Chapter 9
Joey couldn’t even muster a single response, only repeating again and again for the journalists to get lost.
As the news of his fake death spread from the live broadcast, the citizens who had specially mourned his passing felt like they had been force–fed a pile of cow dung.
Naturally, the ones who had the worst reactions were the firefighters. They were the ones who had mourned his passing the most, yet they had no idea they were just jokes from beginning to end. From the very beginning, the fire had been caused by Joey, who wanted to pin the blame on me.
Soon enough, Tony arrived with the other firefighters.
“Cap…”
“His voice was hoarse. “No, you don’t have the right to be our captain! You’re nothing but a monster!
The firefighters, blind with rage, rushed towards Joey and surrounded him, beating him onto the ground over and over again. The onlookers half–heartedly tried to stop them, and it wasn’t until Joey was nearly beaten dead that he was pulled out of the circle.
Tony was clearly impacted greatly by what had unfolded, and he apologized to me with tears in his eyes. I’m sorry, Miss Nina! I was blind enough to think of a monster as my brother!”
They were firefighters, after all, and charging into burning buildings to save the day was bread and butter for them. Naturally, they loathed nothing more than fire disasters, so for Joey to betray their profession like that was nothing but the greatest act of betrayal.
* And so, Joey and Winnie were brought away from the scene, and were charged with attempted murder. As the main culprit, Joey was subjected to a five–year sentence in jail, while Winnie was sentenced with three.
For falsifying Joey’s death certificate, Winnie’s medical license was naturally permanently revoked. With that, I divorced Joey without a hitch, taking away a large majority of our combined assets.
In my past life, my in–laws had controlled that money, scolding me for being ungrateful whenever I wanted to use it, so I had no choice but to work myself to the bone to support the family.
My health deteriorated greatly and I was plagued with illness, while the permanent damage the fire had caused to my body tortured me for the rest of my life.
This time, I didn’t have any burns, a son, nor any in–laws to drag me into the mud. I was finally given the chance to live life the way I deserved.
Using the funds I had as capital, I became one of the most renowned entrepreneurs in the city within a mere five years, navigating the treacherous waters of business.
The moment Winnie was released from prison, she came to my company asking for money, insisting that Thad stolen her life.
“I should be traveling the world now, living in luxury homes and driving fancy cars!” She fumed, outraged.
would’ve had a smart son that got into the most prestigious university in the country, and he would have taken care of me for life!”
I was quite taken aback by how she seemed to know what happened in my past life, but her happiness
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Chapter 9
was clearly predicated solely on my misfortune. How could she demand anything of me when she was the one who had stolen my life from me in the first place?
In an act of ‘kindness‘, I sent her abroad to live the life of her dreams, and she died on a foreign street not three months later. Without me working myself to the bone to make money, she had no way to survive abroad.
Then, Joey was released from prison as well. The very first thing he did was to ask Tony and the others for money, but that was clearly an act idiotic enough to deserve him the beating he got from them at the very sight of him.
Meanwhile, his parents had already passed away from mental illness, not being able to withstand public opinion.
In another act of ‘kindness‘, I gifted him a plane ticket, giving him a chance to reunite with Winnie once
more.
“She’s doing very well, you know. Very, very, rich.” I tempted. “If you go find her, I’m sure she’ll treat you well.”
Joey was skeptical of what I had said, and wanted to reconcile with me instead, but he couldn’t do a thing while I was under the constant protection of my bodyguards. Not being able to lay a finger on me, he plotted against Winnie instead.
“I’m just using her,” he promised, time and time again. “Once she outlives her usefulness, I’ll come back here and marry you, don’t worry.”
I personally saw him off at the airport, and he died one month later after accidentally consuming food that was laced with rat poison while wandering the streets.
In my past life, he had pushed me right down the stairs to my death. Five years was not nearly enough of a punishment for him.
Under my command, his demise was made certain, and he was buried right next to Winnie for good
measure.
I had finally avenged myself. No one would ever be able to steal my life from me ever again.
