Chapter 5

I turned off my phone, rose, and went to the study.

In our five years of marriage, all of Kevin's personal belongings had stayed here, in this room. I had never looked through them before.

I opened the drawer, and my eyes fell upon a collection of utterly indecent photos.

Vivian, stark naked, straddling Kevin's abs.

Vivian, scantily clad, lounging in our marital bed.

My hands trembled as I took pictures.

At the very bottom of the drawer, I found an old, faded manila envelope. The brown paper was already yellowed.

I opened it. Inside was a traffic accident report.

The date was the day before my father's funeral.

My father's accident happened while I was away on a business trip.

Kevin had told me that my father ran a red light, crashed into a guardrail, and died instantly.

By the time I rushed back, my father had already been buried.

Martha held my hand, weeping as she told me to "restrain my sorrow."

I fainted several times from crying, and Kevin handled all the funeral arrangements.

At the time, I was so grateful for his help. But now, a vague unease settled in my heart.

Scrolling down, under the "At-Fault Party" section of the report, Vivian's name appeared.

Vivian had killed my father!

I continued flipping through. At the very bottom of the envelope was another paper.

It was a Letter of Leniency. Kevin, acting as my father's son-in-law, had signed it on behalf of the at-fault party.

The reason stated: "The party at fault is a young girl with a promising future; it shouldn't be ruined."

I immediately went to the traffic police department.

There was only a young officer at the night shift window. I handed him the photocopy.

"I need to check the original case file for the Evergreen Avenue accident from three years ago."

He glanced at it, frowning. "It's a closed case."

As a family member, I pleaded relentlessly.

From the traffic officer's words, I slowly pieced together the truth of the last five years.

My father wasn't even driving that day. He was crossing the street at a green light when Vivian, drunk driving, hit him and sent him flying seventeen meters.

Not only did Kevin keep it from me, but he personally signed the Letter of Leniency in my name, as my father's child. He forgave my father's killer for me.

While I was mourning over my father's coffin, he was texting Vivian, comforting her, "Don't be afraid."

By the time I received the call and rushed to the hospital, my father had already been cremated. There was no time for an autopsy.

The traffic officer sighed. "The car broke three of his ribs, ruptured his spleen, and caused intracranial bleeding. He was gone before the ambulance even arrived! I can't understand how your family could have signed that Letter of Leniency. It's incredibly unfilial!"

The traffic officer continued to babble, but my heart had already sunk to rock bottom.

I stumbled out of the traffic police department, utterly devastated, and ran straight into Vivian.

She looked at me, her face filled with terror.

"Kevin, I told you she'd definitely find out. Why else would she come to the traffic department?"

Kevin stared at me, his face wary. Now, he wasn't even bothering to pretend.

"Suzanne, you found out?"

I didn't answer, just swept my gaze coldly over both of them.

"Kevin, my dad was so good to you, and you helped his killer..."

"Vivian, I treated you like my best friend. My father even paid for your tuition back then. Is this how you repay me?"

Vivian froze for a moment, then a grin spread across her face.

"Repay? Suzanne, you have no idea how much I hated your holier-than-thou act, always expecting gratitude, always pretending to be so good to me."

"I wanted to destroy everything you had! Let me tell you, Kevin and I have been together since college. All these years, every time I saw you foolishly kept in the dark, I almost burst out laughing!"

I was trembling with rage, raising my hand to slap Vivian.

Before my hand could fall, a sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I was kicked three meters backward.

Kevin protectively pulled Vivian behind him.

"Since you found out, then you might as well not live."

Vivian lunged at me, pushing me into the ocean.

A second before my mouth and nose were submerged by the seawater, I heard Kevin's comforting voice to Vivian:

"Vivian, don't worry. I'll cooperate with the police to make it look like a legitimate death for her."

The next day, Kevin called the police.

He knelt at the entrance of the police station, desperately pleading with the officers:

"Officer, please help me. My wife, Suzanne, went missing yesterday."

"She suffers from severe depression and delusional disorder; her mental state is very unstable. I'm really worried about her, please, help me."

Vivian stood by, live-streaming, her face streaked with tears.

"It's all our fault for not taking better care of her, which is why she left alone. If any kind stranger sees her, please contact us immediately."

The comments section of the live stream was filled with messages of comfort for both of them.

The next second, a police officer appeared, looking at Kevin with a puzzled expression.

"Your wife was giving a statement at the police station yesterday. Didn't she tell you?"