My Husband Cut My Brake Lines To Steal My $5m Inheritance. The Next Morning, His Sister Demanded To Borrow My Car. I Let Her Take It. Am I The Monster?

The sound of the cutters snipping through metal, the sound of his breathing, and especially the conversation on speakerphone with his mistress Maya were crystal clear. “Don’t forget to clean everything up. That $5 million has to belong to our son.”

Ethan stared at the screen, his face turning from pale to gray. His body trembled violently. He never imagined that Olivia’s paranoia in installing a backup battery for her dash cam had become his death sentence. His mouth hung open, unable to speak. Sweat soaked his entire body.,

All his denials, all his lies were now a joke in the face of this irrefutable evidence. He lowered his head to the table, his voice breaking with a despairing sob. He knew it was all over.

In the observation room next door, through a one-way mirror, Sharon witnessed everything. She sat stiffly, her eyes wide as she stared at the screen playing the video of her son’s crime. Every image, every sound was like a knife twisting in a mother’s heart.

She saw the son she had given birth to, the son she had always been proud of, holding the tool to end his own sister’s life. She heard the sweet voice of that whore and the cold laughter of Ethan as he talked about Olivia’s death. $5 million. A son. Those words echoed in her head, piercing her belated regret.

She remembered when Ethan forced Olivia to give him the keys, remembered his anxious face at the funeral, remembered the slap he had given her. It was all no coincidence, but a cruel, calculated plan. Her greed and blind indulgence had raised a demon, and today that demon had devoured its own family, killing her daughter.,

“Tiffany, my child! Forgive your mother! It was my fault! I raised a snake in our home!”

Sharon screamed mournfully, banging her head against the glass wall, beating her chest. Tears and snot covered her wrinkled face. The shock was too much for her soul to bear. Suddenly, she stopped crying and began to laugh hysterically—a soulless, mad laugh. She pointed at the screen, muttering nonsensical phrases.

“Firstborn son… I want to go for a walk… Tiffany, come home for dinner, honey…”

Her eyes became vacant, her vision blurring between reality and illusion. She had gone insane. The price for this family’s greed and crime was too high: one dead, one in prison, and one insane.

Olivia stood outside watching the scene through the glass. Her heart felt heavy, but there was no satisfaction, only a deep sadness for the human condition drowned in a sea of suffering.

The trial for Ethan’s murder case was held on an overcast day. Dark clouds blanketed the city, making the atmosphere in the courtroom even more somber. Olivia sat in the victim’s gallery with her father and Mr. Davis beside her. Her hands were clenched tightly, not from fear, but from a mixture of emotions.,

Across the room in the defendant’s box, Ethan stood with his head bowed. The loose black and white striped prison uniform made him look incredibly thin and pathetic. He didn’t dare look at Olivia.

His mother Sharon did not attend. After the severe shock at the police station, she had lost her mind. Sometimes lucid, sometimes delirious, she just hugged an old pillow while calling her daughter’s name. She was now being cared for by a niece in her hometown. Her family, the fortress of pride she had always boasted of, had crumbled.

The presiding judge read the indictment. Every one of Ethan’s crimes was detailed clearly, from planning to cut the brake lines to kill his wife for her inheritance, to causing the death of his own sister, and finally asset embezzlement and attempting to flee.

When allowed to give a final statement, Ethan trembled, his voice broken. “I… I know my mistake is unforgivable. I did it because greed blinded me, hurting my sister, making my mother suffer, and betraying my wife. I only ask for a lenient sentence so I can sooner get back to beg for my sister’s forgiveness.”

His belated remorse earned no sympathy. Olivia looked at him without pity. Life has no what-ifs; spilled water cannot be gathered back. After deliberation, the presiding judge read the verdict.

“Considering the defendant’s extremely heinous acts, his base motives, and the resulting loss of life, the court hereby sentences the defendant Ethan to 20 years in prison and orders him to pay full material and non-material damages to the victim.”

The gavel fell, ending this tear-filled family tragedy. Ethan collapsed as he was being led out. He paused for a moment in front of Olivia. Their eyes met. In his, there was despair, regret, and a plea, but Olivia just turned her face away, looking out the window where a light rain had begun to fall.

20 years. Long enough to change a person’s life, but was it enough to erase all the sins he had committed?

The criminal trial was over. Now it was Olivia’s turn to handle the divorce and civil matters. With a clear verdict and irrefutable evidence, the court quickly granted Olivia’s unilateral divorce petition. After deducting the debts Ethan had incurred and compensation costs, the majority of their joint assets went to Olivia. She was also able to easily regain control of her $5 million inheritance without any obstacles.

The day Olivia held the divorce decree with the red court seal, the sky was bright, but her heart felt empty. Olivia returned to the large house that had once been built with so much hope. Now all that remained was a cold, soulless building.

She had long since taken down the wedding photos. She hired people to clear out Ethan’s belongings; what could be sold was sold, the rest was thrown away. Olivia decided to sell the house. Though beautiful and luxurious, it was too full of painful memories. She needed a fresh start, a truly clean slate.,

The sale went smoothly. A young newlywed couple bought it. Seeing them, Olivia remembered herself three years ago—so naive. She smiled bitterly, secretly praying they would not experience a tragedy like hers.

On moving day, Olivia only took a few boxes of personal belongings and her British Shorthair cat. She stood at the door one last time, took a deep breath, then turned and walked away decisively. Olivia moved into a luxury apartment in the city center—smaller, but warm and safe. From her 20th-floor balcony, she could see the glittering city lights. No more dark corners, no more conspiracies.

Time passed quickly. It had been over a year since Ethan went to prison. Olivia’s life slowly returned to stability. The wound in her heart, though scarred over, still ached sometimes. She kept herself busy with business, using her inheritance to invest in a chain of organic food stores.

One afternoon, as Olivia returned home from work, she saw a strange envelope among the stack of bills. It was a cheap yellow paper envelope addressed in a neat but trembling hand. The sender: Inmate Ethan, State Correctional Institution.,

Olivia’s heart skipped a beat. A letter from him after more than a year. He had written. What could it contain? Regret, an apology, or blame and a request for money? Olivia held the envelope, her mind at war. Curiosity wanted to open it, but reason told her to throw it away.

The horrible memories came flooding back: the image of Ethan holding the cutters, his cold voice conspiring with his mistress. It was all like a knife twisting in her heart again. She remembered Tiffany, who had died a gruesome death, and Sharon, who had gone insane. It was all his doing. He deserved no attention, not even Olivia’s curiosity.

Why read his letter? To make her heart waver? To feel the pain again? No. Olivia would not let him hurt her anymore, not even through a piece of paper. The past was dead, and the man named Ethan had long been dead in her heart.