All Chapters of Death and the Madness That Follows: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

My mother-in-law, Betsy Dutton, and I reached a consensus instantly. We soon began planning our escape. After much thought, I realized that faking our deaths was the best option. Betsy had been a pampered girl, married to my father-in-law, Rourke Dutton at the tender age of twenty. She had dedicated her life to supporting him and raising their children so she was naive and innocent in many ways. But when it came to acting, she still had her skills. “Naomi dear, I only have so much on hand. How do we begin?” I looked at the documents she handed me, and my eyes widened in disbelief. Three hundred million dollars?I shouldn’t have been too shocked. Betsy came from money. Compared to her, I had a meager five million dollars. But even that was more than enough to last us three lifetimes. “I have a plan!” I said.Betsy trusted me completely so I set the plan into motion without delay. In two days, it would be Rourke’s birthday. We decided to host the party on a luxury

Her words warmed my heart, and I knew exactly what she meant. “I understand, Mom. Meeting someone would be a nice side benefit in life but for now, I just want to spend the rest of my time with you. If fate sends someone to me, I won’t turn them away. “Speaking of which, Mom, I’ve noticed that Mr. James Cotton from next door visits often. Are you planning to start a new chapter in your life?”She hesitated and looked slightly embarrassed. “James’s not bad looking, but compared to Rourke, he does fall short.” A sudden chill ran through me. “Mom, you’re not thinking about going back to him, are you?” She rolled her eyes. “Pfft! Ever since I found out about his mistress, I haven’t thought about being with him again. “But you know, we had been married for so long. It’s hard for me to let any other man in again...” She paused, then shifted the subject. “But this James Cotton—he’s a good man. Young but mature enough. I might give it a try!” I was slightly taken aback. It s

I slapped his hand away dismissively. “You two are cut from the same cloth. Your father keeps a mistress and has a love child with her while you’re out here buying women a whole building.“Don’t you know the precarious position he’s put you in? That child will eventually contest you for the family inheritance!”Julius froze. “A bastard child fighting for my inheritance?” he asked as if testing the truth of the words.“I think you’ve been reading too many novels. But I suppose spending that much time with my mom, what would you have learned anyway?“Or is that what they teach you at university?”I shot him a fierce glare. “These are all the things your father and you have done, so why are you blaming me?”“You need to get your head checked. My dad doesn’t have any bastard children, and my relationship with Valerie is nothing like you think.”“Yeah, right,” I scoffed.“Deny it all you want, but even the reporters can see through it. Let me ask you this: It was Valerie who pushe

The mother and son pair reluctantly stepped aside but didn't leave. They merely stood at the door. At that moment, Rourke spoke from his hospital bed. "Let them in." I was furious at the command but followed Betsy’s cue. She had remained calm as she patted my hand and lowered her head to look at her phone.Once Samantha entered and closed the door, I could hear what seemed like crying from inside. Betsy and I exchanged glances. She scoffed, "So melodramatic!" I nodded in agreement, but then a thought crossed my mind. "Mom, it seems like Valerie knows I'm still alive. She texted me just now."I handed my phone to her, and Betsy paused when she saw the message. She was about to speak when the door opened."Betsy, Naomi, you can both come in now," Rourke called.Betsy and I entered together."Let me introduce you," he began, "This is Samantha Knox." "I know her," Betsy said coldly, "No need for an introduction. That's your illegitimate child, isn't it?""You've misun

Julius held me tightly. "Good job, Darling!" I patted his face. "Alright, let go. Don't need to make a scene.“Oh, by the way,” I added, “Johnson is your late uncle’s son.”Jullius froze momentarily before realization dawned on him. "Johnson? Samantha's son? That makes sense! I knew my dad wasn’t capable of doing something like that.“Still,” he said, as he lowered his voice, “you can’t scare me like that again, Naomi. You don’t know how close Dad and I were to losing it when we thought you and Mom were gone.”I didn’t reply but held him silently as he buried his head in my chest. With a resigned sigh, I wrapped my arms around him.Once Julius recovered, his parents reconciled as well. The family took in both Samantha and Johnson. However, the press had somehow caught wind of everything, and reporters swarmed the estate. Watching the crowd outside, I leaned closer to Julius and whispered, “How did Valerie find out where I was? And how did you?”“You always look so beaut