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?
As she stepped inside, Olivia saw her father sitting in a corner. His hair seemed to have turned whiter after all that had happened. His deep, worried eyes were fixed on the door. Seeing Olivia, her father immediately stood up. His rough working hands gripped her shoulders tightly, his eyes glistening.
“My daughter, forgive me. Dad’s so sorry for letting you marry that bastard. I should have forbidden it from the start.”
Olivia hugged her father, feeling the familiar warmth and the faint smell of tobacco on his shirt. All the strength she had gathered seemed to vanish. She sobbed like a little girl. “Dad, I was so scared. He wanted to kill me. He’s so evil, Dad.”
Her father stroked her back, his hand trembling but full of strength. “Shh, shh. Dad’s here. I won’t let him get away with it. I’ve already contacted some old friends in the police force. They’ll be quietly monitoring this case. As for the assets, don’t you worry. Mr. Davis is very thorough; he won’t be able to take a single penny from you.”
After crying her heart out, Olivia wiped her tears, sat down opposite her father, and regained her composure to discuss the next steps. “Dad, now is not the time to show our hand. Tiffany’s funeral will be held soon. It will be the moment when his family is most gathered and most vulnerable. I need your help with one thing.”
Olivia lowered her voice, whispering her plan into her father’s ear. After listening, her father’s eyes shone with determination. He nodded firmly. “All right, honey. Do as you wish. I’ll prepare everything from the outside to support you. But you have to promise me: be safe. If there’s any danger, you run straight to me. You hear me?”
“Yes, Dad. I’ll be careful.” Olivia squeezed her father’s rough hand, grateful to still have him in the midst of this storm. Her father’s love was the lighthouse guiding her, keeping her from getting lost in vengeance and despair.,
The meeting was brief but gave Olivia immense strength. She said goodbye to her father and stepped out of the cafe. The sky was still overcast, but in her heart, the path was clear.
When she arrived home, the atmosphere of grief had intensified. A funeral tent was being set up in the front yard. The mournful sound of funeral music began to play. Ethan sat lost in thought in the living room, a scruffy beard starting to grow, his eyes dark like a panda’s.
Seeing Olivia return, he only glanced at her briefly before looking down again without a word. What was he afraid of? That his sister’s spirit would come to demand justice? Or that the law would soon come for him?
The funeral hall in a city mortuary was submerged in a sorrowful white, so cold it made one’s skin crawl even though it was the middle of a hot summer outside. Wreaths of white chrysanthemums lined the entrance, their sharp scent mixing with the smell of burning incense to create a suffocating atmosphere.,
Ethan had decided to hold Tiffany’s funeral service here, not in their hometown. He said he wanted his sister to depart peacefully in the grandest place possible. But Olivia knew he was trying to preserve the last shreds of his dignity and use the crowd to mask the fear gnawing at him.
Many mourners attended, most of them business associates and employees from Ethan’s company. They walked in silence, speaking carefully, but everyone’s eyes held a curiosity about the sudden death of the young sister-in-law.
Olivia stood beside the casket, a white band tied around her head. Her face was pale and makeup-free, showing the gauntness from days of sleepless nights. She bowed her head acknowledging each group of mourners. Tears flowed naturally without any need for pretense. She was crying for the brevity of human life, for the cruelty of the human heart, and for her own tragic fate.
Ethan stood next to Olivia. His expensive black suit accentuated his pale face. He constantly adjusted his tie, wiping sweat from his forehead. His eyes were restless, darting around as if afraid someone would suddenly appear and expose his crime. His tension was palpable, making those who were sensitive feel that something was wrong.,
Just as the service was about to begin, a heart-wrenching scream from the front door shattered the false solemnity. Sharon, Olivia’s mother-in-law, appeared in a worn brown cotton dress, her hair disheveled. Supported by two relatives, she staggered in like someone in a daze, beating her chest, her mouth wailing her daughter’s name.
“Tiffany! My child! Why did you leave your mother? The old burying the young! Does God have no eyes? My child died so tragically! My child!”
Sharon’s cries were like a drill boring into Ethan’s soul, making him jump. His face grew even paler. He rushed to support his mother, trying to calm her down to avoid attracting attention, but his panic was obvious. “Mom, calm down. Mom, there are a lot of people here. Don’t shout.”,
But Sharon was beyond hearing anything. The pain of losing a child, compounded by the suspicion growing from the ultrasound film, had turned her into a frantic woman. She broke free from Ethan’s grasp, lunged toward the casket, and banged her head against the wooden lid screaming, “Who killed my child? My child was healthy! The car was new! How could she die like this? Someone must have harmed her! Oh God!”
Sharon’s lamentations threw the entire hall into an uproar. Whispers began to spread. Olivia noticed several plainclothes police officers standing among the crowd, their eyes carefully watching every move of their family. Ethan noticed them too. He was terrified his mother would let something slip in her emotional state, so he held her even tighter, sweat pouring down his face.
He turned to Olivia, his eyes bloodshot with menace, whispering through gritted teeth, “You just stand there? Get her inside to rest! Do you want her to ruin this funeral?”
Olivia slowly approached, laughing inwardly. The more afraid he was, the more Olivia had to let this drama play out. Slowly, Olivia placed her hand on Sharon’s shoulder, her voice trembling but loud enough for those nearby to hear. “Mom, please be patient. Let Tiffany go in peace. If you cry like this, how can she rest? This car accident was a tragedy, no one wanted it. Please don’t overthink it and make yourself sick.”,
Olivia’s words were like throwing gasoline on a fire. Sharon spun around instantly, her swollen red eyes glaring at Olivia. In her eyes, Olivia saw not love, but a burning hatred. She needed an outlet, someone to blame for her daughter’s death, and Olivia, the daughter-in-law she never liked, was the perfect target.
Suddenly, Sharon broke free from Ethan, lunging at Olivia with the speed of a wounded animal. Before Olivia could react, a hard slap landed on her left cheek, stinging and hot. The force of the woman accustomed to hard work was so strong it sent Olivia stumbling back, falling onto the cold tile floor in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes.
“You!” Sharon pointed a trembling finger at Olivia’s face, her voice a shrill, vengeful shriek. “You snake! You murderer! You knew there was something wrong with that car so you deliberately gave it to my daughter, didn’t you? You wanted to kill her, to kill my whole family! That’s why you gave her the broken car! Give me back my daughter! Give me back my grandchild!”
