20
Reuben’s words held unshakable certainty.
Addison clutched her head, screaming and sobbing wildly.
She felt that Reuben had become so strange to her.
His cold resolve almost suffocated her.
“Reuben, what are you doing… I did it all to be with you!”
“When did I ever say I’d be with you?” he retorted, “Evelyn was my wife for life. You could never replace her.”
His voice thundered like an approaching storm, making her shake.
Through tears, she stared at him, trembling.
“You didn’t care about Evelyn! If you did, would you have had sex with me? Hurt her hand? And treated me so kindly?
“You had me in your heart, too! You never loved her that much!”
Addison shouted until her throat ached, but Reuben’s gaze only hardened.
“Dare to compare yourself to Evelyn? Who do you think you are?
“I wanted you to learn what ‘paying the price’ truly means.”
The next second, the rope slackened.
Addison plummeted into the boiling oil.
A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the basement.
Less than two seconds later, Reuben hauled her back up.
Even for those few breaths, Addison’s skin and flesh were already seared beyond recognition.
Agony wracked her entire body.
Her once-pretty face was a mangled, bloody mess, grotesque to look at.
“Ah! Ah!” She shrieked, unraveling.
“I’m sorry, Reuben! I’m sorry!”
No one heeded her pleas.
Reuben released the rope again, and she plunged into the oil once more.
The searing pain erupted anew.
Her skin yellowed and shriveled, the pot churning with blood and oil, droplets spitting outward.
Again and again, Addison was lifted, then dropped.
It was a cycle of torment. She couldn’t even die as she wished.
Reuben had become a hellish nightmare.
Unable to bear it any longer, she thrashed wildly, tearing free of the ropes, and hurled herself into the pot.
“Ah!”
Sizzle…
Amid the chaos of sounds, there was no longer a struggle, and silence soon settled.
Addison, like Eddie before her, was charred black, utterly lifeless.
There was no chance of ‘coming back this time.
It was what she deserved, a retribution for hurting Evelyn and destroying those Reuben loved most.
Reuben’s expression remained unchanged, as if the figure before him was just a stranger who’d died, not someone he’d fixated on for years.
< 20
He stood by the pot for a long time, until the oil cooled. Simeon approached hesitantly.
“Mr. Gregson, the boys are awake. They’re crying for you.”
Tll be right there,’ Reuben said, turning, “Did you record everything? We’ll show it to Evelyn later.”
Yes, I did,” Simeon nodded, “Shall we dispose of Ms. O’Neal’s remains?”
Take care of it. Clean up thoroughly in case it upsets Evelyn.”
Reuben didn’t glance back, striding out of the basement.
Outside, the boys lit up at the sight of him.
“Dad! When are we going to find Mom?” Wes, now in clean clothes with bandaged wounds, asked eagerly.
Nolan said nothing, but his eyes shone with the same expectation.
Reuben smiled.
“Once we track her down, we’ll go at once. Be good, okay? Your mom must be worried. She’ll come back.”
As he spoke, his eyelids grew heavier.
“Evelyn will come back… She loves me so much. She loves us so much…”
Reuben crumpled to the floor.
Blood seeped from the wound on his lower abdomen from Addison’s scalpel.
He’d held on so long that it had soaked through his black suit, spreading in a dark, sticky stain.
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