Chapter 3

After hearing everything, the officers had a clear understanding of the situation.

One of the older officers gave Ashley a stern warning. "Ma'am, this is private property. You're causing a disturbance. If you keep this up, you could be arrested.

"If there's a problem, let your son deal with it. You can't keep making trouble here."

Ashley's face flushed bright red under the reprimand. She didn't dare say anything.

In the end, with the police walking her out, she dragged her luggage and left.

I finally found some peace. I closed the door, leaned against it, and breathed a sigh of relief.

In six years of marriage, this was the first time I'd stood this firm. Honestly, it felt pretty good.

I looked around the home I'd lived in for six years. On the living room wall still hung the wedding photo of Benjamin and me. In the picture, I was smiling with pure happiness written all over my face.

How ironic.

I walked over, took the frame off the wall, and tossed it straight into the trash.

Once I was done, I walked into the study.

Benjamin kept important documents locked in the study safe. The password was his birthday.

I crouched down and entered the code.

The safe beeped and swung open. Inside were the property deed, birth certificates, and several neatly stacked contract files.

As I rummaged through, my attention was suddenly drawn to an old envelope. There were no words written on it.

Curious, I opened it, and a yellowed document fell out.

When I saw the bold letters at the top, my heart skipped a beat.

It was an accidental death compensation agreement. The date was seven years ago, one month after my parents died in a car accident.

The first party listed on the agreement was me. The signature was shaky and childish; it was mine from back then.

However, the name of the at-fault driver listed as Party B was unfamiliar to me.

In the guarantor section, I saw a name I knew all too well.

It was Grant Collins, my father-in-law.

And on the bank transfer record for the compensation payment, it was stamped with Benjamin's company seal.

My chest tightened so suddenly that it felt like my heart had stopped.

Seven years ago, I was a new graduate when that sudden crash took my parents from me.

The police said it was an accident. The driver was a trucker from another city who was driving tired.

He paid a sum of money and signed this settlement agreement.

Back then, I was lost in grief and barely thinking straight.

Benjamin handled everything. He said he knew lawyers who could help get me the best compensation and told me not to trust anybody. He kept saying he would take care of everything.

I believed him, seeing him as a savior sent to pull me out of hell.

Less than half a year after the accident, he proposed. He said he loved me and would look after me forever.

I said yes through my tears.

I thought life was giving me a fresh start, and I believed love was the reason I married him.

It wasn't until now that I found it was an elaborate trap.

That tired truck driver story was fake. The real driver who killed my parents was Grant.

They paid the driver to take the blame. Then Benjamin showed up as my savior and married me.

It wasn't love at all. It was a twisted, lifelong compensation and a way to keep tabs on me.

They wanted to keep me quiet, make sure I never found out the truth, and keep me grateful to them forever.

What a vicious plot. What a cruel truth.

A chill swept over me, and I started to tremble.

I finally understood why Benjamin always treated me so well, except when it came to his parents. He was downright fixated on pleasing them.

He wasn't being a great son. He was driven by guilt buried deep inside him.

I also understood why Ashley constantly criticized me, yet never truly dared to harm me.

They were scared that one day, I, the victim, might rise up and get back at them.

I slumped onto the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks. I wasn't crying about Benjamin's betrayal, but about my parents and the seven years of my life that had been taken from me.

The more I laughed, the more tears came out.

I pushed myself up from the floor, then stumbled into the bathroom, splashing water over my face again and again.

The woman staring back at me in the mirror was deathly pale, her eyes burning red.

I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "Lillian, don't cry. Tears are the most useless thing in this world. Grief is over. From now on, it's all about revenge."

Yeah, I was going to make them pay.

I went back to the study and carefully stored the agreement together with the envelope.

Then I pulled out everything that was mine from the safe, including the property deed, my daughter's birth certificate, and every last document that belonged to me.

Once everything was secured, I opened my laptop and started searching for the top lawyers in town.

It was not for divorce. I needed a criminal lawyer.

Benjamin, did you think that fleeing abroad would grant you peace? Did you think this marriage could hold me forever?

You couldn't be more wrong. You were driving yourself straight into destruction.

Now karma was finally coming for you.

*****

I stayed awake all night, replaying every detail in my mind.

By dawn, I had already contacted a well-known female lawyer, Ruth Jones.

I mentioned only three things during the call.

Benjamin's bigamy, property division, and the traffic accident from seven years ago.

Ruth paused for a moment, then said, "Come to my office."

*****

Ruth's law firm was located on the top floor of the most expensive building in the city center.

Beyond the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the city buzzed with life, but sitting across from me, Ruth seemed even sharper than the city itself.

She appeared to be around thirty-six, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, her gaze cool and precise.

I placed all the documents in front of her.

There was the property deed, some financial records from Benjamin's company, and the compensation agreement.