4 | May his soul rest in peace

The night sky was aglow with bright city lights as the rain stopped pouring. A Mercedes car sped off into a villa, and it was parked neatly in a spacious garage.

Mr. Vanderbilt, the old man alighted from the Mercedes car as he walked gently into his villa with his stick hitting the floor calmly. His mouth agape, he was stunned by Bella, his daughter's presence since she only visited him when he had a meeting with his wealthy business partners.

He looked at Bella as he noticed that her hands were wrapped around a pillow and she clutched it towards her chest before sobbing quietly. With what he witnessed, he assumed something bad happened to Bella so he walked towards her to calm her down and to question her for the unnecessary sobs.

Mr. Vanderbilt stretched out his hand from his pocket and Bella screamed. “Ah! Dad, didn't you see the camera was on?” Bella yelled, glaring at her father before she glanced at the little camera that was recording what she did. She grabbed the camera then she deleted what she recorded since her father interrupted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Vanderbilt smiled as he was happy to know that his daughter’s tears and sobs were fake. He pats her shoulder slowly, then muttered, “I didn't notice that, princess. But you can certainly record the video again,” before walking towards the stairs.

“Sure,” Bella replied, rolling her eyes as she was frustrated. Her mother had just disturbed her recording before her father came in too.

She adjusted the paint on her face, as she made her eyes teary and wet. Her mascara was also painted down her cheeks, and she was ready to record the video again. She hugged the pillow tightly before crying out to the camera. “My mother-in-law died! She died of cancer!!”She spoke, exhaling and inhaling heavily with her chest rising and falling as she cried bitterly.

“My sweet mother-in-law, she was a gentle soul! Why did she have to die?! Why not me?!” She cried, and Simon came in as planned. He wrapped his arms around her as he acted like he was consoling her with his voice trembling well. “Don’t say that, Bella. I’m sure she went to a better place.”

He sniffled, and Bella cried into his arms, wailing like a mother who lost her only child. Simon kept consoling Bella till Bella started breathing normally and then the video was paused.

Bella hastily made the video public on social media as she giggled at the sympathetic reactions her fans gave her. They praised Bella for being a good daughter-in-law when Irene was alive and they also sent their condolences to her.

Simon smirked as he noticed the numerous fans consoling him and Bella with their messages. “A few days from now, your fans will start to see me as a good friend, and from there, we will get married,” Simon muttered to her with a smile on his lips.

Shooking her head, Bella retorted. “No, not when Alex and I are still married.”

Simon rolled his eyes, feeling disheartened at her statement. Bella had repetitively mentioned Alex’s marriage with her and it always gets Simon in a jealous effect. He hated it when Bella mentioned Alex’s name or whenever he saw Bella with Alex.

At college, he was the first to propose to Bella before Alex came in with giving Bella his kidney when she needed a donor. Unfortunately for Simon, Bella accepted Alex’s proposal and Simon got heartbroken. He was always in love with her, and now that he managed to have a relationship with Bella, Bella was still adamant on not divorcing Alex yet.

“There we go again. Alex, Alex, Alex...” Simon muttered, his voice filled with jealous emotions.

“Simon, you don't have to take that to heart,” Mr. Vanderbilt, the old man spoke from upstairs as he smiled at Simon.

“I’ve taken care of her Alex.” Mr. Vanderbilt uttered and Bella got struck with surprise. She thought Alex was maybe cheating on her since he caught her red-handed with another man, but her father’s statement changed her thoughts about Alex.

“W-what do you mean by taken care?” Bella stammered as she suddenly rose up from her seat with her arms crossed. Her father chuckled slightly. “I killed him,”

“How could you?!” Bella flared up. She walked up to her father who had changed into a nightrobe. He was about to go to sleep before he had the sudden urge to tell Bella about how he killed Alex.

“Why do you have to mess me up, old man?!” Bella yelled and her father chuckled. “I was only helping you.” He paused. He looked down at Simon who was a little confused at Bella’s worried tone, then he faced Bella. “But if you think you don't deserve my help, you can go look for your darling husband at the boat launch outside this city.”

“Christ! You dumped him into the water?!” Bella exclaimed and her father nodded calmly. “Yes.”

Bella froze, as the word ‘Yes’ rang in her head. She was shocked and she could not believe that her father could kill someone. She thought he had changed his old ways of murdering people he didn't like.

Sweat formed on her forehead and she ran down the stairs before calling her bodyguards to accompany her to the boat launch which location she knew since it was her father's favorite place when she was a teenager.

Stepping on the brakes, Bella got down from her car and she wandered around, searching for any sign of Alex’s body. She noticed the blood stains beside a boat and she called her guards.

“Clean the stains!” She ordered her bodyguards, before she continued to search for any stain so she could clean it off or erase it.

Suddenly, Simon hugged her from behind, as he whispered into her ear, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Bella replied quickly as she wriggled her body out of his grasp.

“Are you sure?” Simon asked again as he noticed the worried look on her face.

“Yes, I am!” Bella responded, and she turned her gaze to the river.

“You are acting odd, Bella. Is it about the money I promised to give you?” Simon asked, his voice croaking with concern.

“No, not at all. Maybe I just need to be alone for a while,” Bella replied tartly and Simon shrugged, respecting her decisions as he understood her attitude. He pulled off his red jacket and he draped it on her shoulder before leaving her in the cold boat launch.

Rubbing her palm in anticipation, Bella gazed at her bodyguard who came out from the water already. She dashed towards him before questioning him. “Did you find him? Is he dead?”

The bodyguard shook his head as he responded, “Ma’am, it’s too cold out here. Even if your husband was dumped in the water, he would not survive it. It's damn cold and the water is too deep to search for his body which may have been frozen to death.”

“You mean he can not make it out alive?” Bella questioned and the bodyguard nodded, “He can't,”

Bella shivered as her eyes turned red. “It’s fine then,” She spoke boldly, wiping off the tears that were about to spill from her eyes. “May his soul rest in peace.”

“Amen,” the two bodyguards chorused.