A Family Portrait Turns Us Into Murderer

On Zivanka's birthday, Felix brought her home. We were still sitting in the living room when they could not bear the longing for each other and ran to the next room to talk to each other. Zivanka was sitting on his lap and acting coquettishly. Brianna wanted to deliver a cake to her aunt, but the door was not closed tightly and Brianna happened to see what happened inside. When I found her, she asked me in confusion, "Mom, what are Dad and Auntie doing in the room? Are they playing games?" I suppressed the excruciating pain in my heart and comforted her. "Maybe, let's not disturb them and go upstairs with me." Recalling our conversation back then, I wished I could slap myself twice. It must be because of what I said that she thought Felix and Zivanka were playing games in the room and drew them in that family portrait. But I did not expect Zivanka to see it at a glance. She thought I had asked my daughter to draw it on purpose to satirize her affair with Felix, so she tried to commit suicide. Zivanka must have said something to Felix. Because as soon as the two of them came down from the rooftop, Felix insisted on sending Brianna to the Whittier Reform School. I held my daughter's urn of ashes, tears streaming down my face, but I still knelt on the ground, insisting on making a request to Harrieth. "I know you have never liked Zivanka and wanted me to stay in the Pritchards so that Felix would stop having such thoughts. But forcing something unwanted is not easy. The two of them were in love with each other and even killed Brianna for a drawing ...." "I can't tolerate living with the murderer who killed my daughter for the rest of my life. Please allow us to leave!" When Harrieth learned the whole story, she also shed tears. She banged the crutch in her hand on the floor. "What a sin! I shouldn't have adopted Zivanka in the first place, otherwise I wouldn't have harmed my precious granddaughter ...." Harrieth almost fainted from anger and trembled as she instructed the butler. "Call Felix right now! Tell him to put everything aside and come to Brianna's funeral first!" The butler did call, but the call was rejected after several rings. I tried to persuade her. "Grandma, you don't need to call him, it's useless." On the day when the news of Brianna's death came, I called him more than ten times, but all of them were rejected in a second. I held my daughter's cold body in my arms, while Felix was busy lighting sky lanterns at the auction, just to buy the necklace Zivanka loved. When I showed his post on social media to Harrieth, she was so angry that her face turned blue, but she held my hand and asked. "Mirria, tell me, when did you discover their affair?" I lowered my eyes and smiled bitterly. Since when? Perhaps from the moment I was pregnant with Brianna, I realized something was wrong. At first, I thought Zivanka was just his adopted sister. Until he did not come home every few nights, he always smelled of women's perfume and even the collar of his white shirt had lipstick marks. I thought he was cheating on me, so I checked his phone and his dashcam. I saw him holding Zivanka intimately in the car. She teased him while he was driving. "Felix, look at my dress, does it look good?" "Sure, it looks nice on you." She was displeased. "You didn't even look at it. Stop the car and take a closer look!" Soon, the seat belt was unfastened. An ambiguous voice heard. Amidst the rustling, he murmured hoarsely but affectionately. "Zivanka, I love you." No one knew.

In the study, in the second drawer were hidden bikini photos of Zivanka taken at the beach. Every time Felix got aroused, he never touched me. I would spend the whole night alone in front of that photo. It was then that I realized that he agreed to marry me not because he was in love with me. Instead, they used this marriage to cover up their shameful affair. My best friend even asked me more than once, "Since Brianna was born, you haven't had sex for five years. How did you endure it?" I suppressed the bitterness and self-mockery in my heart and in order to prevent Brianna from losing her father's love, I insisted on keeping our marriage. But now, the two of them took Brianna's life. I did not want to endure it anymore. The butler called several times, but Felix still did not answer until his grandmother sent a message in person, ordering him to come to the funeral immediately. In no time, he called me, with an undisguised anger in his tone. "Mirria, did you have to call me when I was with Zivanka? I told you, she is suffering from depression and her emotion is unstable. She needs someone to accompany her the most. Are you being so desperate and cursing Brianna?" He gave a cold smile as he spoke. "Your ridiculous lie even alarmed my grandma. Mirria, can't you live without a man?" "What are you talking about? Brianna is dead? She is doing fine in the reform school. Her teacher called me yesterday and told me that she has learned her lesson. If you insist on spoiling your daughter like this, you are not loving her, but harming her!" "Felix, Brianna is dead." I spoke out in despair. "Believe it or not, if you don't come today, I will never forgive you!" I did not expect it to fall into his ears, which was like I was using any means to win his favor. "Don't use such lies to deceive me. Zivanka can't leave alone today, so I can't go back. You caused this mess yourself, so find a way to explain it to Grandma yourself." The phone suddenly hung up and all my anger and despair were locked in my throat. At the funeral, I no longer cared about my image and dignity as Ms. Pritchard. I held my daughter's ashes, knelt on the ground and cried until my voice was hoarse, but I did not want to get up. Harrieth sympathized with the pain of losing my daughter and agreed. "Mirria, after all, it is our family who has let you down and delayed you for all these years." She asked the butler to hand me a key to a property and a bank card. "In this card, I have six million eight hundred thousand dollars, I give it to you as savings. And this is the key to a villa with a sea view. If you want to live there, you can go anytime. This is your home." "Dear, if you have any unfulfilled wishes, just tell me and I will definitely grant them to you." "Wherever you want to go in the future, I hope you are happy." Harrieth had always been very good to me. When my parents passed away, my relatives all thought I was unlucky and a nemesis, but Harrieth was the only one who did not despise me. She was willing to take me in and treated me like her own granddaughter, always responding to my requests. I had wished countless times how great it would be if she were truly my family. I even fantasized that one day, Felix would change his mind and see the goodness of us mother and daughter and maybe we could reunite as a family. But now, he tore all these fantasies to pieces. I did not reach out to pick it up. My daughter had passed away and now I did not want to have any further contact with the Pritchard Family. Thinking of my daughter's tragic death, I spoke in a deep voice, "Before leaving, I want to investigate who was the one who killed Brianna in that reform school"

I did not believe it was really like what the teachers at the reform school said. Brianna was too mischievous and accidentally touched the props inside, causing her to electrocute and die. The old woman nodded reluctantly and said, "Don't worry, Brianna is my granddaughter. I will definitely have someone investigate this matter thoroughly." My daughter's ashes were not buried, so I took it back with me. Three days later, I received a video that Harrieth had someone send me. It was the parents of another girl who was imprisoned in a reform school. Their daughter was also drowned alive. Over the years, I had been collecting all kinds of evidence and even sneaking into the reform school as a cleaner and only then did I get the CCTV footage inside. The Whittier Reform School was a closed institution. The children who graduated were well-behaved and obedient, so many parents sent their children who were not well-behaved and disobedient there. But in that video, the teacher at the reform school kept asking Brianna to admit her mistakes, but she did not know where she went wrong and kept crying. Just because Brianna never admitted her mistake, the teacher punished her. Poor Brianna, she was only five-years-old, how could she endure such torture? She cried and shouted before she died. "Mom save me ... Dad save me ... I didn't bully my auntie ...." But no one paid attention to her. Until her crying became quieter and quieter and disappeared completely. I sat in the living room, holding a black and white portrait of Brianna and cried. Suddenly, the servant's voice was heard outside, "Sir, Miss, are you back?" I stood up and stared at Felix. He was holding a bouquet of roses Zivanka loved the most. "Felix, why on earth did you send Brianna to that damn place? Do you know that you killed Brianna!" I clenched my fists tightly, greeted my teeth and almost screamed. If my gaze could turn into arrows, I would have thrown ten thousand of arrows and pierced them right now. Seeing pale and haggard face of mine, Zivanka screamed in horror. "Ah! Felix, it's a ghost!" "Why is Mirria dressing all in white and carrying a scary, black and white photo of Brianna? Is she taking revenge on me?" Zivanka was so scared that her face turned pale and her whole body shrank as she pretended to be having a depression attack. Felix protected her behind him with concern and stared at me vigilantly. "Mirria, have you had enough of the trouble?" "I told you, Brianna is still learning to behave in the reform school. Who are you trying to scare by making her photo into a memorial photo?" I sneered and smashed the video I had just watched onto his face. "If you have eyes, you can see for yourself. Brianna has been killed by them!" As soon as the words fell, Zivanka's face turned pale and she stared at the screen on my mobile phone vigilantly. Felix's face changed drastically as he watched the video. "What's going on here?" Zivanka hugged his arm and acted coquettishly. "Felix, I think it is fake. Look, there are traces of editing. It's so fake. How can you have the nerve to use it to deceive people?" "Mirria, I witnessed it with my own eyes, someone brought Brianna to the reform school. Are you still angry? If you have any objections, just say them out loud. We are all family, why use such means to deceive people?" Hearing these words, his furrowed brow immediately loosened. "That's right, if such a terrible video was true, would you still be as calm as you are now?" "You keep saying Brianna is your life. If something happened to her, you would have committed suicide long ago, right?" His tone was mixed with a hint of mockery.

"Besides, the Whittier Reform School was Zivanka's idea and she ran it herself. The teachers also know that she is Zivanka's niece, so they will definitely take good care of her ...." I felt like I had been struck by lightning and suddenly looked up. "What ... what did you say?" "So it was Zivanka who founded that reform school?" I suddenly understood why they targeted Brianna in just half a month and eventually tortured her to death. Zivanka had never liked Brianna since she was born. When she was three-years-old, I went out and left her at home for a while. But when I went back home, I found her covered in bruises. Later, after checking the surveillance footage, I found out that it was Zivanka who abused her. If the nanny had not discovered it in time, Brianna might have died by then. Everything was clear now! "So it's you, Zivanka!" "You killed my daughter and I'm going to kill you!" My eyes turned red and I completely lost my sanity. I grabbed the fruit knife next to me and stabbed her hard. She hid behind Felix in panic. "Felix, save me, she is crazy!" "That's enough, stop messing around!" Felix clenched my wrist and took away the knife from my hand. "Mirria, I don't care how you usually mess around, but if you dare to hurt her with just one finger, I will make you pay the price!" I laughed in despair, tears streaming down my face and my eyes filled with murderous intent. "Felix, you are the same with her, a murderer!" "That reform school is a murder den. You two bastards killed Brianna ... I want to call the police, I want to call the police!" His face changed when he heard these words and he coldly stopped me. "If you want to target Zivanka, I'll tell you I won't let it happened, she's my life." He seemed to remember something and frowned slightly. "There were indeed cases of homicide in the reform school before, but that was not Zivanka's fault. It was the staff who failed to take proper safety precautions." "I don't know where you got this information from, but I warn you not to threaten Zivanka with it and not to curse your daughter." "If you dare to call the police, Mirria, I won't let you leave this door." The man threatened me coldly. I was about to rush out, but he had the bodyguards lock me up in the basement for a whole week and had the servant torture me inhumanly. Every day he would pinch my chin and ask, "Do you still dare to target Zivanka?" "I dare not." After a week of torture, I looked haggard, but I laughed at myself. "Felix, let's get a divorce." Hearing me file for a divorce, he frowned and doubted me. "What tricks are you trying to play?" "I'm telling you, Brianna will be released in three months if she learns her lesson. If you dare to threaten Zivanka, I will send her abroad and you will never see her again." "As for the divorce, Grandma doesn't want to hear it the most. Don't bring up such things again in the future." After saying this, he left without looking back. When the bodyguard released me, I passed by the guest bedroom and happened to hear his conversation with Zivanka inside. "Felix, why don't you divorce her?" She sat on the man's lap, leaning on his arms like a little bird. "We don't have a blood relationship, so why don't you divorce her and marry me?" He pondered for a while and comforted her with a smile. "I've been thinking day and night, dreaming of marrying you, but as for Grandma ... I still need to do some homework." "After all, you are the adopted daughter of the Pritchards. Grandma has always regarded you as her granddaughter. As long as I insist a little longer, she may agree." I closed my eyes in despair, tears streaming down my face. When I opened them again, they were only filled with killing intent. Let them be proud for a while. I, Mirria Rainhart, will avenge Brianna even if it costs my life. Three days later, I lied that I was going on a business trip, got rid of the bodyguards Felix sent to monitor me and went to the Whittier Reform School. On the other place. Felix, wearing a suit and tie, took Zivanka back to the Pritchard Family's villa. As soon as he knelt down in front of his grandmother and proposed to marry Zivanka, his grandmother slapped him hard in anger. "Felix, how could I raise a beast like you? You just killed your daughter and the cause of her death has not yet been determined. How dare you, as a father, marry someone else?"