Chap 97
“I’m not unwilling to reveal everything; I’m just worried that if I do, you might have a heart attack. But if Grandma is sure she can handle it all, I’ll lay it all out,” she replied casually.
“Julie, I think we should just go home. I can’t bear to see my daughter being slandered by others,” Penelope said, now pulling Phoebe’s arm.
“Aunt Phoebe clearly had a husband even when she married her first husband. That’s the first point,” Abigail didn’t want to give up just yet. “Even then, she was pregnant with Gisel, who turns out not to be her first husband’s child. Nor is he Deryl’s child, the man who is still her husband.” She continued. Penelope and Phoebe looked at Abigail with wide-eyed shock.
“Gisel is the result of Aunt Phoebe’s affair with her own father-in-law. Isn’t that right, Aunt?” Abigail asked with a sardonic smile. “The second fact, Grandma. All this time, Aunt Phoebe has been prostituting herself under her father’s control.” Julie Madsen gasped, while Phoebe and Penelope remained silent. “The third fact, and undoubtedly more painful. Your beloved daughter-in-law is a murderer.
“She turned the clinic where she works into an illegal abortion clinic. And for the past two years, she’s been working there. Investigation results concluded that Aunt has taken the lives of more than a hundred people and billions of rupiahs as profits from those abortions.”
Mrs. Julie held her chest, which might have felt tight. No one interrupted. In fact, Julie Hampton still couldn’t believe the reality revealed by Abigail. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Penelope didn’t expect Abigail to know all their crimes.
The three women fell silent. Meanwhile, Gladwin, unbeknownst to them, had left briefly and returned with three envelopes that he always carried. He handed the brown envelopes to his mother.
Julie Hampton opened them with trembling hands. The first envelope contained the DNA test results of Gisel. The second envelope contained photos of Phoebe with a man named Deryl. Photos of their wedding, and photos of the woman with several other men in positions that could be considered more than just friendly. And the third envelope contained photos of Phoebe in the hospital and some abortion contract documents. Along with photos of evidence of fetal destruction carried out by the woman and her accomplices, seemingly done in the backyard of a
Abigail also found a flash drive inside. “You better not try to open that flash drive. It contains nothing but indecent videos made by one of Aunt’s clients,” Abigail said, instantly causing Mrs. Julie to throw the flash drive away as if it were repulsive.
“I-It’s all just edited. Phoebe didn’t do any of that,” Penelope was still making her final attempt to defend Phoebe. Meanwhile, Phoebe herself remained silent, frozen with tears streaming down her face. Her expression showed nothing.
“Perhaps for the prostitution case, Aunt will only be made a victim. While Aunt’s father will be accused as a pimp. And for the polyandry case, there is indeed no evidence because you married in secret.
“As for the abortion case, Aunt knows the punishment herself. Revocation of the doctor’s license and imprisonment will surely await the doctor.” Abigail stared sharply at Phoebe, who responded with an equally piercing gaze. Suddenly, the woman smirked sarcastically at Abigail. The smirk gradually turned into laughter. Not laughter of joy, but hysterical laughter that sounded agonizing.
“You! What do you know about me?!” She shouted. “All this time you’ve only known how to receive affection from your family. But me?!” She looked at Julie, then at Penelope. “To fulfill their obsession. To fulfill their obsession, I had to sell myself without getting anything in return.
“I got nothing but numbness! I couldn’t even love the man I love freely!” She whispered at the end of her sentence. Her eyes were directed at Gladwin. “I love you. Since forever. Since the beginning I knew you. But she underestimated you!” Phoebe pointed at her mother again.
“Just because you come wearing a worn shoes and old clothes. Just because you don’t drive a luxury car. Just because you’re a younger man than me. According to her, you’re not worthy of me. But I love you!
“Aku yang lebih dulu mencintaimu daripada bocah ingusan itu!” She shouted again. Her face had turned red, and tears flowed freely. Abigail, Gladwin, and Julie knew that those tears weren’t fake. They stemmed from the torment she had been holding inside.
“Is it wrong if I want him? Yes! Initially, it was for the money. But I also wanted him for myself!” Phoebe emphasized her words towards Abigail. “And you! You ruined everything. You brought all this garbage to me. What do you know, huh?!”
“I indeed don’t know anything. I don’t know your feelings. I don’t know what happened to you. But I know that what you did was wrong!” Abigail remained just as cold.
“Wrong? What’s wrong? I became a good daughter by fulfilling my parents’ wishes. So, where’s the wrong in that?”
“It’s your mindset that’s wrong!” Gladwin spoke up. He, who had been observing silently, now voiced his opinion. “You’re too afraid of being poor; that’s why you did everything. Squeezing your innocent ex-husband and even putting him in jail by framing him just because he’s poor.
“But that’s not the only reason, right? You’re afraid your ex-husband will tell the whole world that you also served his father. Despite the genuine love he gave you, you rejected that sincerity just because you’re afraid of being poor. And you blame your parents?” Gladwin snorted in disgust.
“You weren’t an innocent child when your father gave you that idea. You could have run to the other side of this country. Or you could have gone to a foreign country where no one knew you. Many uneducated people out there survive. Meanwhile, you?NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.
“You’re educated. You could seek experiences. But you didn’t think that far. You didn’t do it. Why? Because you’re afraid of being poor! You’re afraid of living in hardship!
“You say you can’t love the man you love. Then what words did you express to the man named Deryl if not love? You persisted for years being his wife. But you refused to leave with him. Because why? Your parents? No. You did it because you feared he couldn’t meet your needs. Once again, what you feared was poverty.
“You sold yourself, earning riches that you claimed were to satisfy the lust of your parents. Then why did you kill innocent unborn babies? Because why? Because it turns out all the money you earned was not enough for yourself. Not for your family, not for your child. But for yourself. For you and to fulfill your obsession with gambling!
“Word by word, Gladwin’s speech only made the woman freeze in place. Meanwhile, Julie became increasingly silent, not expecting to hear all the facts.
“It wasn’t your parents who ruined you, but yourself. Yet all you had to do was run, but you didn’t. Because everything you did actually benefited yourself more than anyone else. Money. Sex. And gambling. Three things you enjoyed most. Isn’t that right?”
“Y-you?” Julie looked at both Phoebe and Penelope alternately. No words came out of her mouth. The woman only murmured softly as she pressed her chest before finally collapsing unconscious.