In my previous life, the feeling of despair was overwhelming. Back then, I swallowed my pride and pleaded with Spencer to help us find a way out. After much reluctance, he finally agreed.
That day, my father was rushed for emergency care, and our family could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But that night, Spencer's childhood friend, Monica, tried to end her life by turning on the gas, distraught because Spencer hadn't answered her calls. Later, Spencer learned that Monica was overwhelmed and sought his comfort.
Spencer clutched her ashes close to his chest for three solid days. Afterward, he seemed to return to his usual self. He visited my father after work, always bringing me a bouquet of flowers, his smiles even brighter than before. At the time, I thought he had finally moved on from the woman who should have never interfered with our marriage.
On the day my father left the hospital, Spencer organized a celebratory dinner for us. Little did we know that every dish on the table had been laced with poison. My father was the first to die. I fought desperately to escape, but Spencer grabbed my hair and dragged me down to the basement.
He forced me to look at Monica’s photo, framed on the wall. "If it weren't for you and your worthless father, Monica wouldn't have died!"
"Why did your dad have to get sick when Monica needed me the most? Why did he pressure me to help you?!"
The pain made me cry out, and I wanted to explain. My father genuinely cared for him and had asked an old friend to help his son-in-law secure a job. But my father had underlying health problems, and drinking too much when asking for favors led to a brain hemorrhage. Spencer was clearly about to be promoted.
I knelt beside Monica’s urn, summoning all my strength to explain. But Spencer, eyes red from crying, heard nothing. He stabbed me in the heart repeatedly.
"You Riley family always looked down on me; why couldn't you leave me alone? Leave me and Monica!"
"Monica's gone, and everyone must pay for it!"
I lay there, disgraced, gradually losing consciousness, only to be kicked aside by Spencer, who then stabbed himself in the heart.
"Monica, I won't let you be alone."
I realized then that he had never truly let go of her. Back then, when Monica was followed home from work, she called Spencer for help. He nearly beat the man to death because of a minor scratch on her face.
Spencer was close to a promotion at that time. Yet for Monica, he missed the chance. I was blinded by love, stubbornly trying to hold onto something never meant to be mine.
Suddenly, I realized the path behind me was completely blocked. Time was running out. I took a deep breath and knelt in front of Carlos.
"Carlos, I’m to blame. My dad is innocent; please help him get to the hospital," I pleaded, bowing my head repeatedly.
The drivers around us were stunned.
"My father is unconscious from a brain hemorrhage. This is life or death!"
"I'm begging you! Only you have the power to help!"
Under the watchful eyes and whispered speculation of the crowd, Carlos sneered.
"Spencer was right; people like you will do anything for attention."
The aching in my forehead was nothing compared to the hurt in my heart. I looked up, and Carlos spat at me, his face full of disdain.
Then he grabbed a megaphone from his car and shouted to the crowd.
"Don't be fooled by this woman! There’s no father with a brain hemorrhage; it's all lies!"
"Back when she wanted to be with my buddy, she used her father's influence to pressure him and threatened his childhood friend to break up, saying she’d ruin them if they didn’t split."
"Now she's making a scene just to stir up trouble. I think she's the real issue here—a meddling third party!"
The crowd gasped, looking at me with disgust.
"Ugh, hard to tell."
"Can't believe she’s conspiring with her dad to deceive everyone. Isn't she just wasting public resources?!"
My heart sank; I hadn’t anticipated Spencer, or rather Carlos, would go this far. From the moment Carlos blocked me, I suspected he might have been reborn too.
"Katie! Your dad can't hold on much longer!"
Mom screamed from inside the car while Dad convulsed in her arms.
