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Wiping tears,I ran downstairs and headed home.
Late that night,Chloe returned,triumphant.
“Sarah,I don’t owe you.I gave you Derek,and now he’s back where he belongs!”
I said coolly,“You think sleeping with him makes you Mrs.Holt?Mrs.Holt hates you.Derek can’t stand you.WIth just a few words from me,and he’s mine again.”
Her face twisted in fury.“Shut up!Who do you think you are?”
“You are the one who pushed him on me,saying you needed 600,000 yuan for a crash.I followed your plan.But there was no crash.We’re not poor.You and our parents conned me.What’s wrong with me conspiring back?”
She pointed,trembling.
I continued,“I know everything.The$5 million lottery when I was born,their‘late nights’in a mansion,crying poor while eating gourmet,the two failing factories.And I know about the two factories—bankrupt now, but still worth millions if sold off.”
“Chloe,they’re dead.We split the money.Give me$2 million,and you can have the Holt throne.Derek’s legless,undesirable.Have his kid quick,and the Holts are yours.Me?I never loved him anyway..I’d rather focus on my studiies.”
She wavered,then paid me and told me to leave.
I packed and left for campus.
On the way,I texted Derek,wishing them a happy family.
Two toxic people together—what could they do but destroy each other?
I saw Chloe again during sophomore winter break.
She showed up at my campus,pregnant,emaciated,face bruised.
Derek,even crippled,never stopped abusing.
I didn’t care.
She knew who he was and still threw me to him.
Let her taste endless beatings.
“Sarah,I’m homeless.Let me stay one night.”
“A pregnant woman alone?Too risky.I’ll call Derek.”
“No!”she shrieked.“I’m leaving right now!”
Her tone was off.“School days were better.I regret it.You should be Mrs.Holt.”
I waved her off.“Pass.Can’t handle it.”
She came and went fast.
Something felt wrong.I didn’t stay in my rental,grabbing clothes and booking a hotel.
A neighbor called.A pregnant woman had hacked at my door with a knife at midnight.
Terrifying.
Stay away,they warned me not to come back.
Police arrested her.
The truth came out,I was stunned.
Chloe had poisoned the Holts,skinned and dismembered them.
She’d come to kill me.
If I’d let her stay,I’d be the fourth victim.
She wasn’t pregnant—her“baby”was a pillow to lower my guard,lost to Derek’s abuse.
She was caught.
I couldn’t stay in that rental,haunted by her eerie,belly-stroking image.
I moved out that night.
Junior year summer,Chloe was executed.
Her inherited wealth,after reparations,came to me.
I bought a house,started a clothing studio,and opened an online shop,thriving.
I repaid supportive relatives double.
Life finally settled into something normal.
The nightmare of my past life faded.
