CHAPTER 5

“You were my biggest problem, Sarah. Dad always underestimated me when he compared me to you. I tried my best for him to notice me just once, but he was always after you.”

“In our first year in college, Dad was already hoping you would become his heir when you graduated. He had plans for you and left me with nothing. It hurt.”

“I explained everything to Collins, including my plan to take you down and take over Dad's properties. He understood me because he loved me and cared about my happiness.”

Sarah felt Agatha's words pierce her heart like needles, but she suppressed the pain and maintained a strong front.

She glanced at Collins with tear-filled eyes and saw him smirking at her. Agatha continued, 

“I conspired with Collins and told him to do everything he could to win your heart. I knew you too well, Sarah. Once you fell in love, you’d sacrifice everything for it.”

“My heart raced with joy when he told me you were madly in love with him. That’s when I sped up my plans. I told him to kill your mom, and he did it without hesitation because he loved me.”

Suddenly, Sarah's heart shattered as memories of her mother's death flooded her mind. It felt like a razor was slicing through her chest. She couldn’t believe the man she had courted for four years was responsible for her mother’s death.

She turned to Collins, her eyes swollen with tears, her bottom lip quivering, and demanded through gritted teeth, 

“Is that true? Are you responsible for my mom's death?”

Collins snickered and mockingly muttered, 

“Killing your mom was fun because it made my love happy. These past four years with you have been hell for me. I never loved you. The only reason I married you was because we knew Mr. Richard would disown you when he found out I was poor. And he did, but instead of naming Agatha as his heir, he kept waiting for you. So, we injected him with poison at the hospital, and he died.”

“Now that we’ve succeeded in getting his properties, you mean nothing to me. Sign the document and disappear.”

Sarah’s world crumbled. The tears she had been holding back finally broke free, cascading down her cheeks. She couldn't believe the man she had sacrificed her whole life for had caused her parents' deaths. Betrayed and heartbroken, she felt a fierce desire for revenge.

Wiping away her tears, she steeled herself. She wouldn’t let them see her cry anymore. She reached for the divorce papers from the floor, and Agatha tossed a pen to her. Without even reading through, she signed the papers and, with a disdainful look, muttered,

“You’ll regret everything. Mark my words.”

Agatha laughed heartily at that. She looked Sarah up and down before replying bitterly, “We’re waiting to see what a homeless girl like you can do.”

“It’s just a bluff, my love. How can a vagrant like her compete with people like us?” Collins added, his words cutting through Sarah like daggers.

They slammed the door in her face and disappeared from her sight.

Sarah wished the ground would open and swallow her, but instead, she clenched her fists, trying to soothe the pain in her heart.

Dragging her luggage, she stormed off to the roadside. She looked left and right but saw no cars or any sign of people. 

The sky rumbled, signaling an impending storm. Feeling the first drops of rain, she spotted a tree and hurried to sit beneath it.

Shivering in the cold, she thought about how she would survive, having no friends or family to turn to.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts. She pulled it out from her back pocket and answered it quickly. It was her best friend, Rita, who had been traveling since their graduation.

“Hi, bestie! How’s married life treating you?” Rita asked cheerfully on the other end.

A burning sensation rose in Sarah's chest at the question. She sighed deeply and replied sadly,

“It’s a mess. Are you back in the States?”

“I am. What do you mean, Sarah? Did Collins hurt you?” Rita asked, her voice full of concern when she sensed the pain in Sarah's voice.

“I’ll tell you everything when I get to your house,” Sarah muttered, ending the call.

She managed to catch a taxi, and before long, she arrived at Rita’s house. She knocked on the door, and within moments, Rita hurried to answer, knowing it was Sarah.

When the door opened, Rita’s face fell at the sight of Sarah drenched and shivering from the cold. 

Rita pulled her inside, and Sarah sat on the living room couch, feeling a bit warmer from the heat in the room.

Rita noticed Sarah’s puffy eyes and handed her a duvet before asking with concern,

“Why were you out in the rain? What happened? And why are you here with your luggage?”

Wrapped in the duvet, Sarah revealed everything to Rita, who gasped in shock.

“He’s a jerk and a murderer. I always had a bad feeling about him, but you never listened to me. He deserves to be in prison for life, not just for betraying you, Sarah, but for killing your parents. We need to report them to the police right now,” Rita urged, her tone sharp.

“Not yet. We don’t have enough evidence,” Sarah replied sadly.

“And how are we going to gather evidence against them?” Rita asked, worry evident in her voice. Sarah lowered her head, and tears streamed down her face as the feeling of helplessness washed over her.