Chapter 2

2

"Lydia! How can you be so cruel? The old man loved you!" Mrs. Turner tried to play the emotional card.

"Loved me?" I laughed like I'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"He loved me so much that he let his son steal all our savings and run away?"

"He loved me so much that he let you all dump him on my doorstep the second his son vanished? That's not love. That's using me until I'm dead!"

I turned to the neighbors and the police, my voice loud and clear.

"Listen to this! I was only engaged to Travis. We aren't married!"

"He broke my heart and stole the money we saved for a house to run away with a rich woman!"

"Now, instead of finding the son, the family tries to kidnap my life? They want me to be a free nurse for a paralyzed man? Who does that?!"

The crowd was fully on my side now.

"That's sick! This poor girl!"

"Exactly! They aren't even married. Why should she care for him?"

"This family is rotten. The son is a dog, and the parents are no better!"

"Arrest them for abandonment!"

Barnaby jumped up in a panic. "It wasn't my idea! I just helped move him!"

"I even have Travis's old phone right here!"

He pulled out a phone, and I recognized it immediately.

Mrs. Turner froze. This was the final nail in the coffin.

It proved Travis had planned to dump the responsibility on me.

The neighbors started gossiping loudly. "Travis seemed like such a nice guy. What a monster!"

"You never know with these people. Always dressing up while plotting behind your back!"

"He's probably a professional gold digger. Who knows how many women he's scammed!"

"Shut up! My son is a good man!" Mrs. Turner screamed, losing her mind.

"If you keep lying, I'll rip your mouth open!"

Barnaby sneered at her. "Please. Travis told me to put the old man here. He said once he settled in with the rich girl, he'd build me a house!"

"Officer, I even have a note written by Travis himself!"

He pulled a small piece of paper from his phone case.

In my last life, this note never appeared.

In fact, Barnaby had helped Travis frame me back then.

They were all snakes.

Barnaby spat on the ground. "I should've known this would be bad luck!"

"Barnaby! You traitor!" Mrs. Turner screamed and lunged at him, clawing at his face.

"The note is fake! You're trying to ruin my son! I'll kill you!"

Barnaby scrambled behind the police. "See? She's crazy! I'm telling the truth!"

"Take them in," the officer said, having heard enough.

I watched coldly as they were shoved into the police car.

The ambulance took the old man away.

I immediately went inside and started packing my bags. I wasn't staying in this place for another minute.

As I dragged my suitcase out, the neighbors gathered around.

"Lydia, are you moving?"

"Yes. I need to get away from these toxic people before they try something else."

"If they keep dragging my name through the mud, I'll never be able to move on with my life."

The neighbors nodded in support. "You're doing the right thing, honey. Go and live your life."

"Poor girl. Travis really is a wolf in sheep's clothing."

I didn't care what they said anymore. I just wanted to disappear.

By the time the Turners got out of the police station, I was already in a new apartment near my office.

A few hours later, my phone rang. It was Mrs. Turner.

"Lydia! Where the hell are you?!" she shrieked.

I could hear the hospital intercom in the background.

"I moved," I said calmly.

"How could you move?! What about your father-in-law?!"