"My husband and mother-in-law left just this morning. It's only been a little over two hours. How is it possible to have lost every part of them to the wolves?"
Seeing that I was persistent in searching for them, Gillian and Jessie exchanged looks at each other and left.
After a while, the police arrived, and I told them what happened. A search was launched, and about an hour later, Jessie shrieked.
Everyone gathered around and found my mother-in-law and Raymond lying behind a big rock. They were covered in blood and looked like they had stopped breathing.
Everyone helped to carry my mother-in-law and Raymond to the hospital. During the rescue, Jessie stopped me from entering the emergency room. "Family members are to wait outside the door, our doctors will do our best to save him."
Seeing that I was upset, Gillian pretended to comfort me, "Don't worry, my girl is a well-known doctor in this hospital. She will do her best."
After a while, Jessie came out crying and asked me to see them for the last time.
My mother-in-law and Raymond had already breathed their last. They were covered with white cloth and pushed out of the emergency room.
When I came closer, Jessie pulled down the white cloth and only exposed their faces. Their faces were ashen, indeed, as if they were dead.
They were really good at it. To fake death, they did not hesitate to act together with Jessie.
I would make sure their show went on till the end. Otherwise, I would make sure they were at least half dead.
I raised my hand and slapped both my mother-in-law and Raymond on the face.
I bawled, "You heartless freak! You even brought Mom with you! What am I to do now?"
As I said that, I clenched my fist and punched Raymond twice hard in the chest.
Then I ran to my mother-in-law and punched her twice.
"No, I don't believe you and Mom would just leave me like this. Wake up! Boohoo..."
I could clearly see my mother-in-law's face wrinkled slightly, even though she had received enough sedatives and anesthesia.
The doctor and Jessie on the side quickly held me as they saw me behaving this way. "They are gone. I am sorry."
I went quiet and wept.
"I would like a moment alone with my mother-in-law and Raymond, just for a while. After all, I will never see them again."
Jessie and the others hesitated but agreed to my request.
The moment they closed the morgue door, I stared at the faces of my husband and mother-in-law and then took out the needle I had prepared.
"Sharon, please have a good afterlife with Raymond. How can I be left alone to face the pain?"
As I said that, I took out a needle and pricked Raymond's fingers and toes.
One after another, I inserted ten more needles into my mother-in-law's fingers. I could feel her trembling slightly. Although she was drowsy, she still felt pain.
Then I shaved off their hair and eyebrows, done their faces up, and put on the shrouds for them. I stepped back, satisfied.
Perhaps because they were worried about what I might do, Jessie and the doctor walked in without permission after a while.
They could not hide the twitching in their faces when they saw this. I smiled and suddenly remembered something.
"Doctor, you seem to have forgotten one thing. Don't we need to embalm the body to preserve it?"
The doctor touched his nose awkwardly and quickly glanced at Jessie next to him.
Jessie sensed his signal and immediately stepped forward to hold my hand. "Cheryl, you know quite a lot. It's quite a lengthy process, but I was in a rush. I wanted you to see your mother-in-law and husband first."
I pretended to wipe away my tears and nodded. "Jessie, you are really considerate. I can't be too selfish and let my mother-in-law and husband leave in such a disgraceful way, so let's follow the formal procedures."
Just when Jessie was about to say something, I quickly added, "I want to be with them every step of the way. I'll just stay here and watch them. You can just do it here."
The doctor frowned and stared at Jessie with some embarrassment.
Seeing that I insisted on watching, Jessie had no choice but to start sealing the seven orifices of my husband and mother-in-law.
"Dr. Charles, thank you for your hard work. I think I will go with cremation. Where can I get the death certificate?"
Jessie's lips twitched unnaturally when she heard me. Gillian, on the side, hurriedly pulled my arm and said, "How can you, a pregnant woman, handle this? We are your neighbors. Leave the rest to me. Don't stress, and take care of the child."
I subconsciously took two steps back when Gillian wanted to touch my belly.
Indeed, if I send them to hell now, it would probably cause my miscarriage. Plus, I wanted them to see how everything they planned failed.
"Okay, thank you Aunt Gillian for your hard work. I'll go get the death certificate first." After saying this, I deliberately stood motionless. My mother-in-law and Raymond had their mouths and noses blocked. I wanted to see how long they could last.
"Cheryl, why don't you head home? I will let you know when it's done."
I vaguely saw the feet of my mother-in-law and Raymond twitching slightly and then falling weakly, and then I nodded with satisfaction.
I returned to my mother-in-law's house, packed up all the things related to my mother-in-law and Raymond, and threw them in the yard.
I cooked myself a table full of delicious dishes, finished my lunch, had my dessert, and waited for my neighbors to come back with the ashes of my mother-in-law and Raymond to continue the show.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Gillian and Jessie showed up at my house.
I thought they were going to fool me with two handfuls of fake ashes, but I did not expect them to come back empty-handed.
"Cheryl, the hospital just told us that your mother-in-law and husband still need to stay in the morgue for a few days. You don't have to worry about this. I will take care of it."
I wiped away my tears and held her hand. "Thank you, Aunt Gillian, but we can put this aside. I have more important things to deal with. I will reach out to you if anything comes up."
Seeing that I was behaving abnormally, Gillian glanced at Jessie subconsciously.
"What do you want to do? Let Jessie help you run the errands. You are pregnant, and your health is important."
"Don't bother; it's just some personnel matters."
Gillian could not convince me, so she and Jessie left.
After they left, I went directly to the bank, took out all the money and deposited it into my account.
Then I went directly to the police station with the death certificate issued by the hospital, their ID cards and household registration documents.
After canceling their household registration and obtaining the funeral certificate, I went straight to the village committee.
The premises were scheduled for demolition after a year. Other than the demolition compensation of 30 million, two of those houses were mine.
If I were to start over a new life, I should transfer the houses to myself for assurance.
After Gillian heard the news, she rushed directly to the village committee and started reprimanding me as soon as she entered the door.
"Cheryl, why did you change the name on the homeowner's title deed? Aren't these all yours from now on?"
"Aunt Gillian, I heard that our area will be demolished in the future. When the time comes, what if someone woke up from the dead and snatched the demolition compensation from me? I just wanted to play safe."
"Those are all rumors. Where did you hear that from? I don't think there is any need to change it. Let's go. I have cooked some stew for you."
"Aunt Gillian, I've already done all the paperwork. All that is left to be done is for the documents to be changed to my name. I don't think I should stop now."
When the mayor heard this, he thought it made sense. Confused, he looked at Gillian, who wanted to stop him.
"It is indeed pitiful for her to be widowed. If the demolition really happens, her relatives might show up and fight over the asset. I reckon it would be safer for her to change the papers to her name."