The Murderer

“Qingqing, you finally came to find Howard.”

Uncle He looked aged beyond recognition.

He saw my confusion.

“Howard said you would find him one day. This is the city you two agreed to settle in.”

Every reminder told me:

I was the one who broke the promise.

Uncle He told us Howard’s death was suspicious.

The police had never found the reason.

Howard had no major illness, yet his cause of death was sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

His body had many bruises.

It happened in the summer five years ago.

“Henry,” I said suddenly.

“It was Henry.”

I stood as if mad, wanting to rush out.

Leah stopped me.

“Why?”

“Five years ago, Henry confessed to me. I rejected him. His followers were recording nearby.”

“They probably edited the video and sent it to Howard.”

“My roommate said Henry took a group of people with metal rods out of school. I didn’t catch up.”

Uncle He held my hand and made me sit.

“Qingqing, speak slowly.”

I finally stabilized.

“Uncle He, can I see Howard’s phone?”

He brought it.

He and Aunt He had tried for years but could not unlock it.

I took a breath and entered 0601.

It opened.

“What date is that?” Uncle He asked.

“The day Howard proposed to me.”

I touched the ring on my hand and smiled miserably.

Then I opened the album.

Nearly fifty videos.

All of them showed how they tortured Howard.

One video made everyone gasp.

A man pressed Howard down.

Howard’s eyes were numb, staring blankly at the shaking ceiling.

Then Henry slapped him.

His disgusting voice sounded.

“Brother, after this, will she still want you?”

“Will Mom and Dad still give you the company?”

Earlier videos showed them beating Howard with metal rods.

Without exception, Henry had filmed them.

Why would he keep such evidence?

Perhaps because a monster wants proof of being a monster.

My vision blurred.

I collapsed.

Nosebleed stained my white shirt red.

When I woke, Uncle He and I went to the police.

Meanwhile, my brother, sister-in-law, and Leah returned to A City and destroyed Henry’s entertainment empire.

Tina sent a 2.8 GB compressed file to my phone.

Maybe she felt guilty.

Maybe the kidnapping broke the ice between us after more than ten years of conflict.

When we opened it at the police station, we found all of Henry’s crimes over the years.

Together with Howard’s phone, it was enough for Henry to die ten times over.

When the police arrived, Henry was still dealing with rotten accounts.

Paparazzi followed and photographed everything.

The internet exploded.

Henry became infamous overnight.

His accomplices from back then were arrested one after another.

My divorce certificate arrived a month and a half later.

Good.

Clean break.

Otherwise, I would not know how to face Howard.

When Henry was taken away, he mouthed to me:

Qingqing, I only love you.

It made me sick.

He did not deserve to speak of love.

He was a ghost crawling out of hell to claim lives.

I posted all the materials online.

Tina reposted them.

I left one comment under her post:

Pleasure working with you.

Then I deleted the app.

Whatever the world said next had nothing to do with me.