MasukThat day, I was pruning roses in the garden.Grace stood beside me, helping me hold the branches.The sunlight was perfect. The years were quiet.Suddenly, Grace's expression changed, and she stepped in front of me, shielding me behind her.I followed her gaze.Beyond the iron gate not far away stood a person.Her clothes were ragged, her hair long and wild, and her body gave off a sour, filthy odor.But that face, even eaten away by time and suffering, was one I recognized at once.Evelyn Hart.She met my eyes and saw Grace standing in front of me, protecting me firmly.She saw how close we were.She saw the peaceful calm on my face.The last burning flame of mad hope in her eyes went out with a soft, silent snap.Only despair remained, deeper than a black hole.She did not rush forward to cling to me or scream, as I had imagined.She did nothing.She simply stood beyond the cold iron gate and looked at me from far away.Then her knees weakened, and she dropped straig
I did not die.Standing on the terrace of a villa on a small island overseas, feeling the warm sea breeze, I knew that my children and I had all been given a new life.A woman stood beside me, Grace Ross.My business partner, and my ally.She handed me a cup of warm water."Did you see the news?"I nodded, my heart perfectly still.On the news, they were reporting that Evelyn Hart had been found short of evidence for intentional murder, but guilty of kidnapping, and with the defense of a top lawyer, she had finally been sentenced to a fixed term in prison."It's all over now," Grace said quietly.I looked at her and spoke from the bottom of my heart."Thank you."It was she who, in my most hopeless moment, had come in like a beam of light.It was she who helped me plan my faked death and slip away, she who used the nominee shareholding agreement we had signed long ago to dismantle Evelyn's business empire without spilling a drop of blood.It was she who arranged everything
Victor thought the worst had blown over.He lived in carefree comfort inside the psychiatric facility, and even had his lover brought in, the two of them drinking and reveling all day long, toasting the wonderful life ahead of them.That night, they were celebrating in his room when the door was kicked open.Evelyn stood in the doorway.She had wasted away until she was almost unrecognizable, her eyes hollow, like a walking corpse.Or like a vengeful ghost crawled up out of hell.Victor and his lover were terrified out of their wits."You... how did you get in here?"Evelyn did not answer.She stepped forward, seized one of them in each hand, and dragged them off the bed.She abducted them both.She hauled them all the way back to the villa that had become a ruin.She dragged them into the very sauna they had used to kill my children.She threw the two of them on the floor, then shut the door.It was pitch black inside, and the two men shook with fear."Evelyn! You've lo
The grief was so vast that Evelyn nearly fainted.She braced herself against the edge of the bed and struggled to her feet, and that was when she saw the two other things lying beside the iPad.A divorce agreement, already signed by me.And a letter.With shaking hands she picked up the letter. There was nothing written on the envelope.She tore it open. Inside was the last letter I would ever leave her."Evelyn, I'm tired. I can't fight Victor, and I can't fight you. I can't hold on any longer. The babies are waiting for me. They're so afraid of the dark, so afraid of the cold. I have to go find them. Think of it as me, in your place, going to beg their forgiveness for what you, their murderer, did."Don't look for me. Forget me."The letter slipped from her fingers.At that moment, her phone rang.It was my lawyer.His voice was formal and cold."Ms. Hart, the police have just found Mr. Dorian's belongings and his car by the sea."Judging from the marks at the scene, Mr.
Evelyn took that pink phone and rushed to the police station.She wanted to drag Victor and his lover down to hell together.But she was one step too late.Using a forged psychiatric evaluation and connections he had bribed in advance, Victor had already slipped beyond the reach of the law, at least for now.He was sent to a psychiatric facility instead of a prison.The legal road was, for the moment, a dead end.Evelyn's only thought now was to find me.She wanted to confess to my face. She wanted to kneel and beg me to forgive her.She began searching for me like a woman possessed.No sleep, no rest.After a few days, she barely looked human anymore.Her hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was still wearing the same blood-stained shirt from that day.She called my phone over and over, and all that ever answered her was a cold busy signal.I had blocked every way she had of reaching me.She went to every place we had ever been together.The restaur
The living room fell into deathly silence.The tiny first-curl locket lay quietly on the cold floor.Evelyn turned her head stiffly. Her bloodshot eyes locked onto Victor.All color had drained from Victor's face, and his body began to shake uncontrollably."Evelyn, listen to me... This... this is forged! It's him! He forged all of this to frame me!"He pointed at me, his voice sharp and panicked.Evelyn said nothing.Like a beast driven to the edge of a cliff, she walked toward Victor step by step."Evelyn..."She suddenly reached out, seized him by the throat."Why?"Her voice sounded as if it had risen from hell, every word soaked in blood."Why?"She looked deranged, eyes scarlet, veins standing out along her arms.Victor's face quickly turned a deep purplish red. His feet kicked uselessly in the air as his hands clawed at Evelyn's arms.The relatives screamed, and the room dissolved into chaos. Several men rushed forward to pull her away."She's killing him!""Let







