Chapter 2

For ten long years, he never took a single day off.

His grades crawled up from the bottom to the average, and then shot straight to the top.

Throughout high school, he held the number one spot.

In all his prep exams, he got near-perfect scores, leaving the second-place student miles behind.

His teachers patted his back, telling him he was Ivy League bound.

His classmates looked at him like he was some kind of miracle.

I was so incredibly proud of him.

I genuinely thought he had just grown up, matured, and decided to take charge of his life.

But now I knew the truth. He had spent ten years sharpening himself into the sharpest blade possible.

All so he could drive it into my heart today.

The media and local TikTok influencers arrived right behind the police.

Now, dozens of phone cameras and professional lenses were pointed directly at my face. Some were livestreaming; others were shouting questions.

"Grace! What do you have to say about your son's essay?"

"We heard your husband vanished ten years ago and was never found. Did you really murder him?"

"Your son gave up his entire future to expose you. How do you feel about that?"

"Why did you kill him, Grace?"

The questions were brutal and relentless.

The livestreams were blowing up. The viewer count crossed a hundred thousand in minutes, and the comment section was filled with pure hate.

It was as if the whole world had already convicted me.

I looked straight into one of the camera lenses, my voice dead calm. "It’s just a creative writing piece my kid made up. You guys actually believe this nonsense without a shred of proof?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, a sharp voice cut through the crowd.

"Tyler is an honest boy! He has never lied in his life!"

"I know he’s telling the truth!"

It was Eleanor, my mother-in-law.

Leaning heavily on her daughter, Chloe, Eleanor pushed her way through the crowd. Her eyes were red, filled with pure hatred as she glared at me and yelled to the reporters:

"I am Grace’s mother-in-law!"

"I haven't seen my son, Richard, in ten years!"

"Every time I called him, his phone was dead. He never replied to a single text."

"Back then, Grace told me he went abroad for a top-secret, high-paying job. She said he changed his number and was too busy to call."

"I always knew something was wrong. My son was a devoted boy. No matter how busy he was, he would always visit me, or at least call to check on my health."

"There is no way he would cut me off for ten years."

"So I believe Tyler! My son was murdered by this wicked woman!"

Chloe chimed in, her face twisted in rage. "Exactly! I tried to visit my brother so many times, but Grace always blocked the door. She was hiding her crime!"

Hearing this, Detective Marcus frowned deeply. He turned to my son, his tone serious. "Tyler, how do you know the exact details of the murder you wrote about in your essay?"

Tyler looked at me, his eyes dark. "Because ten years ago, on that very night... I saw it with my own eyes."

The entire yard fell dead silent.

Every camera lens shifted to Tyler, waiting for the gruesome details.

Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of live viewers, Tyler clenched his fists and spoke, his voice shaking:

"It was the night of November 20th, ten years ago. I was asleep, but I woke up to my parents screaming at each other in their room."