Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

"Mom, no!" Kathryn screamed, trying to run over. Then, a gunshot rang out. She saw her mother's body start to collapse. "Mom!" Kathryn rushed forward, catching her mother's limp body just in time. The gun her mother had been holding fell to the ground. "Mom, Mom..." Kathryn sobbed, holding her tightly.

Clarissa opened her eyes and looked at her daughter. She wanted to say something, but no words came out.

In her fading vision, she saw her older and younger sisters. Her older sister stared at her, stern and serious, while her younger sister was furious. Of course they were angry-she had killed them. "Sister... I'm sorry..."

Clarissa whispered her apology, calling out to her sisters. Then her eyes slowly closed, but a faint smile appeared on her lips.

She was at peace now. She had apologized to them, finally.

She knew she had been wrong. She should never have killed her sisters for power and influence.

Their parents had died young, and her eldest sister had taken on the role of a mother, raising her and their younger sister through many hardships. But she had repaid that kindness with cruelty, murdering them both. She was a killer, the greatest sinner of the Farrell family.

It wasn't just her sisters-she had killed many others, too. Anyone who knew even a hint of the truth was silenced by her.

the dead could keep secrets. She

decades later, all her wrongdoings were brought to light, one by one. She had no defense, and she didn't want

if she regretted killing the people closest

She did.

nights, she would wake up crying from dreams of her

was too late. The damage was done, and there was no undoing it.

onto what she had sacrificed so much

lost it all the very thing she had killed so

the end, it was never truly

Clarissa's hands went limp.

Kathryn cried, hugging her mother's still-warm body. Tears streamed down her face. No amount of crying or screaming

had died to make

she passed, she