“You dare to come back?”
The reason James had gone abroad in the first place was that he believed Simon truly loved me at that time. But now? He regretted it deeply. If he had been there, I wouldn’t have had to suffer such humiliation. He clenched his fists tightly, desperately trying to control himself and remain calm.
“Give me back her body.”
Simon hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. Every night, he dreamed of the moment he abandoned me, the scene where I was covered in blood.
“Why should I?”
“Why? Because I’m her husband…”
No sooner had Simon spoken than he was met with a fierce punch. The more James thought about it, the angrier he became. I floated beside him and could see the veins bulging on his neck. Simon truly had no fear of death; he actually dared to say this in front of James.
“Husband? Did you ever think of being her husband when you were tormenting her? Where were you when she died?! Simon, don’t you feel disgusting saying that?”
Simon’s throat tightened; he knew he had no right to say such things. It wasn’t until he truly saw my corpse that he realized what he had done.
“Please… I will do anything you ask. I beg you…”
“Anything? Alright! Then go and bring Hollie here to kneel in front of Laura’s grave and admit her wrongs! Torture her a thousand times more than you did Laura! After all, didn’t you abandon Laura for her?”
Simon stumbled home, drunk. He had just sat down when Patel, his assistant, burst in. “Sir, the project, the project has fallen through!”
The project Patel was referring to was the collaboration Simon had initiated with the Owen family three days ago. The original partner of the Owens had backed out. Simon had taken on this mess to help Hollie, only to find out that the Owen family was involved in shady dealings. Now they were being hunted down by the entire city, and the Smith family was implicated as well.
Calls kept coming in for Simon. The doorbell rang. As Patel opened the door, Mrs. Smith stormed in, furious. She slapped Simon hard across the face. “You idiot! Get down on your knees!”
Mrs. Smith had been abroad until yesterday when she saw the news and rushed back. She never expected that the son she had raised would do something like this.
“I told you long ago that Hollie was no good! How could you do something so foolish for her?”
Mrs. Smith was so enraged she nearly fainted. She had always liked me. When I married Simon, she was the first to support us. But life is unpredictable. She never imagined that just a few years later, our relationship would turn out like this. After all, she had watched me grow up too. At that moment, she felt immense regret. Had she known it would come to this, she would never have let me suffer.
“What can I say to you? Laura is your legitimate wife, and what is Hollie? Just a mistress from the start! You knew how hard Laura had it in the Burke family. Why have you become like this?”
Simon knelt on the floor, biting his lip. “I know I was wrong, Mom. I really know I was wrong. I want to see her… I really know I was wrong…”
The words of James and Mrs. Smith echoed in his mind. He was in excruciating pain. He hadn’t expected to see James looking like this after death. It was a harsh reality.
But what was the point of realizing his mistakes now?
“What good does it do to know you were wrong now? The urgent thing is to help the police catch Hollie! You need to give Laura a proper explanation!”