Chapter 3
Seeing that, Dorian recoiled in terror, kicking the head away as he burst into uncontrollable sobs.
"Dad, it's disgusting! So disgusting!" he cried, his voice trembling.
Cedric fumbled to support Clara while trying to soothe his terrified son.
When Thorne pressed for confirmation, Cedric snapped impatiently, "There's no wife of mine here."
"She must've run off with the bandits. Go search for her again. Don't just stand around," he said impatiently.
I silently watched my own broken body lying there.
Sadly, I was right there the whole time, but he never even noticed me.
After we got home, Dorian came down with a high fever.
My mother, who'd come to celebrate his birthday, was about to demand where I'd gone.
But when she saw Dorian's flushed, feverish face, she held her tongue and just gave him the medicine.
Seeing the nearly empty medicine bottle, Cedric's anger flared.
"Still not back? Does Elise even care about being a mother anymore?" he snapped.
I lingered as a helpless spirit in the next room, watching everything unfold.
Dorian wasn't born full-term. He was always weak and sickly.
All these years, it was always me who personally went to the Healer to fetch his medicine, right on schedule.
Now, in this life, with me gone, who would truly care for Dorian?
Clara sidled up to Cedric, lightly hooking her arm around his.
"Don't worry about Elise, Cedric," she murmured.
"When we were tied up, she seemed to be handling things just fine, taking care of herself," she said.
She casually lifted her sleeve, showing her arm covered in bruises.
"All the punishment got dumped on me, double the pain.
"She kept shoving me out to the bandits, making them beat me instead," she went on.
"The bandits acted like they were looking out for her, almost like they'd known Elise for ages..." she added.
With every word Clara said, Cedric's expression soured even more. He finally couldn't take it anymore.
"So that's the truth!" Cedric snapped, his voice sharp with anger.
"Elise, that venomous woman! She thought she could ruin Clara, but look who ended up paying the price!" he fumed.
My mother, standing nearby, finally lost her patience.
"My daughter's fate is still up in the air, and you're already framing her for everything!" she snapped.
"Besides, Elise would never do such a thing!
"No matter how shameless the two of you are together...all she ever wanted was for me to be more forgiving!" my mother said.
As soon as she finished, Clara burst into tears.
"I knew it! You've always been gossiping about me behind my back... I might as well just die!" she wailed.
She spun around and charged straight at the doorpost.
Cedric grabbed Clara, torn between worry and anger.
"Why bother? It's all her fault," he said, frustration clear in his voice.
Dorian sobbed, barely able to get the words out, "Mom's so mean!
"Dad, let's go get her and make her say sorry to Aunt Clara!"
My mother stared at the three of them, frozen for a moment.
Her voice was trembling as she spoke, "Elise poured her heart and soul into you, and this is how you treat her? Cold-blooded, all of you!"
Before she could finish, Clara gave her two hard slaps right across the face.
"Seriously? Who are you, some outsider, to lecture us?" Clara snapped.
Then, she spun around and switched right back to her delicate damsel routine.
"Cedric, she and Elise plotted together to drug me, trying to push me to the brink!" Clara cried, her voice trembling as she played the victim.
Dorian clung to Clara's hand.
"Yeah! I saw Grandma give Aunt Clara poison, too!" Dorian blurted out, with all the confidence of a kid.
I was stunned. How could a five-year-old even understand schemes like that?
Then I caught Clara sneaking him a wink.
It all made sense now. Dorian might not really get what was happening, but his loyalty was all for Clara.
My poor mother, braving those cliffs every month just to gather medicines for him, all so Dorian could grow stronger.
"And Grandma always makes me eat strange things. Every time I eat them, I feel so sick," Dorian complained.
He held his stomach as he spoke, his face twisted in pain.
My mother's tears poured down as she pointed at him for a long moment, but couldn't say a single word.
Cedric, who cared most about Dorian, blew up in anger.
"Someone, drag this wicked woman out and lash her fifty times!" Cedric barked.
My mother was so old that there was no way she could endure such a cruel beating.
I tried desperately to stop the blows, but my hands just went right through the air, helpless and useless.
Cedric didn't even flinch, his face stone-cold the whole time.
I'd forgotten that in my last life, he always looked down on me for my low birth, for being raised by a widowed mother.
Just calling her "mother-in-law" was the biggest compromise he'd ever make.
So why would he bother with any old bonds now?
She didn't even make it to twenty lashes before she died.
I sat there, lost and shattered, next to her corpse, drowning in pain.
Clara snuggled up in Cedric's arms, whining sweetly.
"But she never even said sorry to me... Just like that, she's dead?"
Cedric gave her a look of pure contempt.
"Throw her outside the manor gates. Let's see who else dares to talk nonsense!" he snapped.
My mother's body was hastily wrapped and tossed out past the estate gates.
My senses were in chaos, my head splitting with pain.
I hated it, hated that I was nothing but a wandering soul, utterly helpless.
If I'd known this life would turn out so rotten, I would've gone down fighting instead of just giving up.
Outside, the townsfolk crowded around, curious about all the commotion.
Clara stood at the doorway, her voice pitched perfectly so everyone could hear her.