Time returns to the present, where Xu Ze and I crouch silently on the ground, burning paper money for the children.
I tightly clutched my best friend's phone, the screen frozen on the last conversation between my ex-husband and me.
Taking a deep breath, my fingers flew swiftly across the screen, crafting a message that appeared to be from my best friend:
"The body of your ex-wife has been handed over to the embassy by the local militia. The situation is unsafe in the country now. If I return, the risks are too great. Perhaps the militia has already exposed our transaction. We both need to flee, and the sooner the better! Come here. I have the hard drive. With this money, we can rule this place as kings."
My ex-husband immediately tried to call me. I firmly refused, citing the reason that, with him still in the country, the phone line was likely being monitored.
I knew he was unsettled, filled with suspicion, but as anticipated, the inevitable happened.
The news of my "death" was broadcasted through the media and reached back to the country.
At this moment, my ex-husband must have been wracked with doubts: how had the militia failed to cover this up? Had they already exposed us?
This string of questions was enough to send him into a frenzy, restless, unable to sleep.
Even more interesting was the attitude of the embassy—they couldn't confirm whether I was alive or dead, only asserting that they were unsure and were doing their utmost to locate me.
But my ex-husband, already panicked, received even more alarming explanations from me:
"They're just trying to avoid alarming the enemy. They want to paralyze you before taking action—why else would they be so vague? If you don't run fast enough, it will be too late!"
Sure enough, the last message on my phone displayed that my ex-husband had left the country.
He was heading toward the local motorcycle taxi, urgently racing toward the rendezvous point we had agreed upon.
By now, the paper money had burned completely, leaving only a pile of ashes, which the wind gently scattered in all directions.
"It's because of my 'death' that he is now gripped by fear," I murmured, lifting my gaze to the horizon.
The climate here was far less humid and stifling than in my homeland, and before long, I had grown accustomed to wearing sandals and a floral shirt.
I stood up, brushed the dust from my clothes, climbed into Xu Ze's car, and sped toward the agreed-upon location.
There, the final act of this revenge would unfold—a place where I would ensure my ex-husband paid for his blood debts in the most fitting of ways.