Chapter 2 A Murder

Slowly coming to consciousness, Isabella saw the brilliant bright light behind her eyelids and heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

With her eyes fluttering open, she saw that she was in a room that was all white. Then she closed her eyes and for a while she thought that she was already dead. However, just as she was thinking this, the door suddenly swung open.

Bang!

"Didn't you say that her condition was already stable? Why is she still in the ICU? It's a waste of resources!" It was the voice of Isabella's stepmother, Yolanda Wang. In the past, she had always appeared dignified and virtuous, caring for Isabella very much. But now, her words were full of sarcasm and disgust.

"Mom, even if she gets better, she probably won't want to wake up! If I were her, I would just rather die. Can you just imagine? Dad and Thomas only loved her because of her money. I bet if her mother hadn't left her such a large fortune, she wouldn't have attracted anyone's attention in the first place!" From how Isabella heard it, that was Evelyn Lou's voice.

Hearing that, Isabella felt her chest tighten painfully. It turned out that the harmony between her and her stepmother was all fake, and so was the love between her and Evelyn Lou.

"Silly girl, no matter how powerful and rich her mother was, it doesn't concern her now. All her property is now ours."

"Mom, you're really the best! It's a good thing you were able to persuade Dad not to divorce Isabella's mother. Who knows where these funds and shares would end up if that didn't happen?"

Yolanda Wang walked to the machines and poked the tubes with her finger. A satisfied smile appeared on her face. 'Sophie Bai, even if you knew your husband and I had an affair, was there really anything you could do about it? Now all your things belong to me. Your husband even likes my daughter better than yours! I'm the real winner here!'

Evelyn Lou looked at her mother fawningly and said, "Mom, now Thomas is engaged to me. If Isabella dies, her funds and shares can't be inherited by the Wen Family. How am I even going to live like that?"

"You ungrateful thing! Who do you think I did all this for?" Yolanda Wang lightly hit the back of her daughter's head. "Don't covet Isabella's money. Your Dad has spent a lot of money to deal with your car accident. In case you didn't know, he also borrowed money from quite a few people. If it weren't for the investigation from the provincial government, do you think your Dad would agree us to do this in the first place?"

"But Mom, Isabella is driving a Porsche! My car is no comparison to hers. It would be embarrassing if people saw me driving around in that junk. Besides, I'll be the daughter-in-law of the Wen Family in the future. If I keep driving such a bad car, it will also disgrace the Wen Family!" Evelyn Lou whined childishly, unwilling to give up her request.

Lying on her bed, Isabella was shocked by what she heard. From the looks of it, it seemed the two did not notice that she had regained consciousness. Despair washed over her. Just as Evelyn Lou had said, Isabella was starting to wish that she had died in the car crash so she didn't have to know all of these painful things.

As it turned out, Yolanda had been with her father for a long time, even when he was still together with his first wife. The only reason Isabella's father didn't divorce her mother was so that Yolanda could get all of her mother's money in the end. As things started to unfold, Isabella couldn't help but think that maybe Yolanda was the one who had tampered with her car!

"Okay, I'll talk to your Dad then!" Yolanda retorted, not being able to handle Evelyn's begging.

"By the way, if Isabella recovers from her coma, what do we do then?" Evelyn asked.

"There are no 'ifs' here, sweetie. We have to make sure that she doesn't recover from her coma," Yolanda said matter-of-factly.

"What are you trying to say, Mom?"

Yolanda smiled, "I will ask Charles to deal with it. I can't do all the dirty work, can I? I killed Sophie before, and now it's his turn to get rid of Isabella."

"Do you think Dad can do it though?"

"If he doesn't, he will surely pay for it. After all, he has bribed a lot of people and borrowed a lot of money. As soon as someone from the provincial government comes to investigate, he can't cover up his ill deeds. If he even dares to go against my plans... Humph!"

As soon as Evelyn heard this, she held Yolanda's hands tightly in hers. "Then let's go find Dad as soon as possible. As long as Isabella's still breathing..."

Their voices gradually faded away. Lying on the bed, Isabella grasped the white sheets. Rage rushed through veins.

Her emotions surged as anger and resentment swept over her whole body.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The machines beside the bed were suddenly ringing wildly, filling the room with a deafening shrillness.

Slowly, Isabella lost consciousness. The door of the ward opened, and doctors and nurses rushed in to resuscitate her.

When she woke up again, she saw a man standing at the end of the bed.

Even though Charles Lou was middle-aged, he looked even more stunning and elegant. He looked knowledgeable and composed, but Isabella could see nothing but a filthy, conniving man.

Isabella's own father, who had always been kind and loving to her, was now one of her enemies.

At that moment, she desperately wanted to ask him about her mother's death, and how much he was involved.

She also wanted to ask him if he had really loved her, if he had ever seen her as his own daughter.

More importantly, she wanted to know if he really had it in him to kill her.

Isabella slightly widened her eyes. In the end, it wasn't her ex-fiance or stepmother or stepsister who was going to end her life. It was her own flesh and blood -- Charles Lou!

At the end of the bed, Charles Lou twisted with remorse as he looked down at Isabella trembling slightly. "Bella... Please don't blame me for this!"

As he spoke, he took a pillow from the end of the bed and slowly walked up beside her head. He looked down at her weak body, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes. Then he gently moved the pillow on Isabella's head, smothering her entire face.

Isabella's heart trembled.

It was as if all the questions she had in her heart had been answered. There was nothing sugarcoating it; he was going to kill her. For twenty-five years, she had called him Dad. Unfortunately, it only proved to be a joke.

For a while, her arms and legs flailed about. After some time, she no longer resisted. Gradually, her body stopped moving, and her chest no longer filled up with air. When everything was still, Charles slowly moved the pillow away.

There wasn't a single sound in the hospital room other than the long, prolonged beep of the heart monitor. It was then that Isabella drew her last breath.