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?
His heart-wrenching screams echoed through the house, sounding like the howl of a mortally wounded animal, full of despair and pain. Sharon, hearing the strange noises from upstairs, rushed down. Seeing her son on the floor, she was shocked and ran to him.
“Ethan, what is it, son? What’s wrong with you?”,
Olivia immediately ran over, playing her part as the concerned wife. She held Ethan’s shoulders but whispered in his ear, her voice as cold as ice, every word a knife slicing into his bleeding heart. “What did you say, dear? Who was it supposed to be? Tell me. The one who was supposed to die was me, wasn’t it?”
Ethan looked up, meeting Olivia’s gaze with bloodshot eyes. In his look was an overwhelming fear, as if seeing a demon appear in broad daylight. He opened his mouth intending to say something, but his throat was choked; only a meaningless hoarse sound came out.
Just then, Sharon snatched the phone from the floor, pressed it to her ear, and then let out a blood-curdling scream before fainting. The conscience’s punishment for their family had just begun.
An ambulance wailed its siren, cutting through the thick fog of the mountain pass, carrying us to the accident site below a steep descent. Olivia sat in the front passenger seat, her hands gripping the dashboard tightly, her eyes staring straight ahead. Meanwhile, Ethan sat in the back, trembling like a dry leaf, muttering incoherent sentences.,
The air inside the vehicle was thick with the smell of disinfectant and the scent of death. But it was nothing compared to the acrid smell of burning rubber and gasoline rising from the bottom of the ravine.
The state highway patrol had blocked off the scene. Yellow police tape fluttered in the cold afternoon wind, creating a gruesome sight. When we got out of the car, the scene that greeted Olivia was something she would likely never forget, even though she had prepared herself for it.
The $200,000 Pearl White SUV, Olivia’s pride and her husband’s murder weapon, was now just a mangled heap of scrap metal at the bottom of a nearly 300 ft ravine. Black smoke still billowed from the engine compartment, mixing with the mountain fog to form a ghostly shape.
Seeing the sight, all strength seemed to leave Ethan’s legs. He collapsed on the side of the road, vomiting a mixture of green and yellow fluid. His body shook violently like someone in the throes of a severe malaria attack.,
A highway patrol officer with a sun-weathered face approached us, holding a notepad. His voice was heavy and sad, but professional. “Sir, Ma’am, family of the vehicle’s owner? We’re very sorry for your loss. From our initial investigation of the scene and the tire marks, the car experienced total brake failure while descending a steep grade at high speed, causing it to lose control and go straight into the ravine.”
“The two occupants in the vehicle most likely did not survive. The condition of the bodies is not intact due to the severe impact and subsequent fire.”
The words “brake failure” struck Ethan like a bolt of lightning, causing him to curl up, his face ashen. He knew better than anyone why the car’s brakes had failed. He knew exactly whose life each cut he made last night had claimed: not the ex-wife he despised, but the younger sister he cherished most.
Olivia stood beside him, the mountain wind whipping her disheveled hair. She brushed it back, hiding the cold gaze with which she observed her husband’s terrified expression. Olivia said softly, her voice trembling with manufactured shock and grief. “Oh my God. How could this happen? Our car was just serviced yesterday. How could the brakes fail? Was it a mechanical error?”,
Olivia’s question was like pouring salt on Ethan’s gaping wound. He turned to look at her, his eyes begging her to stop talking. But how could Olivia stop right now? She had to let him feel the deepest helplessness as he witnessed the result of his own actions.
The officer looked at Olivia sympathetically, shaking his head and sighing. “We will investigate the technical aspects further, Ma’am. But the scene shows no signs of braking at all before the car went over. Please let us escort you both to the county hospital morgue for identification, although it might be a bit difficult.”
Ethan had to be supported by two officers to stand. He dragged his feet heavily toward the police car, his head bowed like a sinner walking to the gallows. Olivia followed behind, looking at the broad back that was once her firm support, now trembling violently.,
Olivia felt no pity, only a sadness for the fate of man. Greed had turned a human into a demon, and now that demon had turned to devour what it loved most.
The road to the morgue felt endless. Dark clouds hung overhead, signaling an approaching storm—not just a storm of nature, but one that would swallow her husband’s entire family in a mire of sin.
The county hospital morgue was bone-chillingly cold. The sharp smell of chemicals stung the nose, making Olivia’s stomach churn. Pale white fluorescent lights illuminated rows of cold stainless steel tables where two bodies lay still and silent under clean white sheets.
Ethan stood frozen in the doorway, his hands gripping the steel doorframe tightly as if to keep himself from falling. His breath came in heavy, ragged gasps, like a drowning man. He was afraid—the most primal human fear when confronted with death, and even more so when confronting his own victims.,
An old forensic doctor with thick glasses approached one of the tables. His voice was heavy in the silence. “The family can identify the deceased now. Due to the severe accident and fire, the condition of the bodies is badly damaged. We’ve tried to do some reconstruction, but please prepare yourselves.”
Slowly, he lifted the white sheet, revealing the charred and shapeless face that had been Tiffany. All that remained recognizable was a gold necklace with a four-leaf clover charm that Ethan had given her for her birthday last year, still glinting mockingly against the scorched skin.
Seeing the necklace, Ethan let out a mournful scream. He lunged forward, embracing his sister’s body, tears and snot covering his face. “Tiffany! My little sister! How did this happen? It’s my fault! I hurt you! I killed you!”
He sobbed uncontrollably, banging his head hard against the edge of the stainless steel table. His wails echoed in the cold room, making everyone present turn away in pity. But in his cries, Olivia knew there was less remorse for his sister’s loss than there was fear of his own great sin.,
He was crying for himself, for his perfect plan that had been shattered. Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was focused on Ethan’s agony, Olivia slowly approached, placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder as if to comfort him.
She whispered in his ear, a sound only he could hear. Her voice was as soft as a breath but carried the weight of a thousand tons. “Ethan, dear, why are you crying so hard? Isn’t this what you wanted? For the car’s brakes to fail? It’s a good thing I had a stomach ache today so I couldn’t go with you as planned. Otherwise, the person lying there, that charred body, would be me. Don’t you think this is fortunate, dear?”
