They Bled Her Dry, So She Burned It All Down

"Look at what you did! You made my nose bleed!"

He fumbled to wipe the blood off his face.

I couldn't be bothered to trade another word with him.

He stood there dazed for a moment, then stalked off in a huff.

"You watch the kid, all right? I'm going back to take care of Arlene."

The second he was out the door, I fished a few bloodstained tissues out of the trash.

They were the ones he'd just used on his nose.

A little while later, Edna Finch came in with someone.

The man collected the bloody tissues and took some biological samples from the baby.

"Ms. Perry, we'll have the results tomorrow. I'll be going now."

"Thank you for your trouble."

The next morning, Terry drove over to take us home from the hospital.

Halfway there, the paternity test results came through on my phone.

Terry and the baby shared no blood relation at all.

"Darrell's a real good guy, you know."

"He let me come pick you up, and he's back there helping look after Arlene..."

Terry sighed away behind the wheel.

"Terry, spare me the nonsense."

"I'll just ask you straight. You really not planning to leave your assets to my son?"

"Even Arlene said it. You don't have any kids. If your money doesn't go to my boy, then who does it go to?"

I was so angry I almost laughed, but I killed the urge to shove the test results in his face.

The big idiot.

His wife had cuckolded him, and here he was, still fixated on my money.

And behind all of it, without a doubt, was Arlene, whispering and egging him on.

We got to their place.

I noticed that Darrell was nowhere in sight.

Arlene's parents had come instead.

The three of them looked at us with strange expressions, a little tense.

"Sis, thank you so much for these past couple of days."

Arlene was acting completely out of character, going out of her way to be polite to me.

The smile just didn't reach her eyes.

An alarm went off somewhere in the back of my mind.

Arlene sat down beside me and took my hand.

"Sis, you don't have to pay for the baby's one-month celebration party this time."

"But first, why don't you write a will? Leave your company and your assets to my son. That's no problem, right?"

Her parents crowded in too.

"That's right, that's right. You don't have any children of your own."

"Down the road, who else is going to look after you in your old age but your nephew?"

I was about to fire back when my head suddenly went light.

The strength drained out of me, and my whole body went slack.

My low blood sugar was acting up again.

"Sugar. Give me something with sugar," I forced out.

Arlene's face turned cold.

"Don't change the subject. Write the will first!"

But I couldn't hold on any longer, and I lost consciousness.

...When I came to, I found myself lying on the floor.

Arlene and her family were sitting there eating.

Chatting away, breaking into laughter now and then.

My head was still foggy as I braced myself and sat up.

They all turned to look at me, smug, eerie smiles on their faces.

"Sis, you must be worn out."

"My parents are here now, so you go on home and rest."

"The baby's one-month party is tomorrow. Remember to come early."

Something felt off.

Not right at all.

But I couldn't put my finger on it just then.

So I got up and left.

Once I was home, though, the first thing I did was call Edna.

...

Early the next morning, Edna came over.

She brought me the printed paternity test for Terry and the baby.

She'd also brought along a twelve-man professional bodyguard team.

Once I'd finished briefing them, I headed off to my "so-called nephew's" one-month celebration party.

By the time we reached the hotel,

most of the guests had already arrived.

My father had come too, along with the relatives from back home.