Chapter 3

Everything fell eerily silent afterward.

Edwin's hand froze in mid-air. Seizing the chance, Jenna approached me with tears pooling in her eyes immediately, looking every bit like a pitiful victim.

"I was the one who used my own life to coerce Edwin into marrying me. As for the assets, Mom was worried that I didn't have anything to rely on in the future, so she took it upon herself to secure them for me.

"This is all my fault, Reyna. I'm the one to be blamed here."

Before I could even do anything, Edwin quickly pulled Jenna away from me and shielded her protectively, all the while watching me warily.

"Rey, if you really want to vent your anger, then do it on me. Don't you dare harm a hair on Jen's head!"

Mom slammed a palm onto the table as she shot me an impatient glare.

"Reyna, we're all family here. What's with the pettiness, huh? Jen isn't as capable as you, so she might as well receive the assets. Can't you just earn your own money in the future?"

Pettiness, huh?

I repeated that word hazily. After so long, I finally broke down at that very moment.

As I stared at Mom, I felt tears gushing down my cheeks in trails.

"You call that pettiness, Mom? I practically burned away my life force just to earn every cent that you had given away to Jenna!

"I was only 25 years old when I married Edwin! Every single result on my premarital health screening came back abnormal! I ended up in the ER so often that even the doctors there knew me!

"After the marriage, I had to recuperate for three long years before I finally got pregnant with Andy! But you all were the ones who made me miscarry in the end!"

Memories from two years ago rushed into my mind.

That day, Edwin had promised me that he'd take me to my prenatal check-up after he got off work. But the moment I opened the office door, all I saw was him pinning Jenna down on the desk while screwing her senseless. My framed photograph with Edwin, which was supposed to be propped on the desk, was already on the floor, completely shattered, thanks to their passionate lovemaking.

In a way, I felt my marriage, which I had spent ages nurturing, shatter at that very moment as well. The shock from witnessing Edwin cheat on me had completely reduced my poor unborn child—the one I had been anticipating for the past eight years—into a puddle of blood and flesh.

The despair from losing my precious Andy had completely devoured me back then. I wielded a blade at that time, wishing nothing more than to perish with everyone who had once graced my life with their presence.

It was Mom who had gripped my blade with her bare hand and forced me to calm down by making me see her bleed.

"Rey, don't destroy your life over a mistake that someone else committed."

Back then, Edwin had knelt before my hospital bed. He swore on our decade-long relationship that he'd never cheat on me ever again. With red-rimmed eyes, he begged me for another chance.

And I did. Oh, I was such a dumbass back then.

After all, Edwin and Jenna slept together again on the day Andy was buried. In fact, they screwed each other's brains out in the same funeral home Andy was supposed to be laid to rest.

The feeling of suffocation that I had felt back then came attacking me in full force. My lips kept trembling uncontrollably the whole time.

"Andy already died two years ago! Must you really dig up the past all the time?"

Mom slammed a bowl onto the table, her expression filled with impatience.

"Jen's pregnancy is quite unstable, so the fortune teller has instructed me to find somewhere with good vibes so that she can rest properly. I think the burial plot you chose for Andy is peaceful and surrounded by beautiful scenery, so I'll have the grave exhumed and repurposed into a nice little cottage for her in the next two days."

I felt my blood going cold in my veins. Immediately, my eyes became bloodshot.

"No way! I won't let you touch Andy's grave! You'll have to kill me if you want to do that!"

Jenna clutched her belly with one hand while gripping my hand with the other, her eyes already red and puffy.

"It's only for a few more months, Reyna. Just because your child had an extremely short lifespan doesn't mean you should wish ill on mine!"

I felt her sharp nails digging into my hand, prompting me to shove her away on reflex. Jenna stumbled backward and immediately collapsed to the floor. Her banshee-like shrieks filled the room as she clutched her belly.

"Mom! Edwin! Please save my baby! Reyna wants to kill my baby!"

The idea of Jenna getting hurt terrified Mom and Edwin to the core. Before I could even say anything, Edwin pushed me heavily, causing me to fall. Mom also delivered a heavy slap to my face afterward.

"Jenna is pregnant, for crying out loud! You really are a vile woman! I knew I should've let you die in the hospital back then!"

Mom was referring to the time I had attempted to commit suicide by slitting my wrists right after she faked her death.

At that time, Edwin didn't stop me. Instead, he just slashed his own wrist with a wide smile on his face.

"Rey, I can't live without you," he had told me.

But now, I could see the way his arms trembled as he held Jenna tightly. When he walked past me, his gaze fell on my pallid face only for a short moment. He didn't bother disagreeing with Mom at all.

Amid his silence, I could tell that he regretted everything. He regretted using his own life to make me stop back then, giving me the chance to survive—and, in his eyes, the chance to hurt Jenna later.

At that moment, I gave up on explaining myself to anyone. Instead, I used what little money I had to flag down a cab and travel all the way to the cemetery, where Andy's grave was located. Right now, I just wanted to leave this place with his remains.

But to my horror, the entire cemetery was in shambles because of a detonation that had just taken place. Andy's remains were nowhere to be seen.

A few construction workers could be heard mumbling to each other as they dug up Andy's grave.

"Not only did they choose to blow up the entire grave site, but they even took the baby's remains as a form of leverage. Because of that, the poor baby can never rest in peace."

"Just how much do they resent that poor child for having resorted to this tactic?"