Simon frowned, “Dead? What nonsense are you talking about? She’s faking it again, right?”
“It’s… it’s real.”
How could she be faking it? The condition of the body clearly showed she was completely dead. The assistant couldn’t hold back a dry heave.
Simon clicked his tongue and walked over to the trunk. “Laura, you…”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when he saw my corpse.
Instantly, Simon’s face turned deathly pale.
“Sir, should we… should we call the police?”
“How could… how could this happen so suddenly?” Simon wasn’t listening to him at all, his eyes glued to my body, unblinking.
After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward, picking up a stick from the ground, forcefully poking at my corpse. “Stop pretending. Do you think by doing this I’ll let you go?”
With that poke, a large chunk of flesh peeled off my body.
Simon’s eye twitched, and his lips began to tremble.
Hollie screamed and threw herself into Simon’s arms. “Simon, I saw Laura run out the other day, but I didn’t tell you. Could this body be something she left here on purpose?”
Hollie knew how much Simon cared about her, so she lied before Simon could realize the truth, crafting the illusion that I had escaped.
And Simon?
He fell for it, as expected. “She really hasn’t changed. Does she think pulling this stunt will get her out of apologizing? I underestimated her. Don’t worry, Hollie. I’ll find her and make her kneel to you and admit her wrongs.”
Oh, Simon.
Are you truly that foolish, or are you just pretending? Can’t you see through such poor acting?
Or maybe you’re willingly being deceived.
“Sir, the corpse has Mrs. Smith’s ring on its finger…”
“What, Patel, are you in on this too? It’s just a ring, there are plenty of identical ones. And if she’s faking, she would make sure to go all out. How dare she use a fake body to fool me!”
“Patel, take this body to the hospital. And close down Laura’s orphanage.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a few strong men disgustedly shoved my body into a black plastic bag.
Then, Simon pulled out his phone. “Laura, don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to pull. This is your last chance. Apologize, and I’ll let it slide. If not, kiss your orphanage goodbye.”
…
This was probably the most he had messaged me in a long time.
His idea of punishment was to shut down the orphanage I’d been running for four years.
Most of the children in the orphanage were orphans with no one to care for them.
I was the only family they had.
And now, to force me out, Simon was willing to destroy everything I had worked for.
He knew how much I cared for those kids.
But then again, he didn’t even want his own child.
Why would he care about someone else’s?
—
Simon went to the hospital as well.
The doctor took one look at the corpse, and even someone used to seeing such things couldn’t hold back a dry heave.
The test results would take three more days.
Hearing that, Simon pulled out his phone again. “Three days, in three days, when the results are out, you just wait. I’m going to let the whole Sunnydale know you’re a liar.”
At that moment, someone called him.
I floated to his side and immediately saw James’ name on the screen.
Simon didn’t want to pick up at first.
But James kept calling, annoying him, so he answered.
James immediately asked about my whereabouts.
Simon let out a cold laugh. “What, you haven’t had enough of your secret affair and now you want to challenge me?”
His words were harsh.
Ever since Simon learned about James’ feelings for me, I had cut off all contact with James.
Even when we occasionally bumped into each other, we only exchanged polite greetings.
But Simon never believed me.