THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: Marry To Rival's Son novel Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Ethan sat frozen in the chair, staring at the phone in his hands like it was a poisonous snake. His fingers were shaking so badly, as his mind tried to wrap around what he’d just read.

So if she hadn’t died, it would have been Elena instead?

The thought hit him like a punch to the gut. He doubled over slightly, struggling to breathe. His mother-the woman who used to kiss his scraped knees and tuck him into bed those night-had been planning to kill Elena. The woman he loved. The woman he was supposed to marry

This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some sick joke of a terrible nightmare. Any minute now, he’d wake up and everything would be normal again.

But the phone was real. The messages were real. And that meant his mother really was a monster.

His heart nearly stopped when he realized the phone had fallen from his grip, he couldn’t break it. His dad would know someone had been snooping around. With trembling ngers, he checked to make sure it still worked. Thank God the screen was fine.

He had to keep reading. He had to know how deep this went How many people had they hurt? How many lives had they destroyed while pretending to be a normal, loving family?

Each new message made him feel sicker than the last. The conversation painted a picture so horrible he wanted to close his eyes and pretend he’d never seen it. But he couldn’t stop. He needed to know the truth about the people who he called his parents.

*You still haven’t paid complete for the service I rendered the last time. Are you joking with me? Don’t try to play games with me.

Ethan’s stomach dropped. Last time? There had been other murders? Other innocent people who died because his mom decided they were inconvenient?

*I’ll pay you double if you do it right this time. You screwed up before. If Samuel hadn’t helped me cover your tracks, we’d both be in prison right now.

The phone nearly slipped from his grip again. His jaw hung open as the full horror sank in. Both parents. Both of them had conspired to murder someone. Not just his mother-his father too.

He wasn’t stupid. When killers talked about “jobs” and “services,” they weren’t discussing lawn care. They were talking about murder. Cold-blooded, premeditated murder.

Ethan’s hands were shaking so violently, his whole body was vibrating with shock and disgust.

Everything he thought he knew about his family was a lie. Everything he believed about himself, about who had birthed him were all lies, all of it were fake.

Who else had they killed? Please, God, don’t let it be anyone he knew. Anyone he cared about. But something deep in his gut told him he wasn’t going to like the answer when he found it.

He kept scrolling through the messages, desperate for names or details, but they spoke in code, protecting themselves while planning other people’s deaths.

What he found in the next few messages made him want to throw up.

Maybe I can pay you with something other than money this time. Something more personal.*

*You want to see me again? It’s been a while.*

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WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WERE HIS PARENTS?

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*Of course I do. We could meet at that hotel we used to go to. Room 237, like old times.*

Ethan felt like someone had poured ice water into his veins. His mother wasn’t just a murderer. She was cheating on his dad. With the assassin she was hiring to kill people.

*What if Samuel finds out? You know what he’s like when he’s angry. He doesn’t forgive people who cross him.*

*He won’t find out. He trusts you too much to ever suspect us. Besides, this is just between you and me. Our little secret.*

Ethan couldn’t read anymore. Hot tears were streaming down his face, and his vision was too blurry to see the screen clearly.

He set the phone down on the nightstand and buried his face in his hands, sobbing like a child.

What kind of people were his parents? He’d spent years looking up to them, trying to make them proud, believing they were good people who’d raised him right.

His mother taught him that lying was wrong. But she’d been living a double life for years.

She told him that cheating was the worst thing you could do to someone you loved. But she was having an affair behind his father’s back.

She said violence never solved anything. But she was hiring people to commit murder.

Every lesson, every value, every moral she’d ever taught him was complete garbage. She was a hypocrite and a liar and a killer.

The pain in his chest was unbearable. It felt like someone had reached into his ribcage and was squeezing his heart with their bare hands. He couldn’t catch his breath. He couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t process what he’d learned.

How was he supposed to keep mourning her death when she wasn’t the person he thought she was? All this time, he’d been grieving for a woman who never existed. The real version of his mother was evil. Pure, simple evil.

And the worst part was that he’d never know which version was real. Had she ever really loved him? Or was that fake too? Had any moment of his childhood been genuine, or was it all just an act she put on to look normal?

The tears wouldn’t stop coming. Nothing had ever hurt this much, not even when she first died. Because at least then he thought he was losing someone good. Someone worth missing.

Ethan forced himself to stand up on shaking legs. He had to put the phone back exactly where he’d found it before his dad got home. Samuel could never know that anyone had seen these messages.

Moving like he was sleepwalking, he turned off the phone and placed it on the nightstand in precisely the same position.

He even adjusted the angle so it looked identical to how he found it. His father was smart and observant. Any little detail out of place would tip him off.

Back to his own room, Ethan collapsed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. His mind was spinning in a million different directions, trying to make sense of everything he learned. But there was no sense to be made. His parents were monsters, and he’d never known.

He couldn’t stay in this house anymore. The walls felt like they were closing in around him. Everywhere he looked, he saw reminders of the woman who’d fooled him for his entire life. It was suffocating him. He had to get

out.

Moving on autopilot, he took a quick shower, letting the ho water run over his face to wash away the evidence of his tears. Then he grabbed his car keys and headed for the door.

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WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WERE HIS PARENTS?

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