Someone carried Chester's two children over. They were so young. The boy was barely five, the girl only three. The chaos had them wailing, their small bodies trembling.

Carmen crouched beside them and hissed in their ears. "Go on, tell everyone. Who killed your mommy and daddy? It was this woman!"

The little boy shook from head to toe, but through his sobs he screamed, "Murderer! You're a murderer!"

The little girl cried after him, her words slurred and broken. "I want Mommy and Daddy! Kill her!"

These children. In my last life, I'd nearly destroyed myself raising them. And they'd grown up to become trophies paraded around by the very people who ruined me.

Now they were still so small, and already being used as weapons.

I opened my mouth to explain, but the words died before they left my lips. No one was listening.

Carmen and Alden kept howling for my life. The relatives egged them on. The villagers' murmuring swelled into a roar, every voice certain I was the poisoner.

"Call the police! Let the cops investigate. They'll prove she did it!"

The shout came from somewhere deep in the crowd.

Andrew stepped forward immediately, blocking the man who'd spoken. "No. Don't call the police."

Pain twisted across his face. "This is a family matter. Chester is already gone. If we get the police involved and blow this up, what happens to the children? How will they ever live this down?"

He turned to me.

"Catherine, I know you didn't mean it. You just lost your head for a moment, right?"

"Just admit it. We'll find a way to handle this quietly. The children are so young. They need someone to depend on."

I looked at him, and a laugh slipped out of me.

He wanted me to confess voluntarily. That way, everything could unfold exactly according to their plan.

I'd rot in prison while they helped themselves to everything I owned — my property, my savings — all while milking the two children for sympathy and convenience.

But not this time. Not in this life.

I stared at Andrew's face, fighting the urge to lunge at him and tear it apart with my bare hands.

But he was still putting on his little show.

"Catherine, why aren't you saying anything?"

Andrew's eyes were rimmed red, his voice thick with feigned emotion. "I know you're suffering, but someone is dead. You can't just deny it!"

The villagers around us were already whispering, pointing fingers.

"She looks so harmless, but she's rotten inside!"