Chapter 3 A Requiem for My Wife's Departed Soul(3)

Perhaps my intense demeanor was too intimidating, as Mona took a few steps back, looking at me as if she had seen a ghost. She spoke with a trembling voice, "Are you rebelling against me? Oh, my dear, precious daughter! Why did you have to die so young? You had just passed on, but your husband's already laying his hands on me!"

While wailing, Mona opened the door. She then scuttled out of the house to the corridor and cried out for help, "Please come and see this man! Help us get justice! This man, Henry Birk, is not a man. He is worse than a vicious beast. He caused my daughter's death and even wanted to hit his elders. My goodness! Why hasn't the Lord punished a man like him?"

Mona's wailing and screaming were so loud that they drew the attention of neighbors from both upstairs and downstairs. Soon, a crowd gathered in the hallway to see what was happening.

After purchasing this house with Nadia, Nadia formed good relationships with our neighbors from upstairs and downstairs due to her kind-hearted nature. As a result, we were on friendly terms with them for many years.

When noticing Mona was causing a commotion, the neighbors, who were aware of the circumstances surrounding Nadia's death, came to my defense and spoke up for me.

"Ma'am, I don't appreciate what I just heard. Henry and your daughter were married for many years, and we witnessed how he treated her. Have you asked any of our neighbors who didn't admire your daughter?"

"Exactly! How can you talk such nonsense, Ma'am? Haven't you come here many times to force your daughter to give you money? Henry even borrowed money from us several times to give to you! Now that your daughter is dead, you came back pretending to be nice."

"Henry, this family is creating an unnecessary scene. I suggest you call the police. If there is anything that needs to be resolved, it would be better to do so at the police station," suggested a neighbor.

"I agree. I'll make the call."

Mona's plan was to stage a dramatic incident and use it as a pretext to drive me out of the house while making grandiose demands for compensation.

However, to her surprise, all the neighbors sided with me, and someone even tried to call the police, which was not what she had anticipated.

She was afraid of going to the police station because she knew she had done something wrong.

Quickly getting up from the ground, Mona stopped crying and started cursing while stomping, "Ha! I think you are all worrying pointlessly. This is my family's business. It is not your business. Get out of here now!"

Everyone shook their heads in response to her unreasonable behavior.

After witnessing such a scene, some of the neighbors who wanted to offer me comfort were left speechless. They simply sighed and patted my shoulders before dispersing.

After realizing her plan did not succeed, Mona pulled me into the house, closed the door, and tearfully confessed, "Henry, I'll tell you the truth. My daughter, who had a difficult life, told me several times that you used to physically abuse and mistreat her. She wanted to divorce you but couldn't leave because your child was too young. Mark and I thought that since you two were married, she should dedicate herself to you forever, and we didn't have the heart to break your family apart. So we advised her to try to understand you. But we never thought she would die at such a young age. How could there be an accumulation of fluid in her chest for no reason? Did her condition stem from your beatings?"

I was perplexed as to how Mona found out about the accumulation of fluid in Nadia's body since Nadia did not disclose it to the Prentiss family after being hospitalized in the first place.

I narrowed my eyes and asked, "How did you find out about the fluid accumulation in Nadia's abdominal cavity? I don't recall ever telling you about that."

Mona was momentarily taken aback by my question. She opened her mouth wide in panic and responded, "My poor daughter told me about it! You were always out early and coming home late every day. You were always fooling around outside, never caring about Nadia's well-being."

Without denying her accusations, I put on a sad expression and responded, "You are right. I have been neglecting Nadia's well-being for the past few years as I was busy making money to support our family. This house is full of memories of her, and it makes me sad. I want to pick up some clothes and bring Delia to stay at my mother's place. You can do whatever you want. I won't be hosting you all."

After saying that, I carried Delia into the bedroom, packed a few clothes, and strode away from the house.

By the time the Prentiss family regained their senses, I had already entered the elevator and gone downstairs.

The Prentiss family wanted to take advantage of Nadia's death and force me to give up my property and leave without anything.

However, they didn't anticipate that I would turn their momentum into an advantage and leave.

My departure forced them to drop their acts.

I took Delia to my parents' home, and they were heartbroken to see that I was covered in injuries.

I instructed my parents to take good care of Delia and not let anyone take advantage of her. To avoid causing them to worry, I didn't disclose the details of what had happened to me.

Additionally, it would be wiser to avoid discussing it publicly until I obtained the necessary evidence.

Once I had made arrangements for Delia's care, I went to a hospital to get a medical examination for my injuries. I registered myself, took photos of the injuries, and obtained an injury report from the hospital.

When Nathaniel hit me, many people witnessed it, so they could all become my witnesses. However, at this point, I needed to find out the real cause of Nadia's death, so I didn't want him to be arrested so soon.

I took the evidence with me and went looking for Nadia's best friend, Amber Harrison.

My wife's close friend happened to be a teacher at a kindergarten where Nadia used to drop off our child. They hit it off due to their like-mindedness and became best friends who talked about anything. Amber was always there for my family and treated my wife and daughter with the utmost care.

Nadia used to say that her best friend, Amber, treated her better than her own sister.

Upon hearing the detailed account of Nadia's death and what had happened at home, Amber's eyes welled up with tears.

Amber found it hard to accept Nadia's sudden death, and she had cried many times in secret and in public. If Nadia had died of illness, it might have been easier for Amber to come to terms with it, but Nadia's untimely death left her with many unresolved feelings of grief and anger.

Upon hearing my story, Amber became so enraged that she almost shattered the table with her hand. She exclaimed, "Your in-laws are nothing but vicious beasts. There's a saying that even a tiger wouldn't devour its own cubs, yet they're more wicked than venomous snakes. I can't comprehend why they treated Nadia, such a kind woman, in that manner. I want to report them to the police and have this family of beasts arrested on the spot."

I quickly stopped Amber. "We don't have any evidence to back up our claims right now. Besides, Nadia was already cremated, so there's no way to reveal the truth. Even if we report it to the police, it would be pointless without any concrete evidence, and it might also alert the family, making it harder to uncover the truth."

Upon hearing my explanation, Amber slowly regained her composure and asked while gritting her teeth, "So, what do we do now? Just let that family get away with it?"

"I won't let them get away with this. I will definitely avenge Nadia's death. I have a plan and want to discuss it with you to see if it's feasible." Amber was furious after learning about the Prentiss family's actions and was on the verge of grabbing a knife and attacking them.

However, I was able to convince her to calm down and consider a more rational approach.

Amber suddenly inquired, "By the way, doesn't your house have a set of smart devices with video recording capabilities? Perhaps Nadia left some evidence behind."

As Nadia had some spare time then, she became fascinated by the smart devices installed in Amber's house. These devices offered control over the curtains, water, electricity, and air conditioning via a phone app and also had surveillance capabilities to monitor the home environment. Nadia found the technology intriguing and ultimately decided to install a similar set of devices in our home.

She also installed the corresponding app on my phone and mentioned that if she wasn't home, I could use the app to turn on the air conditioner in advance before arriving home.

I had never used the app before because I never thought there would be a day when I would need to.

I never expected to use that app that day, but it seemed fate had brought us to this moment.

Together with Amber's assistance, I rapidly learned how to operate this set of smart devices.

I discovered a video on the app, but it was encrypted. Since the device was typically used by Nadia, I assumed she had set the password. I attempted all the passwords she frequently used until I finally unlocked the video using my birthdate.

I had a strong feeling that the video I found was somehow related to Nadia's death.

With a nervous heart, I clicked on the video and heard my wife's last words before she passed away.

"Henry, if you're watching this video, it means I'm no longer with you. Don't grieve too much for me, for perhaps death is the best release I could hope for. I want you to stay strong and continue living your life with Delia. But I have one request. Please don't let Delia go through the same experience that I did. After all, no matter how hard you try, the pain that your family has caused you can never be erased."

Continuing on, she said, "I'm sorry for being a coward. When faced with the scheming of my biological parents, I couldn't resist nor fight back. They were the ones who raised me, but I hated them so much! I hate the life I was forced to live. I hate that I won't be able to watch Delia grow up..."

Nadia was in tears throughout the video, which was shot in our bedroom. She appeared very distressed as she spoke. Halfway through her sentence, the video abruptly ended, and I speculated that someone had walked in, prompting her to quickly shut off the recording.

If my guess was correct, Nadia must have encountered some misfortune after recording this video. As Mona had mentioned, she suddenly fell into a coma and was admitted to the ICU, never to wake up again.

I wondered what had happened during that period. It seemed like Nadia had a premonition of a misfortune about to happen, which was why she recorded that video.

I couldn't imagine how desperate and painful Nadia's situation must have been when she knew her own parents were plotting against her. It was no wonder that she was so determined to leave this world and had no desire to fight for her life. Perhaps she was afraid that if she was rescued, she would never have the courage to face her family again.