Chapter 3

The funeral ended in disaster. Andrew and Yvette's legendary proposal turned into the laughingstock of Astor City's high society.

I floated behind my mom as we headed back home. It was the marital home Andrew and I were supposed to share, and it was my own property before marriage.

As soon as she walked in, my mom dropped all her pretense. She walked right into the middle of the living room, staring at the giant wedding photo of Andrew and me on the wall. She started shaking all over.

The next second, she rushed over, yanked the wedding photo down, and slammed it hard onto the floor. With a loud crash, the glass shattered everywhere.

In the photo, I was grinning like I'm the happiest woman alive, while Andrew's got his arms around me, looking at me with that soft gaze. Looking at it now, all I felt was bitter irony.

My mom still wasn't done. Wearing her high heels, she stomped again and again on Andrew's deceitful face in the photo, grinding it underfoot until the picture was completely ruined. "You bastard!" she screamed. Her tears finally broke free.

But she didn't just cry into the emptiness. She walked over to my memorial photo, reached out, and gently stroked the frame. "Charlotte, my daughter, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I never should've let you suffer like this."

I floated beside her, longing to hold her close, but all I could do was drift right through her thin frame. Mom, it was not your fault. I only blamed myself for being so blind, for falling for a heartless bastard like him.

My mom cried for a while, and then suddenly wiped her tears away, her eyes steeling with determination. She took a shaky, deep breath, her knuckles white from clenching her fists so tightly.

She had made up her mind to save me, even if it meant becoming a monster and walking straight into hell.

Then she grabbed a tablet from the drawer and opened up a password-protected video. The video showed Andrew and Yvette. Looked like they were in a café.

Yvette said, "Andrew, when are you finally going to make a move? I can't wait any longer. Just seeing that dumb look on Charlotte's face every day makes me want to gag."

Andrew said, "Don't rush, Yvette. I've already made all the arrangements. It'll go down when she heads out for her business trip next week. I've messed with her brakes already. There's no way this'll fail."

Yvette asked, "Really? You sure nothing's gonna go wrong?"

Andrew reassured her, "Relax, I hired the best. The moment she's dead, everything she owns will be ours. We'll finally be together forever." The video cut off abruptly right there.

It felt like my soul had been tossed into an ice pit, so cold it cut right through me. All those sweet nothings he used to whisper in my ear were now laced with venom, searing my already shattered soul.

I looked at my mom. Her face was consumed by hatred, with a hint of lingering fear. "Charlotte, did you see that? That's the man you spent ten years loving," she said.

"I knew about their affair ages ago, and I even uncovered their plot to hurt you. I told you to watch out for Andrew, but you were so head over heels for him you couldn't see the truth. You just wouldn't believe me.

"You kept saying I was just prejudiced against him, that he wasn't like that at all." My mom's voice choked up.

"I was desperate, Charlotte. I just couldn't stand by and watch you die," she said. "So I had to go all in, no half-measures." She took a deep breath and then said something that sent chills down my spine.

"I had someone stage that fake-death car crash. The moment it happened, my people pulled you out and got you to safety," she said.

What the hell? I was not actually dead? I stared at my see-through hand, and then glanced back at my mom, completely lost.

"The car crash left you gravely injured and disfigured. I sent you to the best private hospital overseas, where the top specialists are helping you recover and performing reconstructive surgery," she said.

"Charlotte, don't worry. When you wake up and heal, you'll be a brand new you. As for those two bastards, I'm going to make them pay the ultimate price for their greed!

"I'll make them prepare everything for your glorious return, and then I'll personally drag them down to hell!" Every word out of my mom's mouth landed like a ton of bricks, smashing right into my heart.

A storm of emotions crashed through me, and a deep sense of being moved. I was alive! Mom actually saved me.

I looked at the woman who had orchestrated everything for me, the one who loved me more than anyone else in this world, and deep down, all I felt was endless, childlike devotion and gratitude.

Mom, thank you. Thank you for letting me witness my enemies reap what they sow. Thank you for giving me a new life.