Chapter 3

After receiving my report, the police took the attempted murder case very seriously.

That afternoon, two police cars and a tow truck arrived at Tom's repair shop. They cordoned off the area with police tape. Then, they towed my car away as evidence.

A relative from my hometown, who happened to be in the city on business, filmed the entire scene. He loved to gossip, so he immediately sent the video to Mom, who was playing poker yet again.

He exaggerated what he had seen. "Oh my, look at this! Police cars and a tow truck are there with police tape everywhere. Henry's car is leaking. I bet he crashed so badly that both he and the car are totaled!"

Mom was just holding a poker card when she heard the voice message. Her eyes lit up.

"I won! Pure Flush!" she exclaimed.

She excitedly threw her poker cards on the table, grinning from ear to ear. "What a lucky day! This is double the good news! I'm about to get rich!"

She was so excited that she didn't even bother collecting her winnings.

Her hands trembled as she dialed Emmett's number. "Where are you? The police towed away Henry's car! A relative of ours saw it with his own eyes. The brakes must have failed, and he crashed to his death! Two million dollars! We're getting two million dollars!"

At that moment, Emmett was having a humiliating moment in front of Jemima Gardner's family because his credit card had been frozen.

The instant he got the call, he straightened his back.

He immediately put the phone on speaker and bragged in front of Jemima and her parents. "Did you hear that? Henry's whole family is dead! That two-million-dollar insurance payout is all mine! Forget the 800,000-dollar wedding gift. Tomorrow, I'll bring you a million dollars!"

Jemima's family exchanged doubtful looks. "Does it really work like that? Insurance companies don't pay out that quickly, do they?"

Emmett looked smug as he thumped his chest. "Everything Henry had has always been mine as long as I wanted it. He's dead now, so of course the money's mine!"

To show off even more, he even posted on social media, "Life is unpredictable. Henry and Noelle, may you rest in peace. As the head of this family now, I'll take good care of Mom for you. Tomorrow, I'll pick up a Porsche to help comfort my broken heart."

Back in the hospital room, my phone screen lit up.

It was a cousin who had never approved of Mom's behavior. He had sent me a screenshot of Emmett's post.

He asked, "Henry, are you okay? Has Emmett lost his mind? Why is he posting online saying you're dead?"

Looking at those heartless words in the screenshot, my heart still ached even though I had been mentally prepared. These were my family, but they dreamed of getting rich by trampling on my dead body.

Mark, who was beside me, saw the screenshot. The veins on his forehead bulged with fury.

"I'm going to find those two animals and settle this with them!" he snapped.

"Calm down, Mark." I stopped him.

Turning off my phone's screen, I remained frighteningly calm. "Let them enjoy their fantasy for now. The higher they fly, the harder they'll fall later."

Just then, Noelle let out a pained groan from the hospital bed. "Honey..."

Her face turned pale. She clutched her stomach with both hands as cold sweat instantly beaded across her forehead.

"I... I think my water just broke..."

My mind went blank. I rushed over and immediately slammed the emergency call button beside her bed.

At the very same moment, Mom grabbed Emmett and hurried toward the door. Following behind them were Jemima and her family.

She chirped, "Come on! Let's go to the hospital morgue right now to identify the bodies and get the death certificate issued. First thing tomorrow morning, we'll go to the insurance company and collect the money!"