âShe wouldnât dare,â Michael said confidently. âI have my ways of making her come and beg me for help.â
Meanwhile, I was hiding behind the door and only sighed in relief after Michaelâs car drove away.
Michael was someone who would do anything to achieve his goal. So, even though I may have escaped his clutches this time, I might not be so lucky next time.
My guess was that Michael had found out about the connection Stephany had with the orphaned children. But he still didnât have anything concrete between her and the killer.
I took a deep breath. I could already feel a headache coming on.
What sort of relation did Stephany Larson have with the killer?
Did she help and feed those orphans to have them kill other people? Was Stephany such a terrifying woman?
Based on the school reunion before, I could tell that Stephany herself was a cowardly woman who was easily manipulated and had low selfâesteem.
Could she have grown cruel and malignant after being pushed around for so long?
I was worried that if I continued looking into this matter, I might not be able to recover from Stephanyâs dirty laundry. Whatâs worse, I might end up getting imprisoned myself before we actually found the killer.
That would really be too terrible.
âStephieâ¦â I saw Steven the moment I entered the living room. He seemed anxious, and it was probably because he couldnât find me anywhere after waking up.
âIâm here.â I quickly calmed him down.
Steven ran over and hugged me tight. âI thought⦠you didnât want me anymore.
He was trembling along with his voice, as if he lived in fear every single day of his life.
âWe deserve an explanation for this. We need to sustain ourselves too even though Mr. Lincoln Senior canât make the decisions anymore. What right did he have to stop providing for us?â
âYeah. What right does a lunatic like him have to cut us off from the Lincoln familyâs wealth?â
someone was calling out amid the commotion from the living room.
Only then did I realize that the Lincolns had come to trouble us again.
But this time, other Lincolns had come instead of Martin.
They were here for their monthly allowances.
Iâd heard from Ewan that Ignatius would give these relatives allowances every month for their relationâs sake, depending on how close or farârelated they were.
Did Steven cut all of them off after Ignatius fell ill?
No wonder they were here causing such a scene.
I gazed at Steven, confused. âDid you stop their monthly allowances?â
Steven nodded innocently. âWhy should we give them money? Spending money on dogs. is better than spending money on them.â
I took a deep breath, wanting to give him a thumbs up in agreement.
Even dogs knew to protect their owners. But these Lincolns only knew how to leech off of the family.
Plus, the Lincoln family was never responsible for supporting these people in the first place. Yet, theyâd become reliant on them.
Not to mention, the Lincoln family supported them for such a long time too, but it was only for them to end up with nothing in return.
âIâm telling you, Steven, we no longer see you as part of the Lincoln family. Get out of this house right now, you lunatic, and give us everything we deserve! We wonât let you off so easily otherwise!â
an elderly woman who stood at the lead yelled.
She seemed to be Ignatiusâ cousin.
âYeah! We can barely survive. You need to pay us!â
âGive us the money or Iâm going to end myself!â the other Lincolns begin insisting.
Steven stood before me and gazed coldly at them. âIf you can live on, then please do. But if you canât, then die.â
The Lincolns were taken aback.
They wanted to get angry at Steven, but Stevenâs crazed and fierce air was too frightening.
âYou all shouldâve died, but you didnât. You guys are just like a bunch of maggots.
âCanât you guys just go die already instead of bothering us every now and then? Do you need my help to kill you?â Steven cocked his head and gestured for Ewan to shut the front door.
It felt like Steven might start killing people the moment the door shut.
I swallowed nervously.
Steven wasnât actually going to kill them, was he?