Chapter 4

The workman stayed calm.

He turned back to look at me.

"It's an infrared temperature sensor."

Morton pressed his lips together and said nothing more.

He stepped past me and moved to Charlene's side.

"I've already finished checking. You can go rest now."

Her eyes went soft, a quick smile flickering at the corner of her mouth, and as she brushed past him she hooked her little finger around his.

He was still savoring the look on his face, mind adrift.

"Ahem."

The mother-in-law cleared her throat quietly.

Morton came back to himself fast.

Only then did it hit me that my mother-in-law had known all along.

From the very start, the two of them had been after my money.

"Miriam, you're weak right now." She handed me the milk with such care, pressing it into my hands. "This is goat milk Mom brought all the way from the countryside. It's good for a woman recovering from a miscarriage. Drink it all up now."

The gamey smell hit me full in the face. I pinched my nose, forced a corner of my mouth up, and swallowed the whole thing down in one go.

Back on the second floor, I went to the bathroom and threw all of it up.

It took two full bottles of water before I could barely keep my head clear.

I looked out through the gap in the door.

My mother-in-law had already gone back to the guest room downstairs.

Morton made a point of announcing loudly in the living room that he had to work late, then turned and crept softly up to the attic.

The corner of my mouth curved up slowly.

Work late?

More like working late in Charlene's room.

I opened the surveillance feed on my phone and watched Morton change his clothes just like always and lie down beside Charlene.

He gave a cold snort. "I tricked Miriam into signing the contract ages ago. She gave up her assets voluntarily. Give it a couple more days, she'll sleep and never wake up, and I'll transfer everything over right away."

As he spoke, his hand went into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box.

Inside was a diamond ring.

Charlene clapped a hand over her mouth, all show.

"You've had it rough this whole time, waiting on her."

"A while back I told her mom the recovery money wasn't enough, and her mom wired me twenty grand. Perfect timing for the ring."

"Once Miriam's dead, the whole Dickerson family fortune is mine!"

My whole body was shaking, my teeth clenched until the roots ached, a cold light in my eyes.

He wasn't just after my money. He wouldn't even let my parents' money go.

Charlene's laughter came through the speaker like a needle driven into my ear.

The sky grew darker and darker.

The house went quiet.

Only the hum of the AC was left.

I sat softly in the living room and looked up at the attic through the reflection in the window.

What Morton didn't know was that while the workman installed the AC, I'd had him block the vent from the outside with a cutting board, under the pretext of clearing out dust.

The moment the power went out, the attic would be sealed airtight, turned into one giant steamer.

I threw the breaker and cut off all the power to the house.

Then I ate my fruit slowly and settled in to watch the show.

I opened the feed.

Not even fifteen minutes passed before Morton woke up in the heat, groping around for the remote, sweat from his forehead pattering down by his feet.

"Where's the remote? I saw it right here, I know I did!"

Charlene couldn't stand the heat either, and swiped hard at the sweat on her face.

"Morton, the power must be out. Let's get out of here, we'll get heatstroke if we stay any longer!"

Morton nodded hard, his face tight, one hand steadying her while the other landed on the door handle.

He pressed down hard.

Every trace of color drained from his face.