"So it was them all along! Back then they swore up and down they'd get justice for that girl, and in the end it was all about the money. They didn't even have the nerve to show up in court!"
"Took the money and still came to the hospital to play the victim. They must think it wasn't enough, want to squeeze out another payout. Greedy, the whole pack of them!"
"Shameless, really. Traded their own daughter's life for a lifetime of comfort, and now they want to cash in their parents' lives too?"
Brent's gaze was cold as he looked at me.
"Since your family already took the money, don't go using your sister's death to milk more sympathy. Hurry up and clear out of this room for Tabitha!"
"And if you people hadn't kept pushing Tabitha, she never would have developed depression in the first place. Your family owes her this!"
His words struck me as nothing short of absurd. I let out a cold laugh.
"The one who ran someone over and killed her is your Tabitha Henson. We have never owed a single person anything!"
Seeing me refuse to back down, his face darkened further.
"If you think the settlement wasn't enough, I can wire you another ten million. Just give up the room for Tabitha."
Tabitha chimed in from the side.
"Twenty million is enough to buy your whole family's lives, Bella. You really ought to know when you've had enough!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Brent shot a glance at the bodyguards behind him.
In an instant a swarm of them rushed into the room, viciously hauling my parents out of their beds.
My heart dropped. I scrambled to put myself between them and Mom and Dad, glaring at Brent until my eyes burned.
"Brent, my parents are still your in-laws. Aren't you afraid this'll come back on you?"
His eyes went dark.
"Bella, everything you have, I gave you. Even your parents getting a room this nice is only because of the Stephens name."
I looked at him and gave a scornful little smile.
"Brent, how long has it been since you last spoke to your own sister?"
At the mention of his sister, Brent froze for a beat, and then his face turned grimmer still. "My sister got run down because of her own rotten luck. She deserved it!"
"My sister is safe and sound at her all-girls school. Don't you dare put my sister in the same breath as yours!"
I gave a cold snort.
"Who really deserved what's coming to them, you'll find out soon enough!"
For the days that followed, Brent stayed at the hospital looking after Tabitha.
When the hospital morgue couldn't reach Brent, they ended up calling me instead.
His sister's body had been held as long as it could be. She had to be buried.
Remembering that the girl had once called me her sister too, I softened, and I arranged a funeral for her.
On the day of the funeral, I had just set out toward the Stephens family cemetery with the procession.
From a distance I saw Brent and Tabitha walking straight toward us.
The instant Tabitha spotted the coffin, she clamped a hand over her mouth, her face full of disgust.
"I finally got discharged today, and the first thing I see when I get home is a coffin? Isn't this just putting a curse on me?"
"Besides, how can you bury someone who died such an ugly death in the Stephens cemetery? Are you trying to make the Stephens family the laughingstock of all Crestport City?"
Brent's expression was sinister enough to frighten anyone.
"Bella, your sister is dead. What gives you the right to drag her into our Stephens cemetery for burial? Are you trying to foul our family's ground?"
I stared at the two of them, my eyes bloodshot, my hands clenched tight together.
"Tabitha Henson, you're a killer. What right do you have to point fingers at the dead? Aren't you afraid she'll crawl up out of the ground in the dead of night and come for your life?"
Looking at the coffin behind me, Tabitha gave a shudder, then flung herself into Brent's arms like a wronged child.
"Mr. Stephens, one look at that coffin and I'm right back at the scene of the crash that day. I feel like my depression's about to flare up again!"
