Second Life Starts at My Own Murder Scene Chapter 04

Second Life Starts at My Own Murder Scene Chapter 04

For the rest of the one-month celebration, Lydia didn’t try to come near me again.

Instead, she chatted warmly with the other relatives, every move she made looking perfectly normal.

I thought she had given up, and I had just yawned when a woman in her fifties, wearing a puffer jacket and a warm, kindly smile, came over.

“Megan, your arms must be tired. Why don’t you let me hold the baby for a bit?”

It was Wanda Palmer.

She was my dad’s distant grandaunt.

Her son did odd jobs at Lydia’s husband’s company.

In my last life, when Lydia drove that silver needle into my fontanelle, Wanda had been the one standing watch by the door.

Now she was smiling at me, her gaze drifting over my face with a faint excitement and secret delight she was trying hard to hide.

She had been watching for a long time.

By then, the banquet was already halfway through. Grandpa had pulled Dad off to go around making toasts with the older relatives, so he wasn’t paying attention to this side of the room.

Mom had been standing there holding me the whole time. Her arms had to be sore by now.

“Megan, we’re family. Don’t be so formal with me. Let me hold the baby so you can take a break.”

She held out her hands.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

Almost instinctively, I let out a shrill cry, my face turning red as I kicked and thrashed with all four limbs.

Mom pulled me close at once.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into her today. She cries at everyone. Aunt Wanda, thank you, but I’d better keep holding her myself.”

Mom turned her down politely.

Wanda gave an awkward little smile, but she didn’t pull her hand back.

Instead, she pressed closer.

“Megan, now that’s not fair. Babies cry. That’s perfectly normal. You just soothe them and move on. Or what, are you too good for your poor relation? Think I’m dirty?”

Wanda’s voice wasn’t especially loud, but it was more than enough to make the relatives at the tables turn and look.

Mom was put on the spot. Her expression shifted slightly, as if she were weighing it.

“Waaaah! Buh… buh…”

I was so frantic I almost blurted out the word no.

I was terrified Mom would hand me over to that wicked old witch.

She must have felt how fiercely I was resisting, because the arms that had just started to loosen tightened around me all over again.

Frowning, Mom took one step back.

Wanda took another step forward.

Mom stepped back again.

Wanda pressed in again.

After a few rounds of that, Mom clearly realized something was wrong.

Her smile never changed, and her voice was even gentler than before, but her arms locked around me like steel.

“Aunt Wanda, really, it’s okay.”

“I know you mean well, but Evie isn’t feeling good and only wants me right now. Next time, when she’s feeling better, I’ll definitely let you hold her.”

Mom stayed perfectly polite, the kind of polite no one could pick apart.

Wanda tried to say something else, but Mom cut her off.

“I think Daniel’s calling me. Aunt Wanda, enjoy your meal.”

Cradling me in her arms, Mom turned and walked away quickly, still graceful, as if she were escaping a frightening scene.

She didn’t stop until she reached Dad and found him looking at her with puzzled eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Mom pressed a hand to her chest and lowered her voice.

“I don’t know. It just feels strange. It’s like everyone’s got their eyes on Evie, and at the same time… it feels like if she leaves my arms, something terrible will happen. Something I won’t be able to live with.”

“Honey, we have to keep a close eye on her.”

Dad didn’t answer right away. He swept his gaze across the ballroom instead.

His eyes lingered on Lydia, who was chatting animatedly with someone nearby, and on Wanda Palmer, and his brow furrowed slightly.

“Okay.”

Mom let out a breath of relief.

So did I.

I closed my eyes and pressed my face against Mom’s chest.

Mom and Dad were already starting to suspect something.

They were catching on eighteen years earlier than they had in my last life.

That was wonderful.