Chapter 5
“Hektor, she tried to kill me!” Laria wailed, tilting her head back dramatically, displaying her throat
where the faintest pink mark was barely visible.
‘Your psycho mother–in–law tried to murder me! If I hadn’t defended myself…” Her voice trailed off
into delicate, hiccupping sobs.
Hektor’s face transformed with protective rage as he gathered her into his arms, his eyes burning
with cold fury when they landed on me.
‘That’s not what happened!” I cried desperately, my hands slick with my mother’s blood.
‘Laria deliberately provoked her–called her crazy over and over–then smashed that vase over her
head when she reacted!”
No matter how hard I pressed, blood continued pulsing between my fingers, the crimson pool
beneath my mother’s head expanding with each passing second.
ce flooded my veins as the gravity of the situation crashed over me.
‘Hektor, please,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Please… I’m begging you… call an ambulance. She’ll lie without help.”
My mother had already slipped into unconsciousness, her breathing shallow and ragged.
Hektor seemed to hesitate, reaching for his phone. Before he could dial, Laria let out another
perfectly timed whimper.
‘It hurts to talk,” she whispered, her voice deliberately raspy. “I can barely breathe, Hektor.”
Something in Hektor’s expression crystallized into ice as he looked down at me cradling my bleeding
nother.
‘Fascinating timing, isn’t it, Yunifer?” he said coldly. “I go out of my way to bring your mother home
or your birthday, and she immediately attacks Laria.”
‘Since she’s clearly strong enough to assault someone, she can’t be that badly injured. Let her sleep it off here–maybe she’ll learn to control herself.”
00:11
O
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
3.4%
Chapter 5
With that, he scooped Laria into his arms and turned to the housekeeper.
“Get the car ready. We’re going to the hospital.”
He paused at the threshold, adding with chilling finality. “And make sure Yunifer doesn’t leave the
property.”
I screamed until my throat was raw as they disappeared down the driveway, but Hektor never glanced back.
I eventually managed to get my mother to the hospital anyway, but it was too late.
“I’m so sorry,” the ER doctor said, genuine regret etched across his face.
“If you’d arrived even two minutes earlier, we might have been able to save her.”
I collapsed beside my mother’s body, her skin already cooling beneath my touch. I had no tears left–just an empty, aching void where my heart should have been.
My 26th birthday became the day my mother died.
Why? Even though I was already planning to leave, why did Hektor have to destroy the only family I
had left?
In just four days, I’d lost both my unborn child and my mother.
I was completely alone in the world now.
I watched in hollow silence as my mother’s body was reduced to ashes.
I handled the funeral arrangements myself, burying her remains alongside my father’s. They had
loved each other fiercely in life; at least they could be together in death.
When I returned from the cemetery, my mother–in–law’s personal assistant was waiting with divorce
papers.
Afraid I might change my mind, she’d also booked me on an international flight departing that evening.
As I stared at the ticket and divorce papers in my hand, Hektor called.
“Hey, sweetie,” he said, his voice unexpectedly warm and gentle. “I may have overreacted the other
00:11
3606
Chapter 5
day. I feel terrible about it. How’s your mom doing?”
“If she’s feeling better, maybe the four of us could have dinner together? We could celebrate birthday properly this time.”
Looking at the flight ticket and divorce papers in my hand, a cold smile crept across my face.
your
“That sounds lovely,” I replied, keeping my voice light and casual. “Let’s eat at home. I’ve prepared something special for you.”
“Oh yeah?” The eagerness in his voice was almost childlike. “Now I’m intrigued. Can’t wait to see
what you’ve got planned.”
After hanging up, I handed a heavy box to our housekeeper with explicit instructions: Hektor was to open it personally when he arrived home.
Then, while no one was watching, I grabbed my packed suitcase and slipped away to the airport.
Driving home, Hektor felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest.
An inexplicable sense of dread washed over him.
When he arrived, the housekeeper presented him with a large red box.
‘Sir, this is a gift from madam.”
Hektor’s shoulders instantly relaxed, a smug smile playing at his lips.
‘See? Yunifer still cares about me,” he said, loosening his tie.
‘Maybe I’ll take her to that charity auction next month–let her pick out something sparkly to make up for this drama.”
He felt a flicker of guilt, remembering how her birthday had ended in chaos without even a token gift from him.
Throughout their year of marriage, I had rarely left the house.
Every night when he came home, I’d have his favorite meals waiting.
We’d barely spent a night apart, and each morning I would wake up in his arms, those big, trusting eyes looking up at him with such adoration.
The memory softened something in Hektor’s heart.
“Where is Yunifer?” he asked, glancing around.
“After giving me the box, madam went upstairs and hasn’t come down,” the housekeeper replied, lifting the lid.
The moment Hektor saw what was inside, all color drained from his face.
Beside him, Laria’s scream pierced the air as she crumpled to the floor.
