Chapter 3

Two days later, the blizzard finally broke.

Valerie was leaning back against the sofa, the color having fully returned to her cheeks.

Declan sat in front of a laptop. Displayed on the screen was a fully drafted divorce settlement.

I watched his fingers strike the keyboard, hitting the keys with extra force as he typed the clause: "The wife shall forfeit all marital assets."

"Declan, are you absolutely sure?" Valerie asked meekly, though the gleam of unconcealed anticipation in her eyes betrayed her. "If my sister finds out you're divorcing her, it will break her heart. She loves you so much..."

"Loves me?" Declan scoffed. "Her love is nothing but endless control, jealousy, and doing whatever it takes to get her way. Valerie, if it weren't for her, you never would have gone through this nightmare. I can't keep a lunatic by my side any longer."

He hit print.

Accompanied by the humming of the printer, several crisp white sheets slid out. Declan picked up a pen and, without a second of hesitation, slashed his signature across the bottom line.

"The second she gets back, I'm having her sign this and getting her out of my life."

My mother sat beside Valerie, looking at her with aching tenderness. "You are just too kind-hearted, my sweet girl. Speaking up for that ungrateful wretch even after what she did."

My father let out a cold snort. "Two days and not a single word. The search and rescue team said they couldn't find anyone. I bet she already took off and went into hiding."

Just then, the doorbell rang in rapid, urgent succession.

"Who could that be?" My mother frowned, standing up to answer it.

The moment the door opened, several local police officers in uniform strode in. The name tag on the lead officer's chest read Miller.

"Are you Mr. Declan Hayes and Mr. and Mrs. Carter?" Officer Miller's gaze swept across the room, his voice stark and grave.

Declan stood up, furrowing his brow slightly. "I am. Officer, did you catch the kidnappers?"

"We've apprehended two of the suspects and are interrogating them as we speak." Officer Miller took off his hat, his eyes locked dead onto Declan. "But that is not why I'm here today."

He paused, seemingly weighing his words, before ultimately opting for the most direct approach.

"Mr. Hayes, we found your wife, Vivienne Hayes."

The room went instantly, dead silent.

My father lowered his newspaper and gave a cold sneer. "I knew it. Where is she hiding? Is she too ashamed to show her face, so she sent you to tell us to fetch her? Tell her the Carter family doesn't have such a shameless daughter!"

Declan's frown deepened. "Officer, if she thinks she can use this to force me to rip up the divorce papers, she's wasting her time. Please tell her to stop playing these pathetic games and drag herself back here to sign them."

Declan pulled out his phone and dialed my number. The mechanical ringing echoed through the speaker, over and over again.

Perhaps assuming I was too cowardly to answer, he agitatedly pressed the voice memo button, his tone icy. "Vivienne! If you drag yourself back here right now, get on your knees, apologize to Valerie and your parents, and end this farce, I might consider not pressing charges! But if you keep playing hide-and-seek, I am absolutely done covering for you!"

I watched my husband issue his final ultimatum with a face full of sheer disgust.

If he knew that the wife he was so desperate to shake off was already a mutilated corpse who could never come back...

I wonder what face he would make.

Seeing no response from me, Declan's face darkened thunderously.

Officer Miller, still standing by the door, furrowed his brow and took a step forward. "Mr. Hayes, regarding your wife—"

"You don't need to report to me!" Declan interrupted impatiently, not even bothering to look at the officer. "Charge her with wasting police resources or whatever the penalty is! I won't cover for that lunatic, and don't bother contacting me about her again!"

My mother tenderly squeezed Valerie's hand. "Don't you be scared, Valerie, Mom is right here! Since she wants to treat her family like this, we'll cut ties with her completely! We're done with her!"

So that was it. I was the true outsider who had never actually belonged in the Carter family.

Valerie was an orphan they had adopted fifteen years ago.

But the moment she stepped through our front doors, she used her pitiful, fragile facade—faking illnesses, playing the victim, and orchestrating one meticulously designed frame-up against me after another—to effortlessly drain every ounce of love and trust my parents had for me.

Even though I was their own flesh and blood, under her step-by-step manipulation, I ended up living like their most unforgivable enemy.

"Declan," my mother suddenly looked up at my husband, her eyes fervent. "Once the divorce is finalized, you and Valerie should get engaged. It's only right. Vivienne was never good enough for you anyway."

Valerie's eyes brimmed with anticipation as she shyly lowered her gaze.

And my husband? He didn't reject the idea. Instead, he held her tighter against his chest, silently consenting to this grotesque arrangement.

I clamped my eyes shut in agony, desperate to escape this suffocating room, but that invisible force kept me pinned squarely in place.

Seeing his reaction, my parents let out eager, delighted laughter.

"Now that's more like it. Here's to a lifetime of happiness for my precious daughter and Declan."

This chorus of joyous laughter, stomping right over my corpse, finally pushed Officer Miller—who had been left hanging by the door—past his breaking point.

He took a heavy stride forward, and unsealed the clear evidence bag in his hand. Inside lay a phone with a shattered screen, completely soaked in dried, dark red blood.

"Mr. Hayes, you think this is a game?"

"Your wife, Vivienne Hayes, is dead."