Roses in Flames

After receiving a call from Jiang Zhaodi, Jiang Yaozu went to her home.

He swaggered into the house, dressed in designer clothes, and glanced around the living room. "Where's my brother-in-law?"

"He's working overtime and hasn't come back yet," Jiang Zhaodi replied coldly.

Jiang Yaozu scoffed, giving Jiang Zhaodi a disdainful look. "Why don't you dress yourself up a bit? Your brother-in-law is handsome, aren't you afraid he'll cheat on you?"

After saying that, he changed the subject and stretched out his hand to Jiang Zhaodi, "I recently got a girlfriend, and my expenses are high. Can you give me some more money?"

Jiang Zhaodi glanced at Jiang Yaozu. "Am I your ATM?"

Jiang Yaozu curled his lips into a sneer, his attitude forceful. "Sis, I have something on you. Do you dare refuse? If you don't, I'll tell your husband what happened back then, tell everyone. Let's see how you face people after that!"

Jiang Zhaodi pursed her pale lips tightly. "How much do you want this time?"

Jiang Yaozu held up one finger, "At least ten thousand."

Jiang Zhaodi looked at Jiang Yaozu for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice, "You know perfectly well that I'm unemployed now, and the only money I can get is from your brother-in-law. If he finds out, he'll beat me to death."

"So what if I hit you?" Jiang Yaozu said nonchalantly, his tone chillingly cold. "Men are like gods. He'll hit you a few times after marrying you, it won't kill you. Just bear with it! Besides, your brother-in-law spent 200,000 yuan to marry you, he must really cherish you."

Jiang Zhaodi's lips curled into a mocking, cold smile, her eyes filled with sorrow. "Didn't your parents spend all 200,000 yuan on you? What am I to you? Just a commodity!"

Jiang Yaozu didn't want to listen to Jiang Zhaodi's rambling. He glared at her fiercely and said, "Stop talking nonsense and go get me the money!"

Jiang Zhaodi closed her eyes briefly, then picked up a glass of milk and handed it to Jiang Yaozu. "Drink this, I'll go get the money."

Jiang Yaozu snorted coldly, "You're smart to know what's good for you."

He picked up the cup and drank the milk in one gulp.

After a short while, Jiang Yaozu felt dizzy and his vision became blurry.

He raised his hand to rub his temples, trying to stand up, but felt dizzy.

What's wrong with him?

"Holy crap! Jiang Zhaodi, did you put something in the milk?"

Jiang Zhaodi slowly walked out, holding a thin wire in her hand. A chilling smile curled at the corner of her lips. "Yes, I put sleeping pills in the milk. For the sake of our sibling relationship, I'll let you die in your sleep."

Jiang Yaozu's face turned deathly pale, his pupils contracted sharply, "You...you're insane? If Mom finds out, she'll break your legs!"

Jiang Zhaodi seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and her cold laughter deepened. She looked at Jiang Yaozu, but there was no warmth in her eyes, only boundless hatred. "Do you think I still care? Let me tell you the truth. Three months ago, your brother-in-law, who used to abuse me, was also strangled to death by my own hands here."

Jiang Yaozu's pupils dilated in shock. He stared at Jiang Zhaodi in horror, as if he had seen a ruthless killer.

Goosebumps broke out all over my body, and my blood froze into ice.

Jiang Yaozu wanted to get up from the sofa, wanted to scream, wanted to run away, but his whole body was as limp as a lump of mud.

He could only watch helplessly as the cold wire tightened around his neck.

As Jiang Zhaodi tightened her grip, a suffocating feeling surged over her like a tidal wave.

Overwhelming fear completely engulfed her.

"Sister, sister, sister... I don't want the money anymore, please let me go..."

Jiang Yaozu was so frightened that tears and snot streamed down his face.

He thought he was going to die here. Just as he closed his eyes in despair, a loud bang came from the doorway.

The door was kicked open violently, and uniformed police officers rushed in.

"Police! Don't move!"

……

In the interrogation room.

Jiang Zhaodi had handcuffs on her wrists. She raised her hands and covered her face with them.

His shoulders trembled violently, and tears slipped through his fingers.

Seeing Jiang Zhaodi's emotional breakdown, Chen Yang didn't immediately interrogate her. Instead, he let her have a good cry to release her emotions.

"Why..." She finally lowered her hand, her voice hoarse and desperate, "Why did you have to arrive so quickly? Couldn't you have given me just one more minute, not even one minute?"

If she had just one more minute, she could have strangled Jiang Yaozu.

"Why should Jiang Yaozu live? He deserves to die!"

Jiang Zhaodi's eyes were bloodshot, and her expression was almost manic.

Chen Yang stared sharply at Jiang Zhaodi. "Did you strangle Wang Jun with your own hands?"

Jiang Zhaodi closed her eyes briefly. After a struggle filled with pain, inner turmoil, and hatred, she nodded. "Yes, Wang Jun was strangled to death by my own hands. It has nothing to do with Xie An."

Wang Jun never treated her like a human being, never giving her any dignity. Whenever she was upset or unhappy outside, he would beat and kick her.

Slap her, kick her in the stomach, beat her to death.

She lived in hell every day, like a tattered rag doll that had been completely torn apart and could never be healed.

The night he strangled Wang Jun, he came home drunk.

He returned to the bedroom and somehow found the birth control pills she had hidden.

Because Wang Jun was abusive, and because she didn't love him, she didn't want to have children with him.

Wang Jun's eyes turned red with anger when he saw the birth control pills.

He rushed into the living room, grabbed her by the neck, and slapped her several times.

He berated her for deliberately cutting off their family line, for being heartless, and for not being worthy of being his wife.

She filed for divorce, but he beat her even more severely.

He threw her to the ground, punched her in the head, and kicked her in the stomach; she was in so much pain she almost convulsed.

She was truly terrified, afraid he would beat her to death. At that moment, she didn't know where she got the strength, but she used all her strength to push him away.

He was pushed to the ground by her, and perhaps because he had drunk too much, he couldn't get up for a long time.

She seized the opportunity, took out the wire she had hidden on her body, and had only one thought in her mind: she couldn't let him get up and hit her again.

She lunged at him and strangled his neck with a wire, tightening it with all her might until he could no longer move.

As she said this, tears welled up in Jiang Zhaodi's eyes and fell uncontrollably once again.

"I strangled Wang Jun to death. I sat alone in the living room for a long time until I heard a noise outside the door. I thought it was a neighbor. After dragging Wang Jun into the bathroom, I tidied myself up and ran to open the door. I never expected that Xie An would be standing outside the door."

The same eyebrows and eyes, the same nose bridge, the same lip shape and face contour.

That was a face she had once loved deeply, and one that had also been brutally abused by her.

Before she was forced to marry Wang Jun, she had an online relationship with Xie An.

She called him "husband" online, and he called her "wife."

He and Wang Jun have completely different personalities; he is gentle, considerate, and patient.

The two were originally going to meet in person, but her parents sold her to Wang Jun for 200,000 yuan.

Her connection with Xie An was abruptly severed.

Looking at Xie An's face, which looked so much like Wang Jun's, she felt both attracted and terrified.

She was trembling uncontrollably, wanting to pretend she didn't know him and kick him out.

She didn't want him to see her disheveled state, the way she had killed someone.

But her face was bruised and swollen, and she was clearly not in good condition.

He knew she had been a victim of domestic violence, and despite her protests, he barged into the house.

He wanted to find the man who had abused her, but in the bathroom, he found Wang Jun, who was no longer breathing.

She stood frozen in place, her heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand. Her mind went blank, and she could barely breathe.

She closed her eyes, unable to bear looking into his eyes, which showed either disgust or disappointment.

She thought he would hate her, be afraid of her, and think she was crazy.

But the next second, he strode towards her, said nothing, and pulled her into his arms tightly.

He gently soothed her trembling, thin back with his large hand, his voice low and frighteningly calm, yet filled with a heart-wrenching tenderness and guilt:

"I'm sorry, Zhao Di, I'm late."

"Don't worry, I'll handle the rest."

Jiang Zhaodi looked at Chen Yang with red-rimmed eyes, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown. "Officer, it really has nothing to do with Xie An, please let him go!"

Chen Yang looked up at Jiang Zhaodi, his pen hovering over the record paper. "Jiang Zhaodi, you are suspected of aiding and abetting the murderer in destroying and dismembering the body. This is a serious offense, and you will be held criminally liable."

Chen Yang's expression was grave. After a sigh, he asked, "Tell me the truth, why did you want to kill Jiang Yaozu?"