Chapter 2

2

"What could I possibly have to regret?"

Tessa didn't spare the body another glance. She spoke in a commanding tone.

"I came here today for a pre-trial mediation. I don't want to waste time on this nonsense."

"I want you to sign a letter of forgiveness for Dante's brother. He's just a student. He shouldn't have his whole life ruined over this."

I looked at Tessa with ice in my eyes. "Never!"

The only reason Dexter stabbed her was because she caught him stealing from Tessa's house and tried to stop him.

He stabbed her twenty times.

To make it hurt more, he intentionally avoided her vital organs so she would die slowly and painfully.

How could a monster like that deserve forgiveness?

Tessa was a lawyer, yet she was acting against her own conscience to help the man who killed her mother. Her mother would never rest in peace!

Tessa grew agitated.

"Justin Higgins, I'm not asking for your permission! I'm giving you an opportunity!"

"As a top-rated attorney, I can get him acquitted even if we go to court!"

"I just don't want you to embarrass yourself and me when you lose. After all, everyone knows you're my husband!"

I remained unmoved. "If you're so worried about being embarrassed, then let's just get a divorce!"

Tessa looked at me with pure fury.

"Justin! Don't push it! You're really trying to threaten me with a divorce over a little thing like this?"

She pointed at Dexter.

"Even if he accidentally kicked your mother's body into the ditch, isn't he helping clean it up now?"

"He knows he made a mistake. He deserves your forgiveness!"

Dexter was currently standing over the body they had just hauled out of the ditch. He was urinating on it while laughing triumphantly.

I stared at Tessa, horrified. Her face looked monstrous and distorted.

She actually called that act of desecration "cleaning."

The Tessa I once knew, the woman who swore to fight for justice when she first became a lawyer―where did she go?

It seemed it all started when Dante became her intern.

Dante didn't care about evidence; he handled cases based on his own whims.

And Tessa helped him twist the truth, sending innocent victims to prison to cover for him.

I told her she shouldn't do that.

She argued that she was just trying to protect a new intern from the harshness of the professional world.

I looked at her with total disappointment.

"I'll have the divorce papers sent to you tomorrow."

Dante stepped in with a fake, concerned expression.

"Justin, Tessa only spent Valentine's Day with me because she felt sorry for me. If you're mad about that, I apologize."

"Please don't use divorce to scare her. It wouldn't be good if she took you seriously."

Tessa was ignited by his words. She stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.

"Justin! You are being completely unreasonable!"

"I'm telling you now, I won't divorce you. Instead, I will use my status as your wife to sign that letter of forgiveness for Dexter myself!"

She quickly found a pen and paper. Right in front of me, she wrote the letter and signed her name.

"I won't even give you the chance to show up in court!"

"Justin, you brought this on yourself!"