out, everyone will condemn the two of us!"

Dead silence followed.

After a long while, Isabelle began to cry. "Then, what are you planning to do? Make me get an abortion? Brody, this is our flesh and blood! When that bitch was carrying your child, you were ruthless enough to put mifepristone in her soup and force her to miscarry!

"Now that it's my turn, are you going to kill our child too?"

A loud crash ensued. It sounded as if Brody had smashed something.

He growled, "Shut up! Weren't you the one who cried and said you couldn't stand her carrying my child and forced me to do it? Nothing can go wrong at a critical time like this. This child has to be aborted!"

Outside the door, every drop of blood in my body seemed to freeze. My stomach churned so violently that I felt as if I were about to vomit up my internal organs.

At last, I understood the whole truth.

No wonder he had obsessively made nourishing soups for me during that period. No wonder I had suddenly suffered unexplained abdominal pain and massive bleeding. No wonder he had specifically chosen the day of my miscarriage to buy that double burial plot.

It had never been about repaying a debt of gratitude.

The names on that contract for the double burial plot definitely weren't David and Isabelle. They were Brody and Isabelle!

He had used my money and sacrificed my child's life. All so he could prove his devotion to his secret, forbidden widowed lover and promise that they would share the same bed in life and the same grave in death.

They weren't merely a shameless couple who had repaid kindness with betrayal and crossed every moral boundary. They were also the murderers who had killed my child!

My eyes turned bloodshot as I clamped a hand tightly over my mouth, refusing to let myself make even the slightest sound. My nails dug deep into my palm, drawing glaring streaks of blood.

With trembling hands, I tapped the record button on my phone, preparing to capture more evidence of their crimes.

But just then…

"Who's out there?"

Rapid footsteps sounded from the living room, heading straight for the front door.

I stood in the narrow hallway with nowhere to hide.

Following a click, the door was suddenly yanked open.

Brody's face appeared behind it, his eyes filled with such viciousness that he looked like a demon. Behind him, Isabelle stood barefoot in the middle of the living room, her clothes disheveled, staring at me in terror.