Chapter 541 Wipe Them All Out
"Why? How dare you ask me why? I gave you a chance that day, but it was you who insisted on getting a divorce, and you wanted me to return Thalassa's money; on what grounds?" Justin bellowed in rage.
"When your husband died, it was me who took you and your daughter in, and provided you with food, drink, and wealth. What's the big deal if I spent a little of her money? It’s you who are the ingrates, forcing me into this pitiful state!"
Just then, a strange voice suddenly echoed from above.
"So, before Maria died, did you leave the villa you shared with your mistress?"
Justin was terrified.
"Who are you and who is that?"
"The one who will judge you," the voice answered. "Here, only by telling the truth will you find relief. Otherwise, you'll be tormented by evil spirits forever!"
As these words hung in the air, Justin, who had been digging a hole, suddenly stopped and turned around a full one hundred and eighty degrees, staring straight at him.
Toby, who had been lying on the ground, slowly stood up, blood dripping steadily from him, and started walking toward Justin.
Gradually, through the mist, others appeared—Selena and the Anne Family. Shadows flickered momentarily, hiding within the thick fog.
"Help! Someone save me, please!" Justin was beyond panic, unable to shake off whatever was behind him and unable to escape the pit. He could only watch as these beings drew nearer and nearer.
"Speak the truth, and you shall be freed," the voice resonated once more.
Out of sheer terror, Justin hurriedly confessed.
"I'll tell everything! That day, I did indeed evade the surveillance and slipped out to meet with Maria..."
Time rewound to the day of the incident.
Maria had nowhere to go when she received a call from Justin.
"Maria, about our divorce, let's talk about it one more time, just the two of us. I admit, cheating was my fault, but we've been husband and wife for so many years; I don't want it all to end like this," Justin said, reverting to his usual gentle demeanor.
Maria was naturally a soft-hearted person. Plus, she wanted to recover Thalassa's money as soon as possible, as the lawsuit would take too long and Justin was very likely to have already transferred the assets.
Maria feared that if the dispute continued, Justin would end up with not a dime to his name. So, she agreed to Justin's invitation.
Justin picked a spot without surveillance.
He also obtained a car with fake plates from the black market, and after getting fully equipped, Justin drove Maria along back roads to a reservoir where he often went fishing.
"Justin, where are you taking me?" Maria became suspicious halfway there.
Justin glanced at Maria. "Remember how you always wanted to join me for fishing? We're about to part ways, so I thought I'd fulfill your wish just this once."
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
"What good does it do to act now, Justin? Why didn’t you do something sooner?" Maria's voice was edged with impatience.
Justin remained silent, the weight of the day pressing down on him. By the time they reached their destination, night had cast its cloak over the sky. He parked the car, and he and Maria started to walk, their steps falling like a casual stroll along a weed-choked path.
"Maria, do we really have to get a divorce? I can stop seeing that woman..." Justin's voice was heavy with emotion.
Maria turned to him and said, "We don't have to get divorced, Justin." There was a pause in her gaze as she considered his words.
However, Maria's next words hit Justin like a cold splash of water. "If you pay back the money you took from Thalassa and from me, I might believe you truly don't want a divorce."
"So, the money is more important to you than me, your husband?" Justin asked. "After all these years, haven't I been good to you? Whatever you wanted, I gave it to you..."
"But the amount you've taken from me could have bought several of the same things," Maria retorted, her clarity of thought cutting through the fog of love.
"You're a good person, Maria," Justin said, clapping his hands together with a forced smile that hid a deeper pain.
A flicker of unease fluttered in Maria's heart. "Think it through, Justin. I don't want our years of marriage to end up in court. At least, pay back Thalassa's money."
"Maria." Justin's voice softened as he called her name tenderly.
Maria turned to him, a question in her eyes.
"I truly loved you," Justin said with gentle earnestness. "Just as I truly loved Anne."
"Anne?" Maria frowned in confusion.
Justin rarely spoke of Anne, but Maria knew that Anne had betrayed him. When Justin discovered her betrayal, Anne whom was overwhelmed by shame, took her own life. Later, Anne's lover, Charles, had confronted Justin, blaming him for Anne's death.
"Yes." Justin nodded, his gaze drifting to the reservoir. "You know, I starved Anne for two days. She was nothing but skin and bones. When I held her... I put her head right into that trap..."
Maria's heart skipped a beat, her face draining of color as she realized the horror of his confession. She remembered Ronald's warning.
"Justin is a cold-blooded killer. He murdered Anne, and he murdered my father. You're defending him now, but who knows? You might be the next to die!"
"You killed Anne?" Maria began to back away, fear creeping into her voice.
"I didn't want to kill Anne. But she insisted on leaving me, just like you, Maria, insist on leaving me!" Justin's expression twisted into something terrifying.
Before Maria could react, Justin lunged forward and pushed her. She fell, tumbling down into the dark waters of the reservoir.
Maria couldn't swim, and the reservoir was deep. She struggled for a bit before the surface of the water grew still.
In this seldom-visited place, Justin sat on the dam for a long time without seeing a soul pass by.
Looking out over the water, he said with a sneer, "Look, Maria, not even heaven is on your side. It's been so long and no one has come. Just soak in there and feed those fish well, fatten them up nicely for me. Next time I go fishing, I'll catch them and serve them up to Thalassa!"
Justin returned home that night, taking the car straight to the scrapyard. Then, avoiding surveillance, he went back to the villa, pretending to have woken up early when he left the house.
After Justin recounted the events, the creeping shadows halted, the puddles under his feet disappeared, and the Maria clinging to his back vanished as well.
Justin collapsed to the ground, his heart crying out for rescue. There was no one who could possibly save him.
Just then, a familiar voice carried from afar, "Dad?"
Justin shivered violently and then opened his eyes.
"Chris?"
"Dad, what's wrong with you? How could you fall asleep in the middle of the road?" Chris frowned, with Walker and Shawn standing impatiently behind him.
Justin had too much happening lately, and they were busy with their own issues—there wasn't much time to look after Justin.
"Chris, there are ghosts!" Justin exclaimed in terror, grabbing Chris's arm. "You have to find me a priest, the most powerful one. Don't worry about the expense; I want to get rid of all those monsters! Destroy them! Let them dare to scare me! They won't leave me in peace even in death!"
As Justin was speaking, the doorbell of the house rang abruptly.
Walker went to check and hurried back with a worried frown. "Dad, Shawn, there are a lot of cops outside!"
Stunned, it took fifteen minutes before Chris opened the door and let the people in.
"We're from the police department. Where is Justin?" the lead officer asked with an imposing tone.
Emerging pale-faced, Justin stepped forward. "What do you want with me? Is there news about my wife's death?" he inquired.
"Justin, you are currently under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Armie citizen, Maria," the officer announced.
"What?" Justin, frightened, quickly hid behind Chris. "How could I possibly kill my wife?"
"It looks like we might need to inform the narcotics division; Justin seems like he's on drugs," one officer suggested.
"What do you mean by that?" Walker asked, his brows knitting together. "Do you have evidence that my father committed murder?"
Justin was in the back of a cab chatting away to the driver about his entire criminal ordeal when the driver, shocked by the revelation, hastily recorded the conversation and immediately reported it to the police.
Justin was baffled; he had no recollection of this episode at all.
All Justin remembered was getting into the car and then plunging into that accursed river, encountering those spirits.
"I didn't do it!"
"Whether you did or not, you'll find out soon enough at the station. Take him away!"
Despite Justin's cries of innocence, the officers handcuffed him and escorted him away.
"Chris, you're just going to watch this?" Walker asked, looking toward Chris.
Chris lowered his eyelids. "I want to show you something."
Walker and Shawn exchanged glances. "What time is it to look at something else?"
Without a word, Chris picked up the remote and turned on the television.
On the screen was the silhouette of a woman doing laundry.
The Shaw family turned pale at the sight.
"Is that Dad?" Walker asked, his lips trembling. "He killed Mom? He killed her!"
"I've looked into it," Chris said coldly. "Mom was raped by him, forced to marry him, and later when she wanted to leave, Justin killed her. Justin is rotten to the core; I will not spend a penny on a lawyer for him. You figure out what to do."
Shawn and Justin had a strained relationship at best, Chris was the golden boy, and Walker the baby of the family.
There was also a stepsister named Thalassa, the one Justin cared about the least.
"I'll follow brother's lead," Shawn declared.
It was Walker, however, who kept replaying the video.
Standing up, he exclaimed, "I'm going to kill Justin, I want him dead!"
What Walker had always craved most since childhood was his mother's love, a love that Justin had robbed him of. When Maria came along, he finally felt mothered, but Justin ended up killing her too.
"Walker, calm down," Chris commanded in a deep tone.
But Walker was far from calm, wrecking Justin's place into oblivion.
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