Chapter 12
328words
Margaret clutched Steven's hand, her eyes glinting with cold resolve.
"That meddling old hag knows too much, Steven. She'll ruin everything. I'll take care of her!"
That night, under cover of rain, Margaret slipped out unnoticed.
The next morning, Margaret returned drenched but smiling, assuring Steven she'd handled everything—lured Betty to the lake with promises of truth, then pushed her in.
The very next day, Steven spotted Betty strolling through town, completely unharmed.
He stormed home to confront his mother, raging at her incompetence.
"You said you killed her, but she's walking around town! What the hell happened?"
After their shouting match, Linda appeared at the perfect moment, feigning concern.
"Maybe your mother just wanted to comfort you, Steven. Perhaps she never actually went through with it."
Linda's words slithered like poison into the growing rift between mother and son.
Desperate to prove herself, Margaret tried again.
She lurked near Betty's cottage, waiting in the shadows.
When Betty turned her back, Margaret shoved her hard into the old well.
Betty's screams echoed up the stone shaft before abruptly silencing.
Margaret peered into the darkness below, satisfied that no one could survive such a fall.
This time, she proudly told Steven she'd handled it cleanly and efficiently.
Yet the very next morning, Betty appeared on their doorstep, hurling accusations.
She swore the Kane family would never know peace until justice was served.
Margaret rushed downstairs and screamed at the sight of Betty.
"Impossible! You're dead! I watched you fall!"
Margaret collapsed, alternating between hysterical laughter and sobs.
Her eyes glazed over as she muttered repeatedly, "She can't be alive. She can't be alive."
Steven watched his mother's breakdown with cold contempt.
"You're completely useless. Can't even handle one old woman."
Margaret curled into a ball, mind shattered, mumbling incoherently to herself.
Steven turned and walked away, leaving his mother to drown in her terror.
