“I didn’t come here to force a marriage. Atlas's canceling the engagement with me to marry Heidi has nothing to do with me. I came here to act as bait, to lure out the Butcher.”
Mom’s face instantly went pale.
Before she could speak, my brother slapped me hard across the face. His face was tense with both anger and panic.
“I told you not to use a serious case that took the lives of so many girls as some way to get sympathy!”
He took a deep breath, his eyes cold, his voice cutting with anger. “You’re just like that best friend of yours, selfish and heartless!”
“She betrayed Spencer and ran off with the money.”
“Afraid of being hunted, she forged evidence, put that note in the victim’s hand, and faked her own death.”
“I already said that person wasn’t that woman, Tessa, but that fool Spencer still believed it and drank himself half to death, refusing to keep looking for the truth!”
The crowd started mocking.
“Wasn’t Tessa the gold digger who ran off with money back then? Her nude photos were all over those second-hand sites, right? You could see them for free!”
“A woman like her ruined the murder case. She got what she deserved.”
I clenched my hands, my heart twisting in pain.
Three years ago, Tessa had found proof that Heidi was faking her memory loss and madness, but before she could give it to me, she vanished.
Before she disappeared, her nude photos were posted for sale on second-hand websites for only 0.9 dollars.
At that time, Tessa cried and begged my younger brother, her fiancé, to help her sue them.
But my famous lawyer brother, who had never lost a case, sat lazily in the plaintiff’s seat during the trial, silent the entire time, and the case was dismissed on the spot.
When leaving the courtroom that day, Spencer gave a cold laugh. “This is the price for bullying Heidi.”
“This time, it’s just your nude photos. Next time, wait until you’re sold off in some black market auction to serve as someone’s plaything.”
That day, Tessa cried in my arms for a long time. The next morning, she disappeared without a trace.
I spent three years looking for her while Spencer mocked me every chance he got.
“She’s just playing hide and seek. She wants me to chase after her, huh? Let her play. Let’s see how long she can hide.”
Until one day, the dismembered victims from the “Butcher’s Brides” case were found in an abandoned basement in Fairview. At that moment, the system confirmed Tessa’s death.
My Tessa had been killed by the Butcher, and with her death, the system also declared my own ending.
The family and love I had spent ten years building all fell apart. It told me to end my life and leave this world.
But instead, I chose to use my death to bring justice to those poor girls who had suffered.
……
Atlas walked toward me, his face dark and cold. “Since you insist on going against us, then fine, I’m calling off our engagement.”
I nodded calmly, took out my phone, and typed a message. [Atlas and I have canceled our engagement.]
I lifted my phone to show them. “Is this enough?”
The three of them froze in place, stunned by my action. Atlas stared at me in disbelief, his jaw tightening as he gritted his teeth.
“Fine. Then you’d better get rid of the child in your belly, too. Who knows what you’ll do later using that kid?”
I placed my hand over my stomach, a faint, bitter smile appearing on my lips. “The child is already gone.”
As soon as I said those words, Atlas rushed forward and grabbed my shoulders.
