Chapter 6
The atmosphere plunged into an eerie silence the moment the words landed.
Samantha was dumbfounded, as if time had stopped for her. Her eyes widened in fear, clearly shocked by those words.
Despite this, she stubbornly retorted, “What nonsense are you spouting?”
The older woman replied, “I’m spouting nonsense? Go ahead and ask everyone here. See if they think I’m lying. When they brought the death benefits to your door, they told us to help your family through the tough times.
“We stayed quiet out of respect for your loss, but it turns out that this is what you’ve been doing behind our backs!”
Sensing Natalie’s unease in my arms, I gently ruffled her head.
I inwardly let out a cold chuckle. When I gave it more thought, I realized that I only knew about this in this lifetime.
When someone from the military came to deliver the death benefits, they made a point to speak to the villagers. They said that Joseph had died a hero, and asked everyone to look out for his family.
And back then, the villagers had one trait. They were simple and decent. They immediately agreed to it.
However, in my last life, we moved away in a hurry. We never learned about this side of the truth, while the villagers never got to see the Colemans‘ true colors.
At that moment, Samantha was truly at a loss for words.
But it turned out I had estimated just how shameless they could be.
Seeing things take a turn, Lynda immediately rushed over and frantically yelled, “What did you say? Joseph isn’t dead. There
he is! Say another word, and I’ll shut your mouth myself!”
Only then did Samantha seem to remember Lynda’s supposed memory loss. She quickly dragged Lynda back indoors.
At that moment, Joshua quickly jumped in to smooth things over with his made–up story.
The older women didn’t look as angry after listening to his explanation, but their tone was still disapproving.
“Even so, you can’t just pretend to be Joseph! Lynda will eventually find out the truth,” one of them said.
Another replied, “Exactly. You’re pretending to be someone else’s husband. Where does that leave Tiff and Natalie?”
Joshua turned to look at me. He solemnly asked, “You’ll be understanding about this, right, Tiff?”
I pursed my lips and remained silent. I knew that these village elders would definitely leave once I agreed to him.
At the end of the day, one person’s strength could only go so far, especially when I still had Natalie to protect.
The light in my eyes dimmed.
But strangely enough, just as I was about to speak again, Natalie started squirming in my arms, insisting on getting down.
Thinking that she might be feeling unwell, I asked worriedly, “What’s wrong, Natalie?”
“Mommy.” Natalie’s clear voice rang out. “Daddy and Aunt Lynda… Marriage certificate.”
Her words weren’t all that clear, but everyone present wasn’t stupid. They immediately understood what she was trying to
say
While still reeling from the shock, I realized that this was a golden opportunity, handed to me on a silver platter.
Natalie had presented me with this rare opportunity. She would’ve taken that beating for nothing if I hadn’t utilized it well.
