Stormy, Hubby Forces Daughter to Buy Meds for Mistress’s Dog!

Chapter 4

I screamed at Jack, my throat raw, every word soaked in the anger and heartbreak that had been building up for so long. I didn't care if he could handle the truth. I just needed to unload, to say everything that had been eating away at me.

Jack froze, his eyes bulging, his face red with shock. It was like he was seeing me for the first time. He couldn't wrap his head around it, me, the woman who had always adored him, now yelling and hitting him, wishing he was dead.

Mandy, of course, rushed in to play the hero, stepping in front of Jack with her fake tears. "Lucy, if you're upset, take it out on me. Don't mess up Jack's face. How can a grown man go out looking like this?"

Where was her sympathy when she was sleeping with him behind my back? But I didn't have time for her act. I raised my hand and slapped her across the face, twice, hard. "You shameless homewrecker. You want to sleep with a scumbag, fine. But going after my daughter? That's a whole other level of disgusting. I'll slap that ugly face of yours until you don't even recognize yourself."

Mandy never saw it coming. She screamed, stunned and hurt, her face swelling up from the impact. It felt so damn satisfying to see her hurting.

Jack snapped out of his daze when he heard her crying. He rushed over and grabbed my arm, trying to stop me. "That's enough! Where are your manners? Stop calling her names!"

"Mandy didn't frame Ella. We have an eyewitness," he said, his voice shaking with anger.

I gritted my teeth. "An eyewitness? Bring them here. Let's see who's lying to my face about my daughter."

Jack's expression turned dark. "I knew you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it for yourself." He snapped his fingers, and a frail old woman hobbled into the room.

The old woman, voice trembling, claimed she had been collecting garbage in Mandy's neighborhood the night before when she saw my daughter kill a dog by the dumpster. She said the sight had stuck with her, seeing a young girl do something so cruel. When Jack's crew was searching for Buddy, she instantly remembered the face of the "culprit."

I felt my blood boil. This was insane. My daughter had been cremated last night. How could this woman be talking about seeing her alive and killing a dog? Was she out of her mind?

Once the old woman finished her tall tale, Mandy started her performance. She held up an urn, tears streaming down her face as she spoke. "Lucy, I never wanted to go to the police. I just wanted to ask Ella why she did it. I wanted to remind you that children shouldn't be involved in adult problems. It's not good for Ella."

Then, she lifted the urn higher. "These are Buddy's ashes. Lucy, all I ask is that Ella come out and apologize for what she did. If she does that, I'll let this go and won't involve the cops."

I lost it. Mandy's dog had been the one to drive my daughter to her death, and now she wanted my daughter to apologize to it? I was shaking with rage. I lunged forward, knocking the urn out of Mandy's hands. "You want my daughter to apologize to a dead dog? Dream on!"

The urn crashed to the floor, spilling ashes everywhere. For a split second, I thought I saw a flash of triumph in Mandy's eyes. Then she collapsed into Jack's arms, sobbing. "Buddy... my poor Buddy... Lucy, how could you knock over his ashes? How can you be so heartless?"

She cradled the ashes in her hands, wailing, making it look like she was the one who'd lost a child. Her performance was so convincing it made my grief feel small in comparison.

Jack, watching Mandy's "suffering," shot me a look of pure contempt. "So this is Ella's urn, huh?" He kicked it off the bed, sending it crashing into the wall. "Let's see what kind of trick you're trying to pull."

The urn cracked open, spilling ashes everywhere. Time seemed to freeze. All I could see were the ashes of my daughter, scattered across the floor in the sunlight. I screamed, feeling my heart break all over again, and lunged to gather the broken pieces. I held them tight, like they were all that was left of my world.

Jack towered over me, cold and unmoved. "Stop the act. Where's that little monster really hiding? Get her out here to apologize to Buddy. Mandy might be soft-hearted, but I won't hesitate to call the cops."

He pulled out his phone and started dialing, his face hard with anger.

I didn't respond. All I cared about was holding onto the ashes of my daughter. Nothing else mattered.

When Jack didn't get a reaction from me, he huffed in frustration. "Fine, have it your way. I'll call the cops."

He dialed a number I recognized, Captain Quinn. "Captain Quinn, Ella killed Mandy's dog Buddy last night. Lucy's hiding her. I'm reporting this, and I want the police to find her and punish her."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Captain Quinn spoke, his voice heavy with sorrow. "Jack, Ella's not hiding. She... she died in a car accident. The day you sent her out to buy medicine in that storm, she was hit by an unlicensed truck."

"I tried to call you, but I couldn't get through. So I contacted Lucy..."