Chapter 57

Mr. and Mrs. Smith stand in the docks with Isabella, their faces etched with despair. They are almost unrecognizable, especially Isabella, who curses her parents daily. If only they hadn't supported her perhaps her reckless behavior wouldn't have led her to this moment.

Now, she regrets everything and wishes she could turn back time to avoid making such mistakes. But it's too late; everything has spiraled out of control for both her and her parents.

Mr. Smith stood there, expressionless, while only Isabella and Mrs. Smith shed tears. They never imagined their once-rich and happy family would find themselves in such a situation. Given the severity of their offenses, they had little hope for themselves.

Gabriella watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Isabella, but her mind was elsewhere, far removed from the scene before her.

Although she knows that Mr. and Mrs. Smith are not her biological parents, she still has no idea how they have her from her parents or where her real parents are now. She should be thinking about these questions, but her mind is elsewhere.

She had been expecting Carter to arrive and sit beside her, offering the comfort she would desperately need today. She sensed that it would be a difficult day, and she felt a mix of sadness and anger as Mr. and Mrs. Smith prepared to confess, but he wasn't there yet with her, and she found herself alone. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"How could he do this to me?" Gabriella mumbled, her voice filled with hurt. She knew they had argued last night and that she hadn't called him to follow her today, but she had expected him to come anyway and ask for her forgiveness. After all, he was the one in the wrong. She had intended to forgive him, but now she couldn't quite explain how she felt toward him.

"I'll never forgive him again, never! He knew I didn't have anyone with me, but he still didn't come because he didn't care about me," Gabriella mumbled, sniffling.

Despite her vow not to forgive him, she glanced back, hoping to see Carter sitting in the back, avoiding her because of their argument. To her disappointment, he was nowhere to be found. She turned back around, a look of sadness and disappointment etched on her face.

"Mr. Smith, you may now begin confessing everything you have done with your wife in the past," the judge said, initiating the proceedings. Gabriella managed to shift her focus away from Carter and decided to concentrate on what Mr. Smith would say, even though flashes of thoughts about him still lingered in her mind.

"Years ago, Ethan was my friend-my closest friend. While he was one of the wealthiest men in the country, I was one of the poorest."

"Although he always gives me money whenever I ask, I have never felt truly satisfied. I want to be richer than him, and I can't help but feel jealous of him and his wife, Grace.

So one day, my wife and I devised an interesting plan that would allow us to become wealthy instead. We couldn't just sit back and watch them thrive while we relied on them, which never truly fulfilled us."

"My wife and Grace just gave birth to baby girls, and Ethan even has an older daughter who escaped from us while we were carrying out our plans for their parents."

"My wife was the first to give birth, and a few weeks later, Grace welcomed her daughter. That night, as they were returning home from the hospital, we executed our plan," Mr. Smith continued, but Gabriella's body was already getting restless, even though he hadn't finished speaking.

"I managed to convince Ethan to drive them home, telling him it would be my gift to them for their newborn baby. Although Ethan initially wanted to drive, he eventually let me take the wheel. Unbeknownst to them, I wasn't heading in the direction of their house but rather to a different location that my wife and I had chosen. It was a quiet road at night, with no one around and no CCTV cameras, making it the perfect spot for us."

"By the time Ethan realized I wasn't heading to their house but somewhere else, I had already driven to the location where my wife was waiting. He was so engrossed in his newborn baby with his wife that I was able to successfully take them to that place without him noticing."

"On that quiet road, my wife and I coldly murdered Ethan and Grace that night, ensuring that no one would suspect us. We made it look like an accident. Their oldest daughter, who was also in the car, managed to escape before we realized it, and we have not seen her since then."

"We killed them, and because I knew my friend, I was able to claim all his properties for myself, including the school my wife was managing, which belonged to Grace, along with many other assets. Despite Ethan and Grace's family trying to contest this, we prevailed through bribery, and their properties successfully became ours."

"I don't know why my wife decided that we should spare their newborn baby, but I feel that if we hadn't made that choice that day, we might not be in this situation now. We could still be enjoying our wealth and the newborn baby we spared is..."

"Gabriella, who we made to look like Isabella's twin sister, isn't related to her at all. We killed Gabriella's parents-we killed them," Mr. Smith said. Isabella was more than shocked by her father's revelation, tears streaming down her face in disbelief.

Mrs. Smith couldn't stop crying as she took in everyone's expressions, especially the sadness on their precious daughter's face. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith wore a mixed expression of pity and a lack of regret.

He looked pitiful, not because of what he had done, but because of how he ended up here. As soon as he finished speaking, Gabriella stood up from her seat.

"You... you killed... my parents," Gabriella stammered, tears streaming down her face as she walked closer to Mr. Smith's dock.

"You didn't hear wrong, and that's why we have always hated you," Mr. Smith replied. At that moment, Gabriella felt an overwhelming urge to jump into the dock and tear Mr. Smith to pieces, but the security held her back.

"You monsters! How could you do this? How could you ruin my life like this?" Gabriella cried, hoping that her parents weren't dead and that they would confess where they were. But it turned out to be the opposite. Now, she had no family left; she was all alone, with no one to call family again.

"Let go of me! I'll kill them myself! I said, fucking let me go!" Gabriella shouted, struggling against the security guards.