Chapter 4: PunishmentThe Key That Failed

Blake shoved me away hard. "How dare you, Helena!" He was shivering.

Melinda was lying in a pool of blood, clutching her belly. Her face was a mask of pain. "Of course she hates me. Of course she won't accept me, but I can't believe she attacked the baby…"

Blake's eyes were filled with disappointment. "I can't believe I married a vile witch like you! Must've been blind!" He picked up Melinda and went straight to a doctor.

People around us screamed, and some cursed.

"That doctor tried to kill her!"

"I can't believe it! She calls herself a doctor?"

I was still holding the knife, and blood was splattered on my whole body. Fifteen minutes later, my phone was filled with insults and vitriol, while trash thrown from the mob hung on my coat.

The first thing my father did after rushing to the hospital was slap me. "She's your sister! How could you?"

My brother was glaring at me with red eyes. "You're not my sister! Melinda's the only sister I have!"

My best friend glared at me and shouted about cutting all ties with me. I went back to my office. My seat was smeared with insults written in red ink. "Mistress", "murderer", and all kinds of names they could think of.

My mother despised mistresses when she was alive. In a daze, I quickly posted a statement on the official website. "Melinda's the mistress, just like her mother! I'm innocent!"

My father quickly refuted, posting his and Melinda's mother's marriage license under the post. "Melinda's mother is not a mistress."

I stared at the stamp, stunned. So that license he had with my mother was a fake.

My heart shattered.

The graveyard's attendant suddenly called. "Someone crushed your mother's grave, Ms. Lampton! You have to come over now!"

I arrived staggering and hobbling. The excavator was smashing my mother's grave again and again. "Stop! Don't smash it!"

The excavator's roars drowned out my voice, and the rollers crushed my legs. My shrill screams pierced the clouds. I called Blake without thinking, but no one picked up. I called him again, but his phone was turned off.

That took all my strength, and I lay in a pool of my own blood like a broken doll.

A video from Melinda came to me.

Blake kissed her lips deeply, and he said something through his sobs. "We'll have more children of our own. I'll have someone smash her mother's grave. I will not let you and your mother suffer."

The video played again and again, and every time it did, my heart cooled further until it was frozen.

Her texts came next, every single one challenging.

"Your mother's a mistress, just like you."

"Mistresses get put in their place! Tell your mother I said hi when you see her in hell!"

Despair washed over me, and I closed my eyes.

…

Three hours later, Blake and his entourage arrived at the graveyard. He was going to get back at me for Melinda, but the moment he stepped into the graveyard, he wobbled, and his legs nearly buckled.