I could hear terrible sounds from my
Bluetooth headphones. I knew Ashley couldn’t
answer the phone.
I said, “Ashley gave me an address. Should
we go check it out?”
<
Barb wanted to call the cops, but Bob was
worried about what happened last time, so he
stopped her.
We drove to the address.
There was a van parked on the beach.
We looked at each other. Bob looked serious.
We all knew what that meant.
I knocked on the window. The noises stopped.
Ashley opened the door, looking disheveled.
“Come on in.”
But when she saw the people behind me, her
smile faded.
<
“Ashley! Is this what you’re doing with your
life?”
Bob was furious. He dragged her out of the
van and started slapping her.
“Are you a tramp?”
“I thought you were reflecting on your
actions, but you just changed the actors.”
I grabbed Barb and poured fuel onto the
flames. “They’re young, so they are
passionate, so it’s normal. At least Ashley’s
safe.”
Ashley had been getting beaten up a lot. She
just sat down and wailed.
“I didn’t want to do this!”
く
“I just wanted a free dive. I didn’t know this
would happen. I didn’t have a choice! They
wanted money, and if I didn’t give it to them,
they’d kill me! What could I do?”
Bob thought those men were from the dive
shop. He glared at them.
“I heard about you guys extorting money from
people underwater. I’m warning you, don’t go.
too far, or we’ll report you, even if it ruins our
reputation.‘
“You have a shop, you can’t run!”
The loan sharks were not nice people.
Hearing what he said, they pushed Bob to the
ground.
୮
“You think you can talk to us like that?”
“Your daughter likes to buy expensive bags
and stay in fancy hotels. Why didn’t you say
anything then? She owes us money. We don’t
care what you do. Pay us back a million
dollars tomorrow, or we’re telling everyone.”
“And you, don’t think about running. If I find
you, it won’t be this nice.”
I was disappointed that the two men didn’t kill
Ashley.
Bob was old and had to be sent to the
hospital.
Barb asked Ashley what happened.
After hearing the story, Bob was so mad, he
insisted on taking Ashley home.
Mom and Dad stayed with me.
“Let them go back first, and we are also a
friend to the family. So, we can’t take
responsibility for them, so, don’t even bother.”
After Ashley left, I wanted to enjoy the last
few days of vacation.
But two days later, Dad told me to pack and
change my flight.
“Bob wanted to sell their house to pay
Ashley’s debt, but Ashley took the money and
ran.”
“He had a stroke and didn’t make it. We have
<
to go home for the funeral.”
I was shocked.
Ashley was ruthless to her friends, but she
was even worse to her family.
We rushed home. As soon as the plane
landed, I turned on my phone and got a bunch
of messages.
“Ashley’s dead! Did you know?”
I opened the post they sent me. The title was
“Beautiful Woman Runs Away with Money and
Gets Killed.”
I zoomed in on the photo and saw the two
men.
Г
Ashley must have tried to run away with the
money, but they caught her.
The blogger who’d been following us posted a
video.
“Could this have to do with the free diving?”
Everyone had their own theory.
I cut the audio from the recording and posted
it online.
Liam became famous and was arrested.
With Bob and Ashley dead, Barb didn’t even
want to bury them. She killed herself.
Ashley’s family was poor. Bob had helped
them when he was alive
Ashley’s family was poor. Bob had helped
them when he was alive.
But no one cared about them after they were
gone.
They drew lots to see who would cremate the
bodies. But they didn’t want to pay for a
burial, so they scattered the ashes on the
ground.
Mom and Dad were sad.
I smirked. Ashley deserved to be ground into
dust.
And I could finally start my new life.
