My Husband Freed the One Who Killed My Sister

Chapter 3

Holding up her phone to record, Olivia smiled smugly. "Nora's getting older. Her memory must be going, too. When exactly did I ever say I was going to save Isla?"

Nora shot to her feet. "You nodded just now."

"Did I?"

Olivia smiled, sweet and vicious at once. "Well, I've changed my mind. My dog just shivered, so maybe it's coming down with a cold. Every doctor needs to see it first now. Sorry."

Liam, who had once hated deceit more than anything, merely reached out and patted her head indulgently.

"You little troublemaker."

At that moment, Nora could no longer hold back the rage surging inside her.

Her eyes fell on the hound in Olivia's arms, the same vicious dog that often attacked people and had even bitten Isla before.

She pulled a knife from her waist, lunged forward, snatched the dog away, and slit its throat in one clean motion.

Then she hurled the blood-soaked carcass back into Olivia's arms and lifted a hand to wipe the flecks of blood from her face. "Now it doesn't need a doctor. Will you send one to Isla?"

Terror flooded Olivia's beautiful face, and a shrill scream tore from her throat. "Ah… ah!!"

Crying, she threw herself into Liam's arms. "Liam! Your wife killed our Kiki—boohoo…"

Kiki.

A sharp pain twisted through Nora's heart, and her fingers tightened involuntarily around the blade.

Blood dripped from her fingertips, one drop at a time, like the red blossoms that had once bloomed beneath her that day.

Kiki was the nickname Liam had once chosen for the child in her womb.

That baby had stayed inside her for seven months, and for all seven of those months, Liam had read bedtime stories to the child.

Every night, he would rest his hand on her swollen belly and say, "Kiki, Daddy's here on time again to tell you a story…"

But the same hands that had once rubbed oil onto her stretch marks and massaged her aching body were now stroking Olivia's dark hair, again and again.

And in his eyes was a tenderness Nora had never seen before.

"Don't be scared. I'm here. No one's going to touch you."

Nora bit down so hard she nearly tore the inside of her mouth.

At last Liam lifted his head. "Nora, how much longer are you going to keep this up?"

"This young girl is timid. She can't stand the sight of blood, and she doesn't want to see anything filthy. So as the price for what you've done, no doctor will go save Isla. If she dies, remember this—it'll be your fault. You killed your own sister."

Something in Nora's eyes dimmed.

Once, she had been an innocent girl too, clean and blameless, on the verge of starting college.

It was Liam who had dragged her into the abyss and forced her to stain her hands with blood just to survive.

And now he was turning around and calling her filthy?

Fine.

Her hands were already soaked in blood anyway. One more life on her conscience would hardly matter now.

She yanked Olivia over and pressed the dagger to the kiss-marked skin of her neck.

"Send someone to save Isla right now, or I'll kill her!"

Liam's face darkened. He raised his gun and aimed the black barrel straight at Nora's head. "Would you dare?"

In all these years, this was the first time Liam had ever pointed a gun at her.

And in all these years, it was also the first time she had seen him look at her with such cold, merciless eyes.

She laughed, bitter and helpless. "What exactly did Isla ever do to deserve this? Why are you so determined to drive her to her death?"

"She's only eighteen! She just started college! She respected you so much—how can you stand there and watch her die?"

"And whose fault is that?"

Olivia turned, still sobbing. "Isn't it because you couldn't keep yourself clean? Nora, do you still not understand? Liam minds the fact that your body was touched by other men! He minds the fact that those men killed your child together! Nora, I heard that the second-in-command of that enemy gang had wanted you for years."

Olivia's voice was like the sharpest blade in the world, plunging straight through Nora's chest.

So this was the truth.

Liam had never believed her about what happened back then.

Then what had it all meant—the way she had cut off that lieutenant's head when he lunged at her, trying to protect her own honor, only to enrage their boss and end up disemboweled as a warning?