Chapter 155
His wife trusted him–he should have been happy about that.
But the calm in her eyes felt more like indifference than trust.
A bad feeling crept over Eddy. He couldn’t bri
ng himself to leave her side, not even for a moment.
He handed his phone back to the staff and instructed the manager to fire two employees on the spot.
Within minutes, the incriminating video vanished from the internet without a trace, but it still became the talk of the town, fueling gossip over dinner tables everywhere.
Jeannette, watching Blanche’s restraint, was just as baffled.
Blanche knew everything–even the video had come out–yet she showed no anger.
If she truly loved Eddy so much…
Jeannette pushed open the fitting room door. “Blanche, I promise I’ll behave myself as the Anderson family’s daughter–in–law. I’ll cut all ties with Eddy, never try to seduce him again, and I’ll stop destroying your marriage. Please, just spare our father and my mom. I beg you.”
Blanche looked at her coldly. “Did they ever think to spare my mother when they were cheating on her right under her nose?”
The rumors that swept through social media last night–there was no way Blanche
hadn’t heard them.
Jeannette, already abandoned by Eddy, now tried to play the victim, hoping for pity.
“Blanche! Do you want to know how I even met Eddy and got involved with your family? It was Ingrid–she found me, introduced me to Loraine. Ingrid planned all of this because she’s jealous that you stole Eddy from her! She must be the one who leaked the video. I can help you deal with her.” Jeannette watched Blanche’s blank expression, as if she’d known all along.
Panic rising, Jeannette blurted out, “What about Healy? Don’t you want to know why he likes me and not you?”
Blanche’s eyes turned icy as she looked at Jeannette.
Sensing Blanche’s anger–knowing Healy was her weak spot–Jeannette pressed
on, “Healy says you’re selfish and cold. You never help him carry his backpack, you won’t let the housekeeper help, either. You never let him have ice cream, candy, or soda, but you eat whatever you want! Healy has so many complaints about you. If you let Dad and my mom go, I’ll make sure Healy adores you forever.”
“So this is why he pulled away from me?” Blanche almost laughed at the absurdity–so many sleepless nights spent wondering, and the answer was this trivial. Healy’s innocent face blurred in her mind. “If a child can grow to resent his mother over things like that, then maybe he isn’t worth having at all.”
Jeannette knew only Blanche’s mercy could spare Pollock and Rhoda.
She dropped to her knees at Blanche’s feet, voice trembling. “Blanche, I know I was wrong. Punish me however you want, just please…”
Blanche looked down at Jeannette’s crocodile tears. “You’re not sorry–you’re just scared.”
“The police notified me. Pollock and Rhoda have been sentenced. Life for him, twenty years for her.”
“They’ll rot in there for the rest of their lives.”
As Blanche left the boutique, she heard Jeannette’s helpless, furious screams behind her.
She was going to visit her mother’s grave–Eddy would go with her.
Blanche brought a bouquet of tulips for Sheila and shared the good news: Pollock and Rhoda would finally face justice. Quietly, she told her mother, Mom, I’m going to take you someplace where the sky is endless and the sea goes on forever.
Blanche told the cemetery manager she needed to clean her mother’s grave, so he fetched her mother’s ashes and kept them in the office until the work was done.
They left the cemetery.
A few minutes later, someone came and took the ashes.
Late that night, back home, Blanche set a packed suitcase by the back door of the
villa.
Moments later, someone took the suitcase away.
As Blanche returned from the backyard, she saw Eddy welcoming a group of guests at the front door–men, women, young and old.
She didn’t care who they were. She climbed the stairs, hoping to get a good night’s
21:
sleep and save her strength for leaving tomorrow.
Eddy thought she was asleep upstairs, oblivious to what was happening below.
Suddenly, his voice, cold as ice, echoed behind her. “Dr. Smith, thank you for coming tonight. I only want to hear one thing from you: did you help my wife have an abortion that day?”
Blanche froze, turning in shock to look down into the living room.
She heard Dr. Smith’s anxious voice as he shielded his family, “Mr. Simmons, please don’t hurt my family. I’ll tell the truth–your wife is still pregnant.”
Eddy’s voice cut through the air, colder than ever. “My wife is asleep. You’ll perform the abortion tonight. Right now.”
21:47)
