Chapter 2The Five-Year Ghost: My Husband Demands I Take the Fall Again

Carter froze, a cold smirk forming as he looked toward the inner room.

"Sarah, I knew you weren't dead. Finally couldn't hold it in anymore and decided to show yourself?"

"Let me tell you right now, you are signing this confession today, or else..."

Before he could finish his threat, a tiny figure peeked out, looking at him with immense caution.

"Daddy, Mommy is dead."

Looking at the frail, tiny Leo standing before him, a flash of shock crossed Carter's eyes.

At eight years old, Leo looked no different than he did when he was three.

A sob tore from my spectral throat. I desperately tried to push Leo back into the room to hide him.

Carter had gone completely insane trying to find a scapegoat for Chloe.

Even though Leo was his own flesh and blood, there was no guarantee he wouldn't hurt him.

Sure enough, Carter's gaze turned icy, though he tried to soften his tone:

"Leo? Why did your mother let you get so skinny? Where is she? Once I make her sign this, I'll take you home, okay?"

"Do you remember Auntie Chloe? She misses you so much. You'll live with us from now on."

Leo timidly pointed a trembling finger at the urns in Carter's hands.

"Daddy, Mommy and Grandma are right there."

Carter instantly lost his patience.

He violently hurled both urns onto the floor. The gray-white ashes spilled everywhere.

Leo froze for a split second, then lunged forward, trying to gather the ashes.

Carter shoved him away impatiently, his expensive leather shoe grinding heavily into the spilled remains.

"Sarah really has ruined you! You even know how to lie now! How could she possibly be dead?!"

Leo burst into tears, wailing loudly. Through his sobs, he cried:

"Mommy really is dead! The family of the lady Auntie Chloe killed came looking for her. They brought knives and hacked Mommy to death!"

Crying uncontrollably, Leo pointed to the thick, jagged scars on his own small body.

"Daddy, I'm not lying. I have scars too."

Looking at his son sobbing in agony, a flicker of doubt finally crossed Carter's eyes.

He gripped the confession letter tightly, a brief flash of pain twisting his features.

The next second, his phone chimed. Chloe had texted him two photos, followed immediately by a phone call.

"Carter, Sarah took her mom and ran away. She must still resent me for what happened years ago."

"I guess... I guess I'll just have to go to prison. Just please, Carter, promise you won't forget me."

As soon as she finished speaking, she hung up.

Panic washed over Carter's face. He quickly dialed her back.

"Chloe, don't do anything stupid! You're about to be promoted to Chief of Surgery, your future is so bright! You can't go to prison!"

"Don't worry, no matter where Sarah ran off to, I will drag her back. I promise you won't go down for this!"

Hanging up the phone, Carter violently yanked Leo toward him.

"I funded your mother's life for five years! What the hell could an ex-con do after getting out of prison anyway?! For all these years, I'm the one who paid for her deadbeat mother's hospital bills! She owes me, and now is the time to pay up! Leo, if you still want to call me your father, tell me exactly where your mother is right now!"

Carter's rough, aggressive handling terrified Leo, making his small body tremble violently.

A sharp, agonizing pain ripped through my chest.

Carter had absolutely no idea. Five years ago, after I took the fall and had my medical license permanently revoked, I was immediately banished to this slum.

As for the so-called "child support," I never saw a single cent of it.

The money had all gone to Chloe's bank account. She used those funds to hire local street thugs to relentlessly harass me day and night. The moment I stepped out the door, I would be cornered in an alley and beaten.

When I finally managed to contact my old medical school mentor for help, I was ambushed at the door of my apartment by the furious family of the patient Chloe had killed.

Seventeen stab wounds. Every single one lethal.

My very last memory before I died was Leo, crying hysterically, calling Carter for help—only to have the call mercilessly hung up, over and over again.

The sound of Leo's crying in the present merged with the echoes of that horrific day.

Seeing that Leo was only crying and not answering, Carter, in a fit of frustration, slapped his own son hard across the face!

Then, he roared in anger:

"Tell me where your mother is right now! If she doesn't show her face, I'm going straight to the hospital to cut off your grandmother's life support!"

Leo was crying so hard he was hyperventilating.

Under Carter's terrifying threats, he could only answer through his tears:

"Mommy is really dead. Grandma is dead too. Daddy, you can go ask the police officers. I'm not a liar."

Looking at Leo's red, swollen cheek, a fleeting trace of guilt flashed in Carter's eyes.

But almost immediately, Chloe called again.

"Carter, the patient's family is at my door! They're saying I need to pay for her life with mine! You have to come back and save me!"

The moment she said that, Carter shoved Leo aside without a second thought!

In his frantic rush to leave, he didn't even notice that Leo had been shoved so hard his head slammed violently against the sharp edge of the coffee table.

Blood instantly gushed out, pooling on the floor.

Leo weakly reached out a trembling, bloodstained hand, trying to ask his father for help.

But Carter was entirely focused on reassuring Chloe on the phone.

"Don't be afraid. I'm on my way back right now!"