Chapter 6
Mary glared at them with wide eyes, her voice trembling as she said, “My son is dead, what are you still doing here? Can’t you let people live in peace!”
Owen slammed his stick on the ground and sat down at the table, acting like he owned the place: “Daniel may be dead, but you’re still alive, aren’t you? The money he owed, you still have to pay back just the same.”
A group of menacing thugs surrounded us, sizing us up from head to toe.
Mary’s face went pale–she hadn’t expected that even with Daniel dead, they still couldn’t shake off this debt.
She said, “We could spend our whole lives paying and still never clear it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, someone raised a stick and viciously smashed it down on a bench, breaking it in half.
Mary jumped in fright and quickly shouted, “Fiona, hurry up and get the money out, all of it!”
I cowered behind her, sobbing as I said, “Mary, I don’t have any money. I gave it all to Daniel–I don’t have a penny left.”
Owen seemed to be waiting for exactly those words and
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immediately responded, “No money? That’s easy to handle. This house of yours is worth something, and the land belongs to us now. Anything of value–take it all to pay off the debt!”
With that command, the group began ransacking the place, not even sparing the dishes.
I pretended to be scared and hid in the corner, not interfering with any of it.
Mary watched in agony as the household belongings were
carried away one by one. When someone tried to take the newly painted stool, she rushed over and hugged it tightly, refusing to let go. When someone picked up the old iron pot, she reached out to grab it back too.
She said, “These are my family’s things–you can’t take them! Bandits! Thieves! You might as well just kill me!”
But this group couldn’t care less about an old woman and kicked their way toward the door.
Mary blocked the doorway and even got beaten up a few times.
Even the decorations from the mourning hall were torn down, and the wreaths and various offerings were violently thrown to the ground.
In just a few minutes, the entire house looked like it had been ransacked, with debris scattered everywhere.
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Mary sat in the mourning hall wailing, slapping her thighs while cursing at them.
In the chaos, someone knocked over a candle, igniting the fabric hanging nearby.
The fire quickly spread to the coffin and instantly became uncontrollable.
The entire coffin became like an oil drum, turning into the center of the blaze.
Mary was the first to react, screaming hoarsely, “My son!”
Owen’s gang had just left and the front door was still wide open. Neighbors outside saw the flames and rushed over to help put out the fire.
I mixed in with them, but I knew this coffin wouldn’t stop burning until it was completely consumed.
To ensure his fake death succeeded, Daniel had specially made this coffin using highly flammable wood and had coated it inside and out with tung oil.
In my previous life, I had desperately tried to save it, but in the end only got a pile of ashes.
In this life, I watched coldly as the coffin warped and twisted in
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the fierce flames, revealing the charred corpse inside.
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Through the smoke and fire, Mary sat disheveled in front of the coffin, looking utterly miserable: “My son! My money!”
A neighbor asked in confusion, “What money? Wasn’t it all taken away?”
I understood in my heart–that was the money Mary and I had hidden in the coffin when we were “paying off Daniel’s debts” before.
Daniel had originally planned to take the money and flee after faking his death, but he never expected fake death to become real death.
As for that money, I had already taken it out beforehand.
At this moment, Esther, who had been hiding in the inner room, heard the commotion and ran out.
When she saw the charred corpse, she screamed and nearly fainted: “Daniel!”
Esther’s whole body trembled as she began vomiting violently.
Then she rushed to Mary’s side, grabbed her by the collar, and demanded, “How did Daniel die? Didn’t you say he wasn’t dead? You lied to me!”
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Seeing that the truth was exposed, Mary put on a sorrowful act and said, “I was doing it for your own good, Esther. Your body couldn’t handle it.”
Esther stopped pretending too, shoving Mary away hard and cursing, “You’re still making excuses! Daniel is dead, and I’m not staying here anymore!”
“Where are you going? You must give birth to this child
safely for me!” Seeing that Esther was about to leave, Mary immediately jumped up to grab her.
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