He Killed My Grandmother for His First Love

Chapter 12

Phillip chased me down the steps outside the courthouse.

"Charlee, do you think that just because you testified against Elaina, I'll be grateful to you?"

"I'm a lawyer. I'll win with my methods."

"If one lawsuit fails, I'll file another, and another! Victory will eventually be on my side. What you've done has only sped things up a bit."

"Don't think that just because you have power and influence, you can use it to shield your crimes."

"Phillip, justice may be delayed, but it will never be denied."

He froze in place, but as I turned to leave, he followed immediately. Annoyed, I pressed the burning cigarette against his face, just as I had done to Elaina's eye before.

"Don't follow me, or I can't promise what I might do."

Phillip's eyes were filled with raw, heart-wrenching pain. He moved closer to the cigarette, bringing it dangerously close to his eye. The smell of burning eyelashes filled the air as he looked at me with determination.

"If you'll forgive me this way, then I accept it."

I thought Phillip had completely lost it. For Elaina, he could commit murder and arson, and now he was playing this melodramatic act, asking for forgiveness through self-sacrifice. But it didn't even faze me. I just found it pathetic.

Rationality kicked in at the crucial moment. I pulled the cigarette away, my face indifferent.

"Phillip, only the law will deal with you, not me."

Elaina was just the beginning. Phillip would be the next. No matter how powerful the Murray family was... for my grandmother, for myself, I would fight this battle to the end.

Phillip cried out, his voice trembling with emotion.

"Why? Charlee, why? How did we go from being so close to this?"

He was right. We used to be so in love. How had it come to this?

Because I was just a fool back then.

I rolled up my right sleeve, revealing the 4-inch scar on my arm. I stepped closer to him and placed the scar in front of his face.

"Phillip, do you find it appealing, watching a mad dog burn?"

Phillip stared at the burn scar on my arm, a bitter smile tugging at his lips, his body shaking.

"Wh-what do you mean? Charlee, what are you saying?"

I knew he had already figured it out. The heart only hurts when it's torn apart by someone you loved.

"What do I mean? Didn't you already guess, Phillip?"

"When Elaina called you for help, I was there."

"When you poured gasoline around my grandmother's house, I was there."

"When you lit that lighter and threw it into the pile of gasoline, I was also there."

"Phillip, I was inside that door the whole time."

"I'm the mad dog you wanted to burn to death."

With every word I spoke, Phillip's face grew paler. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed, stumbling backward, barely able to support himself against the wall. His body swayed, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

"How... how could you be inside..."

"I... I can't believe what I've done!"

"I almost burned my dearest to death!"

"I'm just a jerk!"

Phillip slapped his face over and over, each strike more desperate than the last. I turned and walked away.