Chapter 4
After I hung up the phone, the images of Bella’s tragic death and her desecrated body kept looping in my mind.
Fury surged inside me. Without hesitation, I went straight back to the apartment complex and climbed the stairs to
Bianca’s door.
It was ajar. Inside, I could hear her smug voice.
“Caleb, you did a great job today. If you hadn’t, your dad might’ve actually felt sorry for that nasty woman. Here-this is
your reward. A bracelet made of real human bones.”
“Mommy, it smells awful,” Caleb said, wrinkling his nose. “Just like that nasty woman’s daughter. So gross! But you’re
amazing-knowing that brat always played near the flowerbeds, and smashing her dead with the toy car on purpose. Now
no one’s going to steal Daddy from me!”
“Of course,” Bianca giggled. “I practiced for a long time to get it right. One hit, one kill. I wish I could’ve seen Ava’s face
when she found out-she must’ve cried her pathetic eyes out. So what if she was the wife? I’ve been playing her like a
fiddle since day one!”
I trembled with rage, my body shaking uncontrollably. I couldn’t hold back any longer-I burst through the door and
tackled her to the ground.
Caleb stood frozen in shock.
Bianca screamed wildly as I pinned her down.
“You killed my daughter, you monster! I’m going to make you pay with your life!”
My eyes were bloodshot as I raised my hand to strike her, but the next second, I was kicked across the room.
Brandon yanked Bianca into his arms, his face thunderous.
“Ava! When are you going to stop this madness?”
“Brandon,” Bianca sobbed in his embrace, “I told Caleb to treat her well because she lost her daughter. I only wanted him
to be sweet to her… But she accused me of showing off, then tried to kill me!”
“If she can’t stand to live with us, then Caleb and I will leave. I just… I don’t want to leave you…”
Caleb started crying on cue, clinging to his father and wailing that he didn’t want to be apart from him.
Brandon held them both close, his gaze toward me cold.
“Ava, I didn’t think you could be this cruel. You lost your daughter, so now everyone else has to suffer too? You want my
son to lose his mother?”
“Bianca has been so generous, forgiving all your slander, even encouraging Caleb to be kind to you. You’re not even grateful-that’s bad enough. But how do you repay her? With violence?! Do you have a soul at all?!”
I suddenly laughed-harsh and bitter.
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I lunged forward and yanked the gray-white bracelet out of Caleb’s hand, shouting through tears,
“No soul? Me? I’m the monster?!”
“Brandon, open your damn eyes and look at this! This bracelet is made from your daughter’s ribs-twenty-four bones, all ripped from her body!”
“Bianca didn’t just kill Bella-she desecrated her corpse. She’s not a woman. She’s a mon-”
Before I could finish, Brandon hurled a glass ashtray at me.
It smashed against my forehead. Blood streamed down my face immediately.
His eyes were cold as ice, each word laced with contempt.
“I’ll say it one last time. Bella’s death was a tragic accident-Caleb didn’t mean it, and Bianca had nothing to do with it. You
were the one who failed to protect your child. I should be blaming you, and you dare accuse her?”
“And now I know why you cremated Bella so suddenly. I wondered at first-but it makes sense. You wanted to cover up
your lies, pin it all on Bianca before I could stop you.”
“You’d even exploit your own daughter’s corpse. You’re disgusting.”
Seeing him standing so firmly on Bianca’s side, I realized how absurd this whole scene had become.
What was the point in defending myself anymore?
I turned to leave, but Brandon stepped in front of me.
“You slandered Bianca. You assaulted her. And now you think you can just walk away? Not so easy. Apologize-now.”
“Or you’re not leaving here.”
Years of marriage had taught me to recognize the look in his eyes-he wasn’t bluffing.
Everything in this room disgusted me. I didn’t want to stay another second.
Numbly, I turned to Bianca. Every word tasted like ash in my mouth.
“Miss Bianca… I’m sorry for what happened earlier.”
She gave Caleb a subtle glance.
He ran to the bedroom and returned holding a baseball bat.’
Then-without hesitation-he slammed it against my knees.
Pain exploded through my legs. I collapsed to the floor.
Bianca burst into laughter, her face gleaming with triumph.
“Oh dear, so sorry! Caleb’s just so used to beating up stray dogs downstairs. Skipping a day makes him restless. Surely you won’t hold it against a child?”
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“But one little apology seems awfully unfair, don’t you think? Fortunately… I have an idea.”
She smiled meaningfully-then stomped on my hand hard, twisting her heel as the bones shattered beneath it.
The crunch of breaking fingers mixed with the sound of the bracelet-Bella’s rib bones-crumbling to dust.
I ignored the pain, sobbing as I scrambled across the floor, carefully gathering the bone powder with trembling hands.
Then I stumbled toward the door.
Blood from my forehead and my hand dripped steadily onto the floor.
Brandon’s expression finally softened, some guilt flickering in his eyes. He stepped toward me-but Bianca clung to his
arm.
“Brandon… are you feeling sorry for her? You weren’t here earlier-she slapped me several times with that hand. I only
stepped on it a little. That’s me being generous.”
“If we don’t teach her a lesson now, she’ll keep bullying me and Caleb. Didn’t you promise to protect us? Or were those
just lies?”
By the time I burned all of Bella’s belongings and left that house for good, Brandon still hadn’t shown his face.
But upstairs, I could hear them laughing again.
So sweet. So happy. So warm.
I handed the divorce papers to the security guard and asked him to deliver them.
Then walked to the front gate.
A black Rolls-Royce Phantom was already waiting. It honked softly.
I knew.
The person who would help me get justice for my daughter had finally arrived.
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