Chapter 72: Chapter 72: You Really Love Your Wife
In a cheap rented room on the outskirts of Ravenswood City.
Patrick Payne was dumbstruck at the sight of the arriving Ivana Monroe. His legs weakened, and he trembled all over: "You... you’re the young Miss Monroe who was thrown into the river six years ago?"
Time had left no marks on Ivana’s face; she looked exactly like she did when she was thrown into the river six years ago.
Even though Patrick had spoken with Ivana on the phone before, he was still scared when she appeared before him. After committing that guilty act back then, he had nightmares upon returning, dreaming of Ivana being thrown into the river, covered in blood, and ended up sick for a week.
Later, suspecting Ivana’s vengeful spirit was haunting him, he went back to the countryside to seek out a "witch" for a ritual to drive away her spirit.
Patrick’s rented room was very tidy. There were women’s clothes and a dress on the floor-standing coat rack, and children’s toys on the floor.
Patrick dropped to his knees with a thud before Ivana, raising his hand to slap himself hard, tears of remorse flowing down: "I’m a bastard, I’m not human. Miss Monroe, I beg you, forgive me! Don’t tell my wife and kids about what happened back then. It was your sister, Michelle Monroe, who wanted to kill you, and I didn’t partake in harming you! I just took Michelle’s money to dispose of your body in the river..."
"Do you love your wife and children very much?" Ivana’s voice was calm, as if stating a fact.
Patrick nodded tearfully. He wasn’t well-educated, and before having a wife and children, he was just a thug willing to do anything for money.
But having a wife, and at the moment when his vulnerable child was born, he seemed to understand what responsibility was. He needed to shoulder the responsibility of being a father.
Patrick deeply regretted the actions he took for Michelle Monroe back then, but in this world, there are no remedies for regret, so all he could do was ask for Ivana’s forgiveness and help him keep the secret.
"I can promise you that I won’t let your wife and children know about this, but you must help me with something."
"What is it? Do you want me to testify that Michelle Monroe is the murderer?" Patrick shook his head in terror: "No, I can’t do that. If I testify against her, I’ll be an accomplice and will also be sentenced. My daughter, Xixi, just started kindergarten, and my wife is pregnant with our second child. She’s due in two months. I’m the family’s support; they can’t be without me."
Patrick was truly pitiful now.
Hearing that he had one child in kindergarten and another due in two months.
Ivana was momentarily moved, but she couldn’t just let Patrick off the hook.
Everyone must bear the responsibility for the wrongs they have done.
That night, she was thrown into the icy river, and had she not woken up quickly and fought her way to the surface, she would have died with her unborn child.
Patrick’s action of helping Michelle Monroe was nothing short of murder.
"In my possession, there’s a video you sent to Michelle Monroe of disposing of the body, and a remittance slip with your name on it," Ivana said calmly.
Ivana’s words hit Patrick like a baton, leaving his face pale, collapsing his legs on the ground.
Patrick had never forgotten how six years ago, at Michelle’s request, he sent the video of disposing of the body. He had tried to get the video back from Michelle a few times later, but she refused to give it to him. The last time he asked, she was annoyed and said she had deleted it.
If this video made its way to the police, it would become evidence of his crime, and he would have no way to escape.
"Miss Monroe, I admit that I was ignorant and committed a crime back then. But aren’t you and your son living well now? Are you here to use the video to push me to death?"
Patrick looked at Ivana with resentment in his tearful eyes, trembling violently all over. The two Monroe sisters were nothing good; if he had known, he should have smashed her head more thoroughly with a stone when he disposed of her.
She wouldn’t stand here today, threatening him with the video and remittance slip.
Patrick radicalized, thinking Ivana was ungrateful. Because he hadn’t disposed of her body far enough back then, she got the chance to climb ashore and survive to today.
Yet like a vicious dog, she came back to bite him six years later.
Ivana sneered coldly in her heart. She initially wanted to tell him that as long as he testified against Michelle Monroe, even if he was sentenced, she would cover all expenses for his wife and children during his incarceration.
It seems unnecessary now.
The vicious look in this man’s eyes showed he regretted not killing her off back then.
"If that’s what you think, you could bash your head against the wall and wait for your wife and kids to come back and claim your body. Of course, you could also choose to go to the police with me and testify against Michelle Monroe’s crimes. You are merely an accomplice in Michelle’s murder. If you voluntarily confess and testify against her, the law could be lenient, and you may only serve a few years. With good behavior, you might be out in two to three years."
The choice of weight Ivana left to Patrick to ponder.
A moment later.
"Fine, I’ll go to the police with you." Patrick said through gritted teeth.
Ivana had anticipated this outcome, but hearing Patrick agree made her heart clench, her eyes a little damp. She had finally reached the day Michelle Monroe would be put in prison.
At this moment, a pregnant woman carrying groceries returned.
Patrick quickly got up, wiping away his tears. As he passed Ivana, he whispered, "Don’t tell my wife, or I won’t help you testify."
Ivana just wanted to achieve her objective. She wouldn’t interfere or say anything unnecessary.
Patrick walked briskly to the woman’s side, taking the groceries from her hand and supported her: "Honey, you’ve had a hard day."
The woman shook her head with a smile, seeing Ivana: "Oh! We have a guest at home?"
Patrick: "She’s my client, staying nearby. She had an urgent errand this morning but couldn’t get a ride, so she came to find me to drop her off."
The woman didn’t doubt him, urging Patrick: "Patrick, then you should go quickly."
Patrick helped the woman to sit down and placed the groceries on the floor: "I have to change my clothes first!"
Ivana watched the warm scene between the couple. The woman seemed completely immersed in the joy of expecting a child, not doubting Patrick’s words at all. Ivana’s long lashes fluttered down: "Patrick, I’ll wait for you outside."
After Ivana left, Patrick closed the door of the rented room, changing his clothes inside.
But soon, a piercing, terrified scream came from inside the rented room.
Ivana sensed something was wrong. Without thinking, she turned and pushed open the door to the rented room and saw Patrick with his throat slit, lying shirtless in a pool of blood. Ivana was frightened pale.
Ivana’s scalp tingled as she looked around the room, and apart from Patrick’s wife screaming, there was no third person.
Before Ivana could ask her who killed Patrick, a chilling wind whisked up behind her.