My Mother Faked Her Death To Protect My Husband’s Mistress Chapter 09
The Price of the Lie
Claire shows her true colors faster than I expect.
Once Elliot cuts her off, everything falls apart.
He stops paying the rent on the villa on the west side and stops covering her expenses.
And he no longer steps in when she gets into trouble at work.
Claire is used to having everything handed to her. Once Elliot stops cleaning up her messes, she falls apart fast.
A few days later, Elliot takes me to the hospital for a follow-up.
In the underground parking garage, we run into her.
Claire is clinging to the arm of an older, heavyset man, laughing so hard her whole body leans into him.
The second she sees Elliot, the smile freezes on her face.
She throws the man’s arm away in a panic.
“Elliot, let me explain.”
Her eyes turn red as she hurries toward him, reaching for his sleeve.
“I really didn’t have a choice. I can’t pay the rent anymore, and he was holding work over my head.”
Elliot steps away before she can touch him.
The disgust in his eyes is plain.
He looks at her like she is something rotten.
“Claire,” he says, his voice flat with exhaustion, “you make me sick.”
There is no anger in his tone.
Only a kind of deep, tired self-loathing.
Maybe he finally sees it now.
For a vain, selfish woman like her, he destroyed the wife who once looked at him like he was her whole world.
Claire realizes her tears are not working.
So she stops pretending.
“I make you sick?” She lets out a cold laugh. “Elliot, who gave you the right to say that to me?”
She points at me.
“You strung me along while acting like some devoted husband in front of June.”
Her voice rises.
“You agreed to let Mrs. Harper fake her death.”
“You drove June insane with your own hands.”
“And now you want to play the loving husband?”
Every word lands hard.
Elliot’s face goes pale.
He turns to look at me at once, afraid her words will set me off.
But I only stand there quietly.
To me, it feels like watching a messy scene that has nothing to do with me.
“Are you done?” I ask Claire.
She stares at me.
I look past her toward the elevator.
“If you are, please move. You’re blocking the way.”
Her face twists, like she has thrown a punch and hit air.
In the end, she grits her teeth and leaves with the middle-aged man.
Back in the car, Elliot’s hands shake on the steering wheel.
He does not start the engine.
Instead, he lowers his head until his forehead rests against the wheel.
A broken, muffled sob fills the closed car.
“June, I’m sorry.”
His shoulders tremble.
“I really know I was wrong.”
When he lifts his head, his face is wet with tears.
“You can hit me. Curse me. Kill me if you want.”
His voice breaks.
“Just please give me one chance to make it right.”
I look at him the way I would look at a stranger.
“Mr. Pierce.” My voice is calm.
“If you know you were wrong, then sign this.”
I take a document from my bag and hand it to him.
The words on the cover are clear.
Divorce Agreement.
Elliot stares at it as if it is a snake.
“I won’t sign.”
He leans back from it, stubborn and frightened.
“I will never sign it.”
I place the agreement on the dashboard.
“You don’t have to.”
Then I open the car door and step out.
“But I won’t go back to that house again.”
I move out that day.
Elliot does not stop me. Or maybe he does not dare.
He is afraid that if he pushes too hard, I will break again.
After that, he waits outside my apartment building every day like a shadow.
As for Mom, the backlash finally reaches her.
Claire, furious at Elliot, leaks the fake death to the media.
The headline spreads online within hours.
Shocking! Executive’s Mother-in-Law Faked Her Death to Help Her Son-in-Law and His Mistress!
Mom’s life collapses overnight.
Relatives, friends, even former students tear her apart online.
Because her death had been legally recorded, even her pension and health benefits become trapped in a complicated mess.
She wanted to disappear.
Now she really is a dead person.
Nowhere to go.
No one willing to take her in.
That afternoon, rain pours outside my apartment windows.
Someone knocks on my door.
When I open it, Mom is standing there, soaked from head to toe.
Wet hair sticks to her face. Her clothes hang heavy on her body.
All the grace she once had in that warm villa on the west side is gone.
“June…”
She drops to her knees.
Then she grabs my leg with both hands.
“I was wrong. I really know I was wrong.”
Her voice shakes with sobs.
“Claire lied to me. She said she couldn’t live anymore. I was confused. I made one terrible mistake.”
She looks up at me.
Rain and tears run together down her face.
“June, my girl, please save me.”
Her fingers dig into my clothes.
“They’re all coming after me now! I don’t even have a place to stay.”