Chapter 8 Who Killed My Kids

Emily's POV

Still in the interrogation room, both hands held in cuffs, my red-hot eyes stared at the one-way mirror in sheer distaste and bitterness. There was no way! No way this could be true-that they found a dead body with my prints all over it and guns with knives. It's a simple setup, not only that, there was no way my kids, who were just alive and breathing, could be dead.

On the table were files of alleged proof of murder, and the images of my kids in a bag and on a stretcher were placed for me to see. My sentence was read to me a while back, but that's not my concern because my kids were alive, they wouldn't let me see them, they were back home! With Henry, their dad, it was still early so maybe Henry had carried them home.

"Hey, whoever is watching, get me out of here. My kids are with their father, they were supposed to be in school this morning. Tell me this is some internet trick and you must be chasing clout or want me to cast some reality show because my kids are at home, healthy and fine!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I had said this so much that it was starting to sound like a recitation.

Tears made my mouth salty, my nails bore the flesh of my previous interrogator, which led to the silence and absence of someone else in the room. For as long as I could remember, I hadn't had a session of IED (intermittent explosive disorder) until now, and after so much therapy, I was back to this familiar path filled with murderous rage. I jerked from my seat.

Tears trickling down my eyes, I fought through the rush of emotions, not wanting to understand that maybe these people were right and something happened to my babies.

"Please... I beg you... Let me check up on them. They might-They might miss me. Ask Henry if I could just see them... Please." My hands lost their will and I finally broke down, letting myself dissolve in my emotions.

The door finally opened and a new officer entered. His lips held a grimace as he glared at me.

"I swear they are supposed to be in school, ask Henry-he was supposed to take them to school. Nothing happened to them, let me prove it to you-they are alive." I pushed the images on the tables down to the floor. "All this is forged."

He walked toward me, then brought out a key. I watched him eagerly as he opened the locks of the cuffs. The moment the shackles fell, I stood up.

"There was proof sent by Mr. Musk that you were not present at the scene of the crime, but you are still on trial, except this is a case of a doppelganger, but your prints are all over the instrument used for the murder, so you will be on trial, and you are not allowed to leave the town." I flexed my wrist, not minding what he said because I had dutifully repeated what he had said and they didn't believe me .

Henry must be the one to have brought the evidence. I needed to ask him how. I needed to know where my kids were but as I was led to the exit, an enigmatic view met my eyes. It was Henry, but this time with the lady he had proposed to this week...

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as I halted. I wasn't mentally prepared for what I saw, but I kept walking forward, my eyes burning with the flames of resentment and extreme restraint. I could not prove him right by clawing at him, so as I was guarded outside the cell walls, my focus was diligently resting on him.

I swore not to see his face again, that he could go to hell, but the moment I got close enough, my voice broke. He was the only person who had full custody of my kids, he was the only person who could tell me this wasn't some mad reality show and they were fine.

"Did you take them to school this morning? How are they doing?" I asked, but he furrowed his brow then pulled the lady's hands to his lips, kissing her fingers continuously, obviously to spite me, but his ambition to cause a fuss within me was way less than the rage that came with my denial.

"Emily." A familiar voice called out to me. My eyes popped as I took note of the extra presence in the room. "Let me take you home, the station isn't the place for such disclosures." Hozier said as he stretched his hands towards me , he was the last person I was hoping to see again and after the heartbreak of leaving him and how I had lacked joy since I last saw him, out of impulse, I ran into his arms.

"I don't know what went wrong..." I lamented. "I didn't do anything, they roughhandled me! ...They said Noah and Grace are dead." I said I could barely hold myself, and his little taps and head kisses kept me in place as I let out everything I had kept inside for so long.

"You are safe with me now, don't worry." He said then he held me at arm's length, his hands wiping my tears away.

"Let me take you out of here, you are shaking." he took me by my hands, and he led me to the car, closing the side he held my chin, then made me look up to him. My insides bubbled with tender emotions and I felt the urge to cry again in his arms. He let my chin go and I lowered my head.

I cursed our fates. Why do we have to meet when my life is going astray?

•••

An hour later, I had gotten the affirmation that all the proof given to me at the station wasn't a lie, it wasn't a case of jest, and my kids were dead. I had just checked their rooms, and they weren't there. It was cold, they were not there this morning... my kids, my babies!

I stared into the abyss, reliving the memories of having them around, shocked by their absence. I could only stare and pray that it was a bad dream, but it wasn't because this much pain couldn't be superficial.

"This is so unfortunate." Hozier finally said as he sat close to me, a heavy drop fell down my eyes, and I quivered as my body shook with great trepidation.

"This is water and sugar, you need it now." Hozier handed me a cup, and I wrapped my fingers around it tightly. I was now taking breathing exercises because I was beginning to feel the rush of anger again as I connected the dots.

My divorce had just been finalized, after Henry proposed to this lady who had been all over since I saw them, he hadn't shed a single tear for the death of my! Kids, I asked for custody, and he denied me custody because he wanted to prove that he could and when he realized he couldn't, he chose to tag me with it .

The kidnapping complaint was laid by him, he was the one who offered the proof to the investigators, he was the one being called by the kidnappers, and he was the one who told them I was traveling out of the state. I knew whatever this was was a setup, but the only suspect in my mind was my Ex... He killed two innocent children. He killed my children.

The sound of shattering glass was all I heard, followed by a sting in my palm. Henry killed them, he placed those prints however, he got them, but he did it...

"Shit."

"You are bleeding." The sting in my arms only increased but my mind was elsewhere and the time I gained my mind was when Hozier pulled me up and I stared at my hands, which were surprisingly bandaged .

"Come with me." I was pulled from the hair then to the dining area, where all of them sat: Chris, Bella, Henry, and Hozier. My eyes met each one of them, anger and disdain intertwined in my mind.

"Babe. What's she doing here? I thought you wanted a family meeting? She's not family, she doesn't deserve a seat at this table." I narrowed my eyes at the little handbag at Henry's side, finally taking my time to look at her.

"Shut up, I will sit wherever I want to sit!" I glared at her. "Henry, hold your little purse." The table got heated up at once as little Miss Bella couldn't take it, and she lunged at me, planning on clawing me, but her man held her down, then scolded her.

"It's sad to see that my table became filled with uncivilized people," Hozier added. The moment the noise died down, I held my chest high, staring into his eyes and everyone at this table.

"This was not what I planned for, dad, but I believe we all know why we are here." Henry started.

"Yes, to ask your daddy to give you his money, isn't it? Huh, Henry, out of everyone on this table, I can swear on my dead children that you aren't here to talk about your kids, rather, you want to ask your daddy dearest to fulfill his part of the deal. That is why Chris is bummed out and your purse wants to know the magnitude of your wealth ." I muttered. Henry glared at me. Hozier was more focused on me now.

"Hozier, I don't expect you to be confused. I want to confirm what you must have thought eight years ago and what you now know from our first meeting: your son Henry over here is nothing but a fucking dick who did nothing but fuck around the town while you were in solitude."

"Emily!"

Hozier raised his hands again.

"Remember when I told you I worked like some horse for my husband? I bet you don't need me to clarify that."

"She's lying, you stupid bitch! You kill my children and you come here to lie." Henry snarled at me, but it wasn't going to stop me. I intended to hit him where it hurts the most. I will bring him down to his feet. I will make him wish he was at the front of a train rather than in my bar seven years ago.

"What is the name of our latest project? Matter of fact, the name of our biggest investor."

"You don't have the right to ask me about my business anymore."

"It's the family business, don't be dumb, hubby; now answer because I know for a fact that you can't."

"What's the state of the company, Henry?" Hozier asked and I watched Henry shrink in his seat; sweat broke on his face, and it trickled down to his neck. He loosened his collar and cleared his throat, his mouth opening and closing at will but he couldn't answer.

"Henry, so she is right after all?"

"No, she's not!" said Bella. "She's not right, sir; all she did the last few years was push babies. Nothing more." Now she turned to me.

"You are a disgrace to motherhood. you think you can outsmart us by being with my father-in-law just to prove a point, but I know that you were the one who called for ransom. you wanted a share of my fiancé's wealth so much that you didn't care if you linked your own kids."

I glared at her. "You don't even know the first step about being a mother, you fucking bitch!" I slammed my hands on the table.

She lunged at me, and Henry held her back.

"Hold your purse, Henry, for the last time. All these years of strength training would be used on her, and promise me a lot of places will bleed."

I cleared my throat, and I stared at Hozier, his pupils dilated, and I could already see that the scene was a disappointment to him, but I had to do this; I must.

"He's almost eighty-five percent higher than Chris, and it's solely because I made him. Chris, am I lying?"

"No, she isn't, dad, but it doesn't change anything, there wasn't any rule stating it had to be Henry doing all the hustling." Chris said.