The Proposal They Planned Without Me

Chapter 3

I was about to respond when his phone rang.

He answered with irritation.

His expression changed instantly.

He seized my wrist and dragged me away despite my resistance.

He threw me into the car and sped off.

"Kurt, what the hell is wrong with you?"

His eyes were vicious. "Will you only be happy once you've driven Lois to her death?

"You have no idea how strong she is! You always threaten to kill yourself. How could you ever compare to her?"

I pressed my lips together and touched the scar on my wrist with a trembling hand.

That wound had never been about him.

When the Russo family had been cast aside, everyone had been eyeing what my father left behind.

Some had set their sights on me, too.

When they'd tried to assault me, I'd simply done the one thing most likely to scare them off.

Kurt was the one who'd rescued me.

I'd been shaking uncontrollably, but he'd only told me to calm down. He'd thought my suicide attempt was a way to make him stay.

That was how I'd become the bitter, clingy woman everyone talked about.

We soon reached the orphanage.

Kurt dragged me onto the roof.

Lois's slight figure swayed precariously at the edge of the railing.

At the sight of me, she grew agitated.

"Janet, please forgive me! Don't call me the other woman. I can't let my reputation be ruined like this!

"You've always lived a privileged life, with people fussing over you constantly. I'm different. All I have is Kurt. Even my baby died because of that bowl of soup with peanuts. You gave it to me!"

I frowned.

Peanut soup again. Her sponsorship file clearly stated that she loved peanuts. I'd made the soup for her myself just last month. I hadn't imagined she'd use it to turn everything around and blame me.

So they'd already conceived a child back then. No wonder Kurt hated me so much.

Behind me, his breathing quickened, silently urging me to do something.

Honestly, I was less worried about Lois jumping than about what seeing her fall might do to the children.

One of those children was the boy I wanted to adopt.

When I didn't speak, she cried so hard she could barely breathe.

She lowered her head and sobbed for a moment. Then her gaze suddenly hardened with resolve.

"Janet, if you won't believe me, I'll die to prove my innocence!"

With that, she jumped.

Kurt's eyes widened in horror. He shoved me and roared, "If anything happens to her, you'll pay for it!"

I fell to the ground. How absurd.

I was a victim too.

Besides, hadn't she been looking down just now to check whether the rescue air cushion was ready?

In the end, Lois was fine apart from a few scrapes.

I felt nothing as I watched Kurt fuss over her, trembling with worry.

Clutching my scraped knee, I searched the crowd for the boy.

Before long, Bruno and I made eye contact.

I moved to a corner and beckoned him over.

I couldn't have children. I'd wanted to adopt Bruno for a long time, but the paperwork still hadn't gone through.

He hurried over. I was about to hug him, hoping to hear him secretly call me Mom.

But he stopped short of reaching me and said only, "You're a murderer."