Swamp Murder

Swamp Murder. 47

Wang's POV

I stood frozen as the van doors slammed shut behind Zhan. My fists clenched so hard I thought my nails would break the skin. The screaming reporters, the flashing lights, the police shouting orders, it all sounded distant. Muffled. Like I was underwater.

Zhan was gone.

Just like that.

I turned to Cheng. "How the hell did this happen?"

Cheng looked just as shaken, but his lawyer instincts kicked in. "She must've had physical backups. Cloud storage. Hell, a private drive for all we know."

"She played us," I whispered, more to myself than him. "My mother played me."

"Wang, listen to me—" he started, but I shoved past him and stormed inside.

I froze in the doorway.

There she was, my mother. Sitting on the cream leather couch like a queen in her cursed palace, legs crossed, a glass of red wine in one hand, and the remote in the other. The TV was loud, tuned to a news channel. On the screen, they were showing live footage of body bags being lifted out of the swamp, officers swarming the scene, and reporters speaking with urgency.

My stomach twisted.

"More remains have been recovered this afternoon from the swamp in Jeju," the anchor was saying. "This comes following the arrest of Zhan, who—"

"Turn that shit off," I growled, stepping fully into the room.

She didn't flinch. Didn't even look at me at first. She took a slow sip from her glass, her eyes still fixed on the screen. Finally, she spoke, her voice calm, almost amused.

"Would you look at that... He did have secrets, didn't he?"

I walked up and snatched the remote out of her hand, turning the TV off so hard I almost cracked the screen.

"You think this is a joke?" I snapped. "You think destroying someone's life, my husband's life is entertainment?"

She turned her head to me, the smirk never leaving her lips. "I think you let your dick choose for you, and now you're angry the world won't bend for your little love story."

I was on her in two seconds, grabbing her hand, my teeth gritted so tight my jaw hurt.

"You set him up. You planted everything, you manipulated the system, and you're sitting here sipping wine like you didn't just ruin a man's life."

"A man's life?" she sneered. "That thing you brought into this house is a stain. I'm cleaning it up."

I shoved her hand away from me. "You're a monster."

She straightened her blouse without a flinch. "No, darling. I'm a mother."

My fists trembled. My heart felt like it was ripping open. And right then, I swore no court, no police, no threat could stop me.

I was going to save Zhan.

And I was going to destroy her.

She walked away like she hadn't just handed me my worst nightmare. Each click of her heels against the tile felt like a nail driven into my skull. Cold. Sharp. Final.

"I told you not to do anything stupid," she hissed. And yet, she had done worse. She lied, framed, and erased Zhan's entire existence, and now, she was daring me to fix it. Or fail.

"Take the deal or watch him rot in jail," she smirked. Like this was a game.

I stood there, chest heaving, fists clenched so hard my nails dug into my palms. "Mother," I said, barely able to keep the disappointment out of my voice. It sounded more like a plea than a warning.