I let the corner of my mouth lift, holding Leah's challenging stare, and spoke in a flat, even tone.
"Fine. He was never worth much anyway. He's all yours."
The look in Leah's eyes faltered. Clearly she hadn't expected those words from me.
But I had no patience left to spar with her.
Reborn into this exact moment, I'd been given no choice. All I wanted was out, and fast.
So I turned on my heel and quickened my steps toward the door.
I hadn't even reached it when a figure in a bright red gown rushed past me.
"Hildegarde, I knew it. I knew you blamed me. If you won't forgive me, I can't go on living either. Just let me die right here!"
A chill shot down my spine. I spun around to stop her.
Too late. Leah had already bolted out the door, Hudson right on her heels.
A speeding truck came barreling straight at them.
"Bang! "
Exactly like last time.
Hudson's parents shoved me hard out of the way and ran toward the scene, wailing like their hearts had been torn out.
I gripped my phone and hurried forward too, heading toward the wreck.
But the second I reached the edge of the crowd,
Kitty stepped directly into my path. She pointed at the dark red smear of blood on the pavement, glaring at me, and screamed.
"You actually have the nerve to come look?!"
She dropped straight to the ground, jabbing a finger at me, sobbing and shrieking.
"You jinx! If you hadn't come here to interrogate them, my Hudson and dear Leah would still be alive! You're a murderer!"
In my last life, this was the exact moment I lost my nerve.
They penned me in, fingers in my face, hurling accusations, and I had no way to fight back.
Everything after that was a long fall, all the way down to my own miserable death.
But this Hildegarde wouldn't crumble.
I glanced at the crowd closing in around me, then wrenched my arm free of Kitty's grip.
I turned, slid into my car, and slammed my foot down on the gas, leaving her wailing in the dust behind me.
In the rearview mirror, I watched Kitty's tears dry up in an instant,
confusion flooding her face.
I let out a cold laugh somewhere deep inside.
Just wait. This time, it's your turn to walk step by step toward the edge.
After leaving the scene of the "accident,"
I drove straight to the company and called every board member in for a meeting.
"There's only one item on today's agenda. We're removing Hudson as chairman."
The words dropped into instant, deathly silence.
I'd built this company from nothing, with my own two hands,
yet the chairman's seat had always belonged to Hudson.
The veterans here had warned me more than once: even between husband and wife, keep your hands on the power, because the human heart is impossible to read.
But I'd always brushed it off with a smile.
Because back then, I loved him.
Now, with this sudden decision, most of the old guard who'd followed me looked thrilled.
Hudson's loyalists, though, were furious.
"On what grounds?! We don't agree!"
"If he's stepping down, Mr. Delgado comes here and says so himself!"
"He won't be coming."
I held those angry stares and switched on the TV in the conference room.
In an instant, the screen filled with Hudson's parents sobbing over how horribly their son had died.
I watched the shareholders' mouths fall open, their eyes wide with shock, and spoke quietly.
"Now. Can we agree?"
Three minutes later, I walked back into my office with the appointment notice signed by every shareholder.
Then I picked up the phone and dialed the number I'd long since memorized by heart.
"Send two teams of bodyguards. One to the hospital to protect Gwen. The other, take my parents out of the country on vacation, immediately."
"And one more thing……"
