Chapter 5
"I owe her?" Crystal let out an even louder laugh. "What exactly do I owe her? A fiancé? Or maybe a carefully planned kidnapping?"
Cyril's expression darkened in a flash.
Of course he knew what she meant.
"What are you talking about?!" Cyril snapped.
He was furious and embarrassed. Before he realized it, he shoved her hard.
Crystal was caught off guard and fell to the ground, her forehead hitting the pillar hard. A sharp pain spread instantly, and she felt warm, sticky blood trickling into her eyes.
"Crystal!" Cyril's expression changed completely. "I... I didn't mean to do that."
Darkness surged in like a tide, and as Crystal looked at Cyril's panicked face, she only felt a sense of irony.
As everything faded away, relief washed over her.
Cyril, I was finally free from loving you.
*****
When Crystal woke up, her head was pounding.
The hospital room was empty.
She sat up slowly, her forehead wrapped in thick bandages. Even the slightest movement made her wince in pain.
Her bag was on the bedside table, and her phone was lighting up nonstop, notifications piling in.
Crystal reached for her phone, and as soon as she unlocked the screen, a Twitter headline hit her like a punch.
It read: [High Society Scandal. Moore family's daughter-in-law caught cheating. Photos of Crystal Jones in a passionate embrace with a mystery man in the garage exposed!]
She tapped the headline and two photos popped up.
The first showed a man carrying her in his arms, her face pressed against his chest.
The second showed him helping her into a car, and from the way the shot was taken, it looked like the two of them were kissing.
The comment section exploded.
[Ugh, Crystal Jones has zero shame!]
[Poor Cyril Moore. He must be cursed to end up with someone like her.]
[Heard she faked that kidnapping three years ago. She'll do anything to get ahead.]
[Mr. Moore, just dump her already. What's the point of keeping someone like that?]
Crystal scrolled through the comments. At first, every word stung, but after a while, she went numb inside.
It seemed when one's heart finally broke for good, one stopped feeling anything at all.
Somehow, people online had gotten hold of her number, and her inbox was filled with a dozen or so texts from strangers.
[Bitch, go die!]
[You don't deserve Cyril.]
[Cheating homewrecker, get divorced already.]
Crystal shivered, deleting each message with trembling fingers. But when she reached the last one, she stopped cold.
It was a photo of Judith and Cyril.
The background was the living room of Moore Manor. Ingrid sat in the middle, Judith affectionately holding her arm, while Cyril stood behind them, his hand casually draped over Judith's shoulder.
The three of them looked genuinely happy together.
Below the photo was a message.
It read: [Crystal, do you like the gift I sent you? This is only the beginning.]
Crystal stared at the photo for a long time, so long that her eyes grew sore, the sky outside shifted from pale gray to dusky yellow, and the IV drip was emptied.
She'd spent three years yearning for a moment like this: a real family, with warmth and belonging, but it never happened for her. Now, Judith had achieved it effortlessly.
Crystal let out a mocking laugh, but the harder she tried to laugh it off, the more the tears flowed.
The nurse rushed in to change her IV. Seeing Crystal laughing and crying, she paused. "Ms. Jones, are you... alright?"
Crystal looked up, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."
The nurse's eyes brimmed with sympathy. "Um, Mr. Moore called earlier. He said he's stuck at work and can't make it, but he wants you to get some rest."
"Alright." Crystal nodded, then pulled out the IV herself. "I'm leaving."
"But you're still hurt..." the nurse protested.
"I'll live," Crystal said flatly.
Crystal ripped the covers off and climbed out of bed. The sudden movement reopened her forehead wound, blood seeping through the bandage and staining it crimson.
Without a second thought, she snatched up her bag and stormed out.
In the hallway, a few patients and their families shot her looks and whispered behind her back.
"That's her, right? The one who cheated?"
"Just look at her. She looks like a slut, totally up to no good."
"The Moore family really drew the short straw when Cyril married her."
Crystal walked through their midst, and by the time she stepped out of the hospital, the sky was already pitch black.
The early winter wind sliced across her face, cold as a knife.
She flagged down a taxi and told the driver, "Moore Manor."
The driver shot her a strange look in the rearview mirror.
Crystal knew he recognized her. Her face was everywhere online these days.
When the taxi pulled up outside Moore Manor, the house was brightly lit.
Crystal stood outside the door. She could hear laughter and cheerful voices drifting out.
There was Ingrid's laughter, Judith's playful tone, and Cyril's gentle voice.
They really sounded like a family.
She was Cyril's legitimate wife, but somehow she'd become an outsider.