“Ethan took the last mask!”
Her eyes narrowed in fury:
“What do you mean!? You’re too cowardly to live, so you’re blaming Ethan?”
If she wouldn’t believe me, I wouldn’t waste words. Ignoring her resistance, I strapped the mask onto her face.
It wasn’t regulation, but at least it could block some of the gas.
Exhaustion hit me like a wave. My body went limp as the poison gnawed at my consciousness. I collapsed on the ground, praying someone would pass by and find us.
Seeing my silence, Margaret thought I was guilty. She spat on me and continued her tirade:
“Rachel, you’re a curse! You killed your father, blinded your mother. I sponsored your research out of kindness, and you repay me by gathering evidence of my embezzlement to report me by email!”
“I humbled myself to bring you food so you’d delete that email, and now this happens! And you want my son to take the blame? Our Miller family’s misfortunes all start with you!”
Unlucky? I forced a bitter smile.
Years ago, when my research team was just beginning, Margaret’s company was still small. She proposed cooperation—I’d provide results, she’d provide funding.
That win-win arrangement built the Miller Group into the giant it is today.
But now, I discovered she had been embezzling billions in research funds all along!
I could endure Ethan’s cheating, and her dislike of me didn’t matter. But honesty in research—that was my bottom line.
That email report—I had to send it, no matter what.
A wave of bitterness surged in me. I didn’t even know if I’d make it out alive today…
Just then, the overhead monitor crackled with Chloe’s delighted voice:
“Ethan, Rachel just said it was Margaret in there with her. Exposed now, isn’t she?”
“If that really were Margaret, why would she give away the only mask? Ethan, your trick with the toy mask is brilliant. Watching her blind mother put on that ridiculous thing suddenly makes me feel much better~”
Ethan’s pampering laugh followed:
“As long as Chloe’s happy.”
Margaret’s eyes widened with hope when she heard Ethan’s voice:
“Son! Is that you?”
But her voice was warped beyond recognition by the gas, and since I’d fitted the mask in a camera blind spot, Ethan hadn’t seen her face.
He scoffed coldly:
“Old hag, know your place! You blind wretch think you deserve to call me son?”
Margaret froze, her smile stiffening. After a few stunned seconds, she realized she still wore the mask and tried to rip it off.