Cheryl's POV

I had already booked our tickets to leave the country.

But before we could go, I got the news that our children, Shawn Fraley and Cedric Fraley, were dead.

When I saw their little bodies, dark and swollen from the poison, my world just shattered. There was no help given, no rescue, no chance to save them.

For years, Vince used the kids to control me. Every threat worked like magic. He knew I’d bow my head, bury my pride, and do whatever he wanted, just to keep them safe.

But now?

He couldn’t threaten me anymore.

I lowered my head and gave the urns in my arms a gentle, loving smile.

“Shawn, Cedric... you’re here with Mommy now. And you’ll never be taken away again.”

Seeing me talking to the urns, Vince’s face turned pale. He glared at me like I was something disgusting.

“Stop clinging to those damn jars like you're some grieving saint,” he spat. “Cheryl, I’m telling you one last time—get out. Stop embarrassing yourself.”

“You really think I’m scared to divorce you?”

I stepped closer—and that’s when I saw it. His eyes were full of anger. He didn’t even care about the murmurs spreading through the crowd anymore. He just signaled his bodyguards to drag me out.

Some people in the crowd looked like they wanted to help. But before they could step forward, their friends pulled them back.

“Don’t get involved. This is Vince’s family business. You really wanna mess with someone like him?”

“Exactly. And look at her, she clearly got what was coming. Her husband’s cheating out in the open, and she still shows up like everything’s fine. Pathetic.”

“Honestly? She probably deserves it. Some women dig their own graves.”

The guards slammed me so hard to the ground outside that I nearly dropped the urns. Fortunately, I managed to dive forward and used my body as a shield.

I caught them—barely.

Clutching the urns close, I choked out an apology.

“I’m so sorry, Shawn… Cedric… Mommy failed you…”

One of the bodyguards sneered and kicked me hard. “Take my advice. Go back to scrubbing floors where you belong, and stop making a scene. Piss off the boss any more than this, and you won’t live to regret it.”

Sure enough, that same night, a story exploded online.

One of those sleazy gossip accounts posted a headline that rocketed to the top of the trending list in under thirty minutes.

[Trending! Vince’s Wife was Caught Cheating, So She was Beaten in the Snow Like a Dog!]

The post included a video, over ten seconds long.

It showed me, stripped from the waist up, kneeling in the snow as a whip lashed across my back again and again.

The whip was custom-made, with barbed hooks. Every strike tore open my skin, painting the snow behind me red.

Under the video was a storm of vile comments:

[Isn’t this the crazy woman who showed up at the auction today? What a joke. She gets caught cheating and still dares to act all high and mighty? She really doesn't want a face.]

[I told you. She must've done something to deserve that. She's hopeless.]

[Honestly? That beating wasn’t even enough. Should’ve whipped her to death.]

The flood of hate was unbearable.

None of them knew the truth.

None of them even cared to ask.

Ever since Darlene moved into the mansion, she’d beat me whenever she was in a bad mood. That whip? It was her favorite.

And Vince?

He handed it to her himself.

Back when I paid for Darlene to attend college, my mother caught her in our bed, wearing lace lingerie, trying to seduce my husband.

My mom went ballistic. She called Darlene an ungrateful leech and a home-wrecking tramp, then whipped her thirty times with that same barbed lash.

Vince said nothing at the time.

But clearly… he never forgot.

Cheryl's POV

When my mom was seriously ill, Vince could’ve saved her.

But he didn’t lift a finger.

And Darlene? She was the one who pulled out my mom’s oxygen tube.

She looked me in the eye and said it was their revenge.

Looking back now, maybe all of this was just my punishment for marrying Vince.

I turned off my phone and stopped checking the news online. I couldn’t take it anymore.

The mourning hall was still set up. I placed the two urns gently on the table, and the tears just wouldn’t stop.

I hated myself for being so weak, so spineless.

If I had just stood my ground earlier, forced the divorce, and taken the kids abroad when I had the chance… would things have ended differently?

Would they still be alive?

I cried until my voice gave out, collapsing to the floor with nothing but regret. The grief came in waves, drowning me.

Then, I heard footsteps outside.

Darlene’s voice followed, dripping with flirtation and sugar-coated seduction.

“Vince, thank you for the necklace. I’ll make sure to repay you properly tonight.”

She stepped into the mourning hall and wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh, what a depressing setup. Your wife’s really lost it. Isn’t she taking this act a little too far?”

Vince lazily glanced around, then suddenly grabbed Darlene by the waist and lifted her up onto the table.

“Who cares? We’ve never tried it in a mourning hall before, have we?” He smirked. “It’s been months since I’ve had your pussy… wanna give it a go right here, little minx?”

Right there, in front of my children’s altar, they started indulging themselves.

They were so lost in each other, they didn’t even see me lying on the floor just a few feet away.

Still, I stayed silent, quietly unlocked my phone, and hit the record button instead.

Then, using the exact same tactics Vince had used on me, I posted the video online.

The next morning, he kicked open my door in a fit of rage.

“Cheryl! Are you insane?! Did you post that video last night?! If you’ve got a problem, take it out on me! Why drag Darlene into this? She’s just a young girl! Do you want to destroy her?!”

He grabbed my collar with shaking hands, fury burning in his bloodshot eyes.

“Delete it. Now!”

I stared at him blankly, then let out a cold laugh.

“Why? Isn’t this exactly what you taught me? You were the one who hired fake accounts to flood the internet with lies about me. I’m just returning the favor.”

The video of their little performance went viral overnight.

People couldn’t look away, especially because it all happened right in front of two black-and-white portraits—my children’s memorial photos.

And I’d made sure the caption couldn’t be ignored:

[Twisted! Father of Two Dead Children Caught Having Sex in Their Mourning Hall]

Vince went ballistic. I heard he smashed one of the antique wine glasses he bought for a fortune at the auction.

The footage was crystal clear.

Every detail of Darlene’s body was exposed, right down to the small baby bump that hadn’t gone unnoticed by sharp-eyed viewers.

As such, another wave of public outrage erupted.

But I didn’t feel even a flicker of satisfaction.

I sat silently, staring at the urns that held my babies.

This was just the beginning.

But Darlene started losing it. She pulled a knife from the kitchen, screaming she’d kill herself.

Next, she threatened to jump from the second-floor balcony, driving Vince crazy.

He kept coming back to threaten me, demanding I delete the video before things got even uglier.

“Do whatever you want,” I told him with a scoff, slipping into a fresh outfit and walking out of the house without looking back.

From then on, he had his bodyguards tracking my every move, constantly checking where I went, afraid I might retaliate against Darlene.

But I didn’t go anywhere shady.

I just went to the auction house every single day.

At first, the regulars there looked down on me with whispers, sneers, and pitiful glances.

Then they got curious.

And slowly, their eyes changed from scorn to respect.

I never bid on anything else.

Only one thing.

Cheryl's POV

All I wanted was to get rid of two lives.

So, I kept raising that offer from time to time.

But this time, when I walked into the auction hall, I wasn’t wearing torn, shabby clothes anymore.

I was dressed in a luxury designer outfit worth tens of millions.

That’s when the staff finally realized—I wasn’t here to mess around.

They politely escorted me into the VIP room and asked cautiously, “Miss, we have strict requirements for a job order. You need to have assets of over a billion. May I ask what your financial standing is?”

I handed him my bank card and answered, “Take a look.”

The moment they saw the balance, their jaws dropped.

“One hundred billion?!”

“Oh my god, I’ve never even seen that many zeros before.”

“Who is she?! Even Mr. Fraley just hit the hundred million mark. There’s no way his wife could be this rich, right?”

Every eye in the auction house turned toward me. The whole place buzzed with shock.

The bodyguards who had been monitoring me ran to tell Vince.

Vince's POV

“This is ridiculous,” I scoffed after my bodyguards filled me in on what was happening.

I sneered, “All her accounts are frozen. Does she actually think she has money?"

"And what job order? She's ridiculous! She probably found someone to stage this with her. I’d love to see how long she can keep up the act.”

I didn’t take it seriously at all. I was too busy hiring fake accounts to bury the trending video of me and Darlene.

Cheryl's POV

Meanwhile, I announced a job order at the auction: sky-high payment in exchange for two lives.

At first, everyone watched from the sidelines, unsure if it was for real.

But after the auction ended, someone stepped forward.

His name was Bond Hoffman.

“Miss Johnson. It’s been a while,” he said with a calm smile, reaching out his hand. “I’m accepting your job order.”

He stood in the light, face shadowed, but something about his voice struck me as eerily familiar.

Yet, I didn’t overthink it.

I simply gave him two names.

“Vince Fraley. Darlene Daniels. They’re the ones who killed my children. I want their lives for justice.”

Vince's POV

Back at the villa, I paced the living room restlessly, nerves fraying at the edges.

Then I got a call from the bodyguards stationed at the auction house.

"Sir, your wife spent three billion and found someone who took the deal. She’s placed a hit on two people."

My face went ghostly pale.

I shot to my feet, stunned. “No way… Where the hell did she get that kind of money?”

As the realization dawned, whatever color was left in my face drained completely.

“Wait… she couldn’t mean me and Darlene, could she? All I did was whip her a few times… and okay, maybe the online attacks were a bit much, but is this really worth murder over?!”

Just then, my assistant came running in, panic written all over his face.

“Something’s happened, sir! You told me to pick up your children from the safari park to use them as leverage against your wife, right? But we searched every inch of that place, and they weren’t there. We asked the staff. They said a week ago, both boys were bitten by venomous snakes. They’re now dead.”