Chapter 549 Chapter 549: Gretchen’s Revelation
Gretchen, dressed in an orange prison uniform and restrained with handcuffs and shackles, was escorted into the room by a prison guard. She looked dispirited as she said, “I said I don’t have any family left. Who’s here to see me?”
“She’s right here,” the prison guard responded sternly, pushing Gretchen into a chair in front of the glass window. In a deep voice, he added, “You have ten minutes for your conversation.” With that, he exited the room, closing the door behind him.
In the silence of the room, Estelle and Gretchen sat on opposite sides, their eyes meeting through the glass. They had crossed paths earlier that day in a public confrontation, but the circumstances were entirely different now.
Gretchen picked up the phone and sneered, “I was wondering who’d want to see me. It turns out to be you. What? Do you want to witness my death with your own eyes?”
Without a word, Estelle observed Gretchen from head to toe. They hadn’t seen each other in years, and Gretchen had changed dramatically from the glamorous young woman Estelle remembered.
Estelle still recalled their first meeting. On that day, Gretchen had worn a light purple floral dress and designer high heels. Her hair and makeup were impeccable, and her red nail polish gleamed. She had handed Estelle an invitation, saying, “Cristofer and I will soon be married. I’d like to invite you to our wedding.”
The once-arrogant Gretchen now appeared listless and pale. Her forearms bore numerous scars, and the haughtiness in her eyes had given way to resentment. Her thin frame made her appear somewhat eerie.
“Estelle, why have you come here if you’re not going to say anything?” Gretchen asked.
“What do you want me to say?” Estelle replied in a low voice.
“Hah! I don’t want to hear anything from you. I don’t even want to see you! You’ve come here to mock me, haven’t you? Look at me, I’m going to die. Are you pleased? If you want to taunt me, go ahead. I don’t care. I’d rather die than be controlled by others. It’s a shame that there will be one less person causing trouble for you after I’m gone. Just know that I despise you even more, thinking about your future life of luxury and comfort.”
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t wish for a life of wealth. All I want is to have my father, Cristofer's parents, and Mrs. Moorsum back,” Estelle said sincerely.
Hearing this, Gretchen lowered her head and sneered, “My mother and I caused the deaths of four people. The score is now two to four. We’ve won!”
“We could have chosen to lead separate lives and not get tangled up in each other’s affairs,” Estelle said.
“Lead separate lives? You’re young, beautiful, and wealthy. You could have married a man who truly loved and pampered you. Meanwhile, I had to fight for my life. If I hadn’t gotten involved with you, I could never have lived the life I desired,” Gretchen retorted with disapproval.
“You could have chosen the right path, worked hard, and built a bright future for yourself. Wanting a good life isn’t a problem, but you shouldn’t have to pursue it at any cost. Your greed and selfishness changed the lives of many people,” Estelle responded, her brows furrowing.
“So what? As long as I get what I want, I don’t care about the others. You’ve been incredibly lucky, with God intervening repeatedly. Even when Cristofer believed you were responsible for his parents’ deaths, he still loved you. Even during his split personality episodes, he didn’t harm you; instead, he became a mysterious protector who watched over and cared for you. But what about me? I meant nothing to him. Do you think Cristofer ever loved me? No. He only saw me as a tool for seeking revenge against you.”
Estelle was taken aback by this revelation and looked at Gretchen in surprise. “How is it possible that he never loved you? Weren’t you pregnant with his child at one point? I recall you coming to me during your pregnancy, and I accidentally caused you to miscarry...”
Gretchen burst into laughter. “Estelle, you’re so gullible. Hasn’t Rebecca informed you that I can’t conceive anymore? How could I have been pregnant with Cristofer's child?”
Estelle was taken aback by Gretchen’s shocking revelations.
“At first, everything went according to plan. After staging the car accident, you and Cristofer broke up. Then, I seized the opportunity to get close to him. However, once we were together, I tried every method my mother taught me to seduce him, but he refused to sleep with me. I even tried to drug him, but it failed. One day, I managed to slip sleeping pills into his food. When he woke up the next morning, I told him that we had slept together. Then, a few months later, I lied and told him I was pregnant, and he believed me. He’s so easy to deceive,” Gretchen admitted.
Estelle’s brow furrowed in response.
Gretchen continued, “Unfortunately, from the moment I claimed to be pregnant, he grew more distant from me. You thought he treated me well, didn’t you? It’s because he’s a responsible man. He reluctantly agreed to marry me for the sake of the child. My mother had been pressuring him to marry me for a long time before he finally consented.”
Estelle felt a mixture of astonishment and confusion, wondering, ‘Back then, Cristofer seemed eager to leave me and marry you. Was it all because of your false pregnancy?’
“But Cristofer traveled with you around the world…”
“Travel around the world? Haha,” Gretchen chuckled as if finding something absurd. “Maybe, in Cristofer's mind, Lanster is the entire world.”
“Lanster?”
“Yes, there was no actual ‘traveling around the world.’ We spent the entire year in Lanster and never went anywhere else. I couldn’t understand why he wanted to stay in that small, uneventful city. There was nothing interesting there, and the food was far from delicious.”
Estelle felt a mixture of emotions. ‘So, Cristofer didn’t travel the world with Gretchen; they stayed in Lanster for a year? Lanster... I studied jewelry design there in the past…’
Lanster held many cherished memories of Cristofer and Estelle. It was the place where Estelle could have pursued a career in jewelry design after graduating from Lanster Jewelry Academy. However, she never completed her studies there. At the age of twenty, she dropped out, returned to Hadale, and began preparing for her wedding with Cristofer. But before their wedding, a car accident occurred, altering the course of their lives.