Chapter 3

She knew. Everyone knew.

Brandon hated and despised nothing more than me.

Everyone in our immediate circle knew that.

However, when I was a teenage girl, I fell in love with him. To me, he was as bright as the stars.

It just so happened that he was in love with someone else.

When his parents disapproved of his relationship with Olivia, he got into a fight with his parents for the first time ever.

It was my first time seeing Brandon like that. The light was slowly dimming in his eyes, and he looked extremely defeated.

My heart ached at the sight, so I stole his passport for him and gave him all the money I had saved just so he could escape to see Olivia.

As he left through the window, his eyes were sparkling like stars in the sky. He thanked me and promised to bring me to have dessert at Southern Memories.

That was our very last friendly exchange.

He did not manage to find Olivia.

He lost his spark after he came back. He spent his days drunk in his room.

When he was at his drunkest, he thought that I was Olivia.

That was the first time I ever had him.

After his parents discovered what he had done, they forced him to marry me. I agreed.

His eyes were red when he grabbed my shoulders and demanded an answer.

I told him I was pregnant and wanted to give him a family.

He started to smash everything around him, including his eighteenth birthday present from me in anger.

When he had worn himself out, he leaned against the wall and stared blankly at me. He said, “Wren, you’re shameless.”

I knew Brandon had loved Olivia for five years.

But I had loved him for ten years.

I wanted to get closer to him, but he pushed me away. Shards of glass dug into my palm and blood oozed out.

The blood reminded me of his rage-filled eyes as he questioned me why.

…

“Brandon, come over at once! We found another leg at a different place!” Nate’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

Brandon immediately ended the call even though his mother had something else to say.

Brandon only said, “She has legs! If you care so much about her, remember to chop her legs off next time! Don’t bother me with her nonsense!”

I looked in the direction that Brandon was heading.

Oh, there was no need to chop off my legs.

Someone had already done so.

“Brandon, the leg belonged to the same person as the dismembered arm.” Nate was examining the leg that they had just retrieved from the underground sewer with his gloves on.

The leg was already swollen from soaking in the dirty water. The dirt had gotten into the opened wound, and it smelled absolutely horrible. No one dared to get close to it when it was first retrieved.

“Are the DNA results of that arm out?” Brandon frowned as he said while he stared at the leg.

“The preliminary result suggested that it belonged to the Burr family of Doe City.”

Brandon was stunned. The familiar place and last name got to him.

After the Damon family took me in, I never got the chance to visit my parents’ grave.

When I was younger, I kept crying as I wanted to look for my parents. Brandon would comfort me and say, “Don’t be afraid. When you’re older, I’ll bring you to visit them.”

When we grew up, he had forgotten his promise.

I had once begged him when we got married. “Can you accompany me to visit my parents? Please?

He only frowned and complained that I was being annoying. He said that I did not deserve to visit my parents.

Thinking about it, my father’s nameless grave must be overgrown with weed.

…

“I’ll go to Doe City in a few days’ time. You should look into the recent drug cases.”

Nate nodded and asked hesitantly, “Brandon, are you really not going to look for Wren? After all, she has treated us…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Brandon’s phone ringtone.

“Brandon, I can’t find the necklace that I just bought. Can you come back home and help me look for it?”

After Olivia had said that, Brandon’s frown immediately disappeared. He chuckled. “You’re so forgetful, Olivia. Don’t worry, I’ll head back soon.”

His face looked so warm and tender.

After he ended the call, Nate still wanted to say something, but Brandon cut him off.

“Nate, I told you, I don’t want to hear that name ever again!

“Besides, I’ll divorce her soon.”

…

Even though I had heard that statement several times before and had already mentally prepared myself for a divorce, I still felt upset when I heard it directly from the person I loved the most.

I looked at Nate as he hung his head low. He was staring innocently at his phone.

Silly boy. I only made him a meal when he was hungry. Why did he remember it for so long?