My mother was killed by my husband’s childhood sweetheart. My husband, Alex Miller, a top-tier attorney, didn’t hesitate. He immediately took the woman he’d grown up with to court.
But the final verdict was that Mom had staged the accident.
Eight lawsuits, eight crushing defeats. Yet, Alex never gave up.
Ashley Evans cried, questioning him:
“We grew up together! Do you really have to keep hounding me?”
Finally, after the tenth brutal defeat, he found me, his face gaunt, his beard scruffy.
“There’s really no evidence to convict Ashley, Chloe. Let’s just lay Mom to rest.”
I cried into his arms all night.
The next day, I kidnapped Ashley Evans and started a live stream to the entire internet.
I smiled at the camera:
“Alex, you have ten chances to submit the real evidence. Otherwise…”
With one swift cut, I severed Ashley’s pinky finger:
“You’ll personally be piecing your childhood sweetheart back together!”
1
The live stream shot up to over a hundred thousand viewers almost instantly.
Ashley Evans was gagged and tied to a chair. I stood behind her, a knife in my hand, a smile on my face.
Everyone watched, tense.
The most anxious of them all was my husband, Alex Miller.
“Chloe! There’s truly nothing suspicious about Mom’s accident! I checked thoroughly!”
He yelled at me through the camera.
I watched his panicked face on the big screen in the room, shaking my head with a smile:
“No, you haven’t submitted all the confirmed evidence to the police yet.”
The live chat exploded:
[Is this woman out of her mind? Doesn’t ten lost lawsuits prove anything?]
[She’s paranoid, isn’t she? Won’t be satisfied unless the driver is charged with premeditated murder?]
[Her husband is a top-tier attorney! He charges seven-figure retainers for cases, and he’s impossible to book! He dropped all his other cases to fight ten lawsuits for her! That’s more than enough!]
Watching the overwhelming support for him, Alex’s expression softened.
His voice grew more confident:
“Chloe! The facts are clear, the evidence is plain. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to submit.
“Your current actions constitute a serious criminal offense! Release Ashley immediately, and I’ll defend you!”
I said nothing.
I grabbed Ashley’s ear and swiftly sliced it off.
Alex’s expression froze.
I held the ear up, dangling it for the camera:
“Do you think I’m kidding?”
Alex’s face turned deathly pale as he stared at the camera:
“You… you’ve completely lost it!”
I casually tossed the ear to the floor. The golden retriever immediately pounced on it, wagging its tail.
“One.”
I held up a single finger.
“Alex Miller, ten lost lawsuits, ten concealments. You also have ten chances to submit the evidence you’ve hidden all ten times to all these viewers. Each time, I’ll give you ten minutes.”
[??? Is she crazy? Submit what if there’s no evidence?]
[Don’t drag us innocent viewers into this! We’re not just going to side with whoever’s mom died, okay?]
[Besides, maybe your mom really did try to stage an accident and it went wrong? Ashley is the victim here, okay?]
I watched the comments scroll wildly.
Most people were accusing me of being deluded, refusing to accept the verdict of ten trials.
[She’s just trying to extort money! Like mother, like daughter, a big scammer raising a little scammer! Mom failed, now the daughter continues the scam!]
[Where are the police? Track her down quickly! Otherwise, this poor girl is going to be killed by this fraud!]
The police also sent a private message:
[We have located you. Immediately put down your weapon and surrender!]
I just sneered.
I had already asked my best friend to handle the technical side. My location was unstable, impossible to pinpoint, not even a general area.
A cheap trick.
Sure enough, minute after minute passed, and there was no movement from the police.
The online viewers grew frantic, flooding the police’s social media with messages.
The police station’s phone lines were even jammed by the anxious callers.
Left with no choice, the police issued a statement, acknowledging the unknown location.
They stated they were mobilizing top technical personnel to pinpoint me.
I glanced at my watch.
I pressed the knife against Ashley’s trembling face:
“Ready, my dear?”
“Wait!”
Alex stopped my movement, cold sweat beading on his forehead:
“I’ll submit…”
2
The evidence was submitted quickly.
I glanced at it.
It was new evidence, as expected.
But just one look, and I spun around, plunging a pencil into Ashley’s right eye socket.
“Mmph! Mmph!!”
Ashley was gagged, but she still managed to make sounds.
She tilted her head back in agony, blood gushing from her eye socket, her left eye streaming tears.
“Chloe!!”
Alex lunged closer to the camera:
“I’ve already submitted it! How dare you do that!”
I held the printed new evidence up to the camera, shaking it:
“Do you take me for a fool? It looks convincing, but this alone isn’t enough to convict Ashley of premeditated murder!”
I threw the evidence to the floor, stepping on it, staring coldly into the camera:
“Alex, playing games won’t work.”
Alex’s face paled even further.
The online crowd was enraged:
[Your mom just messed up her own scam! Submitting evidence of premeditated murder would be perjury!]
[Everyone in the legal world knows Alex Miller’s stellar reputation! YOU’RE the one committing murder!]
[Release the hostage!]
I just smiled, glancing at my watch:
“My dear, you have six minutes left.”
Alex leaned on the table, glaring intensely at the camera:
“The case is closed, there are no objections! What do you want me to submit?!”
“You know what.”
I stared back at the camera, my voice cold: “If you truly love your childhood sweetheart enough, then submit the real evidence quickly!”
Alex gritted his teeth savagely:
“If I had intended to deceive you, I would’ve just pointed you to some amateur lawyer! Why would I waste years fighting ten appeals for you?!”
I raised my chin: “Only you know that.”
The online insults against me grew fiercer. Countless people accused me of being a heartless monster, betraying my husband.
The police’s negotiation team kept sending me private messages.
I just sat beside Ashley, surrounded by a pool of blood, watching my watch.
“Time’s up.”
I stood.
Ashley stared at me in terror with her one remaining eye.
“Chloe!”
A familiar voice echoed.
I spun around.
A familiar face stood before the camera.
“Uncle Robert!”
I froze.
“Chloe, I’ve thoroughly analyzed your mother’s case. Things really aren’t as you think.”
3
The knife hovered over Ashley’s brow. I frowned:
“Uncle Robert, what are you talking about?”
Uncle Robert stood before the camera, righteous indignation in his voice:
“As a forensic analyst, I’ve analyzed your mother’s case no less than ten times. This matter, indeed, was your mother’s fault.”
I stared at the camera in disbelief:
“Uncle Robert, are you saying my mom staged an accident?”
Uncle Robert sighed: “Chloe, you must respect the facts. The crime scene analysis unequivocally indicates that.”
“I think you’re the one not respecting facts!”
I pointed at the camera: “She was your sister! Your own sister!
“Back when we were so poor we couldn’t even afford food, Mom would return a hundred-dollar bill a stranger dropped.
“From the day I was born, she taught me kindness. You’ve known her for nearly fifty years, and you actually think that of her!”
Uncle Robert frowned:
“Chloe, people change.”
I laughed.
I ripped off the cloth gagging Ashley: “I think you’re the one who’s changed.”
“Help…”
Ashley couldn’t even finish her word before I clamped her jaw, forcing her mouth open.
Pliers reached into her mouth, one, two, three.
The floor was littered with the teeth I’d wrenched from her mouth.
“Ah!!”
Ashley’s screams were bone-chilling.
Uncle Robert leaned closer to the camera:
“Enough! Stop it! Chloe! Stop it now!!”
After pulling out the last tooth, Ashley collapsed, her mouth a bloody mess, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“Ashley…”
Uncle Robert’s pupils trembled.
I glared directly into the camera:
“What, Uncle Robert? You knew her all along?”
Uncle Robert paused, then immediately regained his righteous expression:
“Chloe! You’re a disgrace to your mother’s memory!”
I chuckled, glancing at my watch:
“You’ve already wasted three chances.
“Fourth chance, ten minutes. Timer, start.”
I sat back down on the chair beside Ashley, calmly twirling the pliers.
Alex paced frantically in front of the camera.
With thirty seconds left, I began to count down:
“29, 28, 27…”
“There’s no such thing as evidence of premeditated murder! What do you want me to submit?!”
Alex was losing his mind.
The online crowd was also indignant:
[If there was, anyone would have submitted it by now! Isn’t she forcing Alex Miller to commit perjury?]
[Exactly! Forcing Alex to ruin his career!]
[This woman is utterly malicious!]
“5, 4…”
“Chloe!!”
“3, 2…”
“Chloe, come to your senses!”
“1…”
“Mommy!”
A small, childish voice piped up.
I froze, quickly standing up:
“Leo…”
4
“Mommy!”
Leo’s tiny, tear-streaked face appeared on camera, sobbing.
“Leo, did Daddy bring you here?”
I had specifically told my best friend not to involve the child in this.
Could my friend have…
“Mommy! Grandma really did run into Ms. Ashley’s car on purpose!”
My pupils constricted.
The online viewers grew even more displeased:
[Chloe, look at what you’ve done! Such a young child forced to face all this!]
[Even her child is speaking out, Chloe! Are you still going to be delusional? This is your own son!]
I tightened my grip on the knife:
“Leo, that’s your Grandma! The Grandma who sang you lullabies, the Grandma who broke her own leg chasing off a kidnapper to save you!”
Leo cried:
“Grandma really said she was going to stage an accident with Ms. Ashley! Leo isn’t lying! Leo really isn’t lying! Mommy, please let Ms. Ashley go, okay?”
Alex pulled Leo into his arms:
“Chloe! Are you going to doubt even your own child’s words?!”
I gritted my teeth:
“What did you teach him to say?”
[??? Seriously, does she have a mental illness?]
[Finally, I know where those idiotic male leads who never believe the female protagonist in novels come from. Art truly imitates life.]
“Chloe! If you won’t listen to Leo, who *will* convince you?!”
Alex was righteously indignant.
I just grabbed Ashley’s hair, forcing her ravaged face towards the camera.
The knife tip gently grazed her skin. I chuckled:
“Alex, did you think that all this time during the appeals, I hadn’t noticed you secretly messaging her at night?”
Alex’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Fourth chance, gone!”
I raised the knife high above Ashley’s left eye.
“Mommy!!”
Leo held up a letter:
“Grandma told me to give you this before she left!”
The knife tip stopped less than a millimeter from Ashley’s eyeball.
5
“Mom?”
I stared in disbelief at the letter Leo offered.
It clearly stated that Mom, unable to bear the torment of cancer, planned to leave this world in such a manner.
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