Chapter 8
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As Bowen read the letter, his hands trembled violently with each word. The letter detailed Kathleen’s condition, choices, and
emotional journey during her final three days.
Jolene broke down halfway through reading, screaming, “Kathleen… My poor daughter!”
At that moment, Annie turned on the TV and inserted a USB drive. “This is what Mrs. Liddell asked me to play today.”
The surveillance footage clearly showed everything that had happened at the hospital three days ago. Bowen had given Yvonne
the treatment opportunity without hesitation, never even asking for Kathleen’s opinion.
What followed was a recording–a conversation between Yvonne and her lover, Alfred Jacobs. Every word cut through everyone’s
hearts like a knife.
“Everything’s going smoothly. Kathleen’s about to die.”
“After pretending to be sick all these years, she never suspected a thing…”
The living room fell into deathly silence.
“No! That’s fake!” Yvonne screamed hysterically.
However, no one paid attention to her protests.
f
Annie kept going, pulling out more evidence–falsified medical reports, suspicious bank transfers, and intimate photos of
Yvonne and Alfred.
The truth hit like a landslide, crushing every last shred of denial.
Bowen’s eyes were bloodshot as he growled, “It was you! You killed Kathleen!”
He lunged at Yvonne and wrapped his hands around her throat.
“Daddy!”
Candice’s voice froze everyone in place. The little girl stood on the staircase, looking down at the chaos in confusion.
“What’s going on? Mommy Yvonne, why are you sitting on the floor?” she asked with a little frown.
No one answered her.
“Where’s Mommy?” Candice looked around the room casually as if she were asking about someone who did not matter much. “Did she leave again?”
“Candice…” Bowen’s voice cracked.
“What is it?” Candice stomped her foot impatiently. “I want Mommy Yvonne! Mommy Yvonne, aren’t we supposed to go to the amusement park today?”
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Chapter 8
Annie walked over and knelt in front of her. “Sweetheart, your mommy… She’s gone somewhere really far away.”
“Oh,” Candice responded with surprising calm. “When is she coming back?”
“Sh–she’s not coming back.”
Candice tilted her head and thought for a second. “That’s good, then. She always made Mommy Yvonne upset anyway.”
The words pierced every heart in the room like a blade.
“Candice!” Bowen looked at his daughter in shock.
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“What?” Candice blinked innocently and walked toward Yvonne. “Mommy Yvonne, are we still going to the amusement park?”
However, Yvonne had already been handcuffed by the police.
Candice’s voice turned anxious. “Mommy Yvonne? Where are you going?”
“Sweetheart…” Yvonne tried to say something, but the officers were already taking her away.
“Mommy Yvonne!” Candice ran after her. “Don’t go! Mommy Yvonne!”
She did not even glance at the bedroom upstairs, where her real mother would never wake again. All her attention was still on
Yvonne.
“Why are they taking Mommy Yvonne away?” Candice cried, tugging at Bowen’s hand. “Was it Mommy? Did she do it? She
always does this! She always wants to take Mommy Yvonne away!”
“No, Candice! That’s not it!” Bowen cried.
Candice screamed, “Yes, it is! I hate her! I hate Mommy!”
Even though Kathleen was already gone, her daughter was still shouting those words.
Bowen wrapped his arms around the hysterical child, tears streaming down his face. He knew Candice was too young to
understand what death meant, too little to grasp what she had just lost.
Maybe one day, when she grew up and finally learned the truth, she would realize that the woman she claimed to hate had been
the one who loved her more than anything, and she would regret it.
However, by then, it would be too late.
Just as Kathleen had predicted, she left behind a lifetime of sorrow for everyone, using her life as the price.
The most tragic part was that her five–year–old daughter was still crying over losing Yvonne, not knowing that what she had
truly lost was a mother who had loved her more than her own life.
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