Chapter 2

Vinny froze in place, bent over the bed, motionless for what felt like an eternity. I could see his hand trembling slightly around the knife's handle.

The knocking came again, more urgent this time.

"Open up! It's Tommy!"

Tommy? Sofia's boyfriend.

The rhythm of the knocks was strange, like some kind of code.

Vinny cleared his throat twice, quickly pulled on a white dress shirt, and hid the blood-soaked knife behind his back as he headed for the door.

I realized that if the two of them got into a fight, maybe I could escape in the chaos. I quietly shifted closer to the edge of the bed, ready to crawl out at any moment.

I heard Vinny going downstairs to open the door, then a man's rough voice drifted up: "What's taking you so long? I thought you said you'd be done quick."

My heart sank. This Tommy guy actually knew what he was doing here! I was shocked to realize this wasn't some accidental affair—the two of them had planned this together!

Footsteps came up the stairs. I heard Tommy enter the bedroom.

"What the hell!" Tommy's voice suddenly turned shrill.

"Are you out of your mind? I just wanted you to have some fun with her—I didn't tell you to kill her!"

Vinny's voice remained calm. "She knew too much. You know the family rules."

"Rules? What goddamn rules!" Tommy's voice was shaking. "I just wanted you to try her out, not murder her!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Tommy." Vinny sounded impatient. "What's one more body to us? Now you need to help me clean this up, or the FBI will trace it back to both of us."

I heard something heavy hit the floor—probably Tommy collapsing. He was gasping for air like he couldn't breathe.

"I'm not doing this!" Tommy said angrily. "This is your mess! You deal with it!"

Then I heard the sound of metal against skin. Vinny must have pressed the knife against Tommy's throat.

"You don't have a choice, Tommy." Vinny's voice was ice-cold. "Either help me, or you'll end up just like her."

Tommy was too scared to speak. After a long moment, I heard him whisper, "Okay... okay..."

Footsteps approached the bed. Tommy walked over and caught sight of Sofia's body, immediately throwing up.

"Pathetic waste of space," Vinny muttered with disgust. I heard him pick something up and walk out.

Just then, as Tommy bent down to clean up, he suddenly spotted me under the bed.

Our eyes met. I nearly screamed.

Tommy glanced toward the door, then put his finger to his lips and mouthed silently: "Run. Call the cops."

I nodded frantically, nearly crying with relief.

Tommy started making all kinds of noise to cover for me—coughing, kicking chairs, dragging heavy objects around.

Using the sounds as cover, I carefully crawled out from under the bed.

The floor was covered in blood, sticky and warm.

I held my shoes in my hand and crept barefoot toward the door, checking over my shoulder every few steps, terrified Vinny would suddenly appear.

Finally I reached the doorway. The night air hit my face. The blood in my hair had dried, feeling like a disgusting cap stuck to my head.

I heard something behind me and bolted up the stairs, half-running, half-crawling.

I sprinted from Building B to Building E in one breath, nearly tripping over a rock crossing the courtyard. My legs were shaking so badly climbing the stairs that I almost dropped my keys.

I finally got the door open and rushed inside, locking it behind me before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

I kept hitting my head, trying to make sure this wasn't a nightmare.

But no matter how hard I hit myself, reality stayed reality.

My gentle, refined husband Vinny was actually a cold-blooded killer. Judging from how skilled he'd been, this definitely wasn't his first time.

I suddenly remembered the lipstick I'd found in Vinny's car a few days ago—the same brand Sofia always wore.

At the time, I'd naively convinced myself Vinny would never cheat on me, that Sofia wasn't his type. Now I realized what an idiot I'd been.

Actually, there had been signs all along.

A few months ago, while Vinny was sleeping, I'd sneaked a look through his personal belongings. I found strange photos and letters hidden in his safe.

The photos were absolutely sickening—red-haired girls being tortured, dismembered, cut into pieces. And all those victims had red hair, looking just like me.

I'd also found text messages from Sofia to Vinny: "Baby, I'll be waiting tomorrow night. Don't forget." She'd attached provocative photos, promising to give Vinny "what your wife could never give you."

When I saw those messages, I'd cried my heart out.

I never imagined my most trusted cousin would betray me and seduce my husband. So today I'd deliberately taken time off work, wanting to see what was really going on, planning to catch them in the act.

But I never expected Vinny would actually kill her.

Now my mind was racing with questions:

Why would Vinny kill Sofia instead of continuing the affair?

If Tommy knew all along, why didn't he stop it—why did he become an accomplice instead?

I grabbed at my hair, my thoughts a complete mess.

After the initial shock wore off, I realized I had to call the police, or Tommy might be in danger too. With trembling hands, I picked up the phone receiver—it was still stained with blood.

"911, what's your emergency?" The operator's voice was kind.

I was about to speak when I heard the door opening.

My heart stopped instantly. How could he be back so soon?

I quickly covered my mouth, not daring to make a sound, and hung up the phone.

The footsteps grew closer. I hurried to pretend I'd just woken up, rubbing my eyes as I sat up on the couch.

"Cara mia, still awake at this hour?" Vinny walked over, asking gently. "I thought I heard you on the phone just now?"

My face went deathly pale, my whole body started shaking. "I... I was just thirsty, wanted some water..."

Vinny had changed into clean clothes, looking gentle and refined—completely different from the demon at the murder scene.

But he narrowed his eyes at me and suddenly asked, "Bella, why is there blood on your forehead?"