Chapter 3My Husband Faked His Death, So I Cremated Him for Real.

SMACK!

A stinging slap across my face.

Before I could even regain my balance, a shrill torrent of abuse assaulted my ears.

"You wretched hag! After everything you and my brother went through as husband and wife, how could you just stand there and watch him die?!"

My younger sister-in-law had slapped me. I snapped my eyes open.

Her malicious face filled my vision.

"You cold-hearted witch!"

Tiffany's voice was shrill and piercing.

I looked up to see my elder sister-in-law, Scarlett, and Tiffany charging at me like two enraged she-wolves.

Scarlett, heavily pregnant, her eyes spitting fire, pointed a finger at me and snarled,

"It's all because of you, you cold-blooded woman! You refused to help us with the debt, forcing our whole family to die! You're an absolute demon!"

Tiffany Thorne, decked out in flashy makeup, also glared at me furiously, her scarlet-painted fingernail practically touching my nose.

"You, you're so heartless! Even if you and my brother fought, after all you've been through as husband and wife, were you really going to watch them all die before you were satisfied?"

Their accusations rained down on me like a storm, giving me no time to react.

I narrowed my eyes, standing silent amidst their barrage of insults, feigning a terrified stupor. Inside, though, a cold, bitter laugh echoed.

It was just like this in my previous life. Everything happened so suddenly, the bodies strewn across the floor had shocked me into a daze, leaving me utterly helpless.

Just as I rushed forward to embrace Derek, my two 'dear' sisters-in-law suddenly burst onto the scene.

These two had always resented me, constantly stirring up trouble, always finding fault where there was none. They had played a significant role in poisoning my relationship with Derek, pushing us to the point of not even speaking.

Now, without a second thought, they were dumping all the blame and vitriol squarely on me.

It was Derek's own stubborn refusal to listen to advice, his own terrible business decisions, that led to the bankruptcy.

But to anyone unaware, it would seem as if I had driven them to their deaths.

What's more, Derek and I had been separated for over a year. According to our prior agreement, our divorce would have been finalized very soon.

In this second life, the truth finally dawned on me. Derek had planned all of this. He deliberately timed their fake deaths just before our divorce was finalized, so they could escape their debts.

It was all to ensure I'd legally become the sole inheritor of their mountain of debt.

The entire family had conspired, orchestrating this elaborate charade: first, the sudden, tearful 'suicides' to shock me into paralysis, then the two sisters-in-law launched their relentless assault, leaving me utterly speechless and unable to defend myself.

Looking back, it was a meticulously planned trap, each step designed to leave me no room to breathe, no time to think, only to react.