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?
Ethan’s crying stopped instantly as if he were being strangled. He turned his head, staring at Olivia with wide, terrified eyes. His pupils dilated in horror. In that moment, he didn’t see Olivia as his wife, but as a smiling demon from hell.
He stumbled backward, his legs giving way, nearly falling. His mouth hung open. “You… you…”,
He was beginning to realize this coincidence was no coincidence, and the wife he thought was a fool might know everything. Just then, a morgue attendant brought in a bag containing personal effects found at the scene. Tiffany’s designer bag was partially burned.
Inside were melted lipstick, shattered powder, and a crumpled piece of paper: an ultrasound result. Olivia immediately bent down to pick up the paper, pretending to accidentally drop it right in front of Sharon, who had just regained consciousness and was being helped in.
The black and white ultrasound film showed the shape of a small fetus. At the bottom, it was clearly written: “Gestational age 8 weeks.” Seeing the film, Sharon’s eyes widened. She lunged forward, snatching the paper with trembling hands.
“What is this? Tiffany… Tiffany was pregnant?”
Olivia covered her mouth, exclaiming with a shocked and sad expression. “Oh, Tiffany was pregnant? Why didn’t she say anything? So there were two lives lost? My poor sister-in-law.”,
Olivia’s words were like the final knife thrust into Sharon’s heart. She clutched the ultrasound film tightly, screamed, and then collapsed onto the cold floor in a dead faint. Ethan stood there staring at his unconscious mother, at his sister’s body, at the ultrasound film.
His entire world had shattered into a million pieces. He had killed his sister and also his niece or nephew who never had a chance to see the world.
The investigation team’s office at the county police station felt cramped and stuffy with the smell of cigarette smoke. An old ceiling fan spun slowly, making a rhythmic creaking sound as if counting down the time to a verdict. Olivia and Ethan sat facing a senior investigator, a man with graying hair and sharp eyes that seemed to see right through you.
Ethan sat trembling in his chair, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. Sweat soaked his body even though it was late afternoon and growing cool. He didn’t dare lift his face, just stared at the coffee-stained wooden table.,
The investigator tapped his pen on the table. The dry sound made Ethan flinch. In a low but authoritative voice, he said, “Sir, Ma’am, please explain the events of this morning. Why was the victim driving your car? And before she left, did you notice anything unusual about the vehicle?”
Ethan stammered, his lips trembling, but no words came out. His throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He was afraid—afraid that one wrong word would reveal the truth he was hiding.
Seeing her husband silent, Olivia spoke up. Her voice trembling, her eyes welling with tears, she played her part as a grieving sister-in-law. “Officer, this morning my sister-in-law came to our house. She really liked my new car so she insisted on borrowing it to go on a trip with her boyfriend. At first, I didn’t want to let her, sir, because the car is new and I wasn’t used to it. I was afraid she wouldn’t be safe.”
Olivia paused, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, glancing at the trembling Ethan beside her. “But my husband Ethan felt too sorry for his sister,” Olivia continued, her voice holding a deep, subtle accusation. “He accused me of being a petty sister-in-law. He said, ‘It’s just a car, don’t be so stingy.’ He was the one who pressured me to give her the keys. I… I just did what my husband said, so I gave them to her. If only I had insisted on saying no, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all my fault, sir, because I was weak.”
Olivia sobbed, burying her face on the table, her shoulders shaking. Her words sounded self-blaming, but they were slowly tightening a noose around Ethan’s neck. She had cleverly shifted the responsibility for giving away the car to her husband, turning him into the person who had directly sent his sister to her death.
The senior investigator narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting from Olivia to Ethan with suspicion. He asked Ethan, his voice firmer, “Mister Ethan, is what your wife said true? Were you the one who told your wife to give the car to the victim?”
Ethan lifted his ashen face, his eyes filled with overwhelming panic. He wanted to deny it, to say no, but Olivia’s words were the truth. He couldn’t deny that he had forced his wife for the sake of his pride and to cover his crime.,
He nodded weakly, his voice a barely audible whisper. “Yes, sir. I told her to.”
“Did you know the condition of the car at the time? It was a new car, why would the brakes fail?” The investigator pressed, his gaze like a drill boring into Ethan’s soul.
Ethan trembled, sweat dripping down his cheeks. He stammered, “I… I don’t know. It was a new car. Maybe a technical defect? A factory flaw? How would I know?”
His excessive nervousness and fear did not escape the experienced officer’s eyes. After hearing Olivia’s explanation about handing over the keys, the senior investigator nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on Ethan’s pale face. He turned a page in the case file, his voice heavy.
“Regarding the car, I want to confirm again. According to initial reports, this was a newly purchased and recently serviced vehicle. During your last use, did either of you notice any abnormal signs like strange noises, an odd feeling in the brake pedal, or anything else?”,
This question was like an invisible trap. Ethan quickly shook his head, the sweat on his forehead growing heavier. “No, sir. Nothing at all. The car was brand new. I drove it and it felt perfectly smooth. No problems. I’m sure this was just a sudden mechanical failure.”
He tried hard to emphasize the car’s perfection to shift the blame to the manufacturer and cover his crime. Olivia, sitting beside him, wrung the tear-soaked handkerchief, but her heart was remarkably calm. She knew this was the best opportunity to plant suspicion to turn Ethan’s fear into reality.
Slowly, Olivia lifted her face, her red-rimmed eyes looking straight at the officer. Her voice was shaky but clear. “Officer, my husband says that, but I don’t think so, sir. A few days ago when I came home from work and parked the car in the garage, I heard a strange clicking sound from under the car.”
Ethan immediately turned to Olivia, his eyes wide as if he wanted to swallow her whole. He was about to open his mouth to interrupt, but Olivia was faster.,
“At the time, I was going to tell Ethan to help me check it,” Olivia continued, her voice full of regret and innocence. “But I was so tired I forgot. This morning I was planning to remind him, but he was in such a hurry to pressure me into giving the keys to Tiffany, I didn’t get a chance to say anything. Could that strange noise have been a bad sign, sir?”
