My Killer Was His "I Love You" - Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Before Jayden could explain, Chloe stepped forward with a sickly sweet smile, trying to play peacemaker.
"Grayson, he's just a kid. He doesn't understand what he's saying."
"Jayden must be missing Mila too much—that's why he's talking like this. I don't blame him, and neither should you."
But Jayden wasn't having it. Tears streamed down his face as he shoved Chloe away with all his strength.
"Get away from me, you monster! Stay away from my mom!"
He threw himself onto the small dirt mound, clinging to it like he could still feel me there.
"I know she's dead!"
"She came to me in a dream two years ago. She told me she was cold, buried under all that dirt, with sand in her mouth…"
"She said it hurt so bad. That someone pushed her down the stairs—"
His sobs were raw, like he'd actually seen it happen.
And he had.
I remembered that night—how badly I'd missed him, how I'd slipped into his dreams just to see his face one last time. I thought he'd forget. But he never did.
Chloe, ever the actress, stumbled back dramatically, scraping her hand on the ground.
Grayson's face darkened as he rushed to her side.
"Chloe, are you okay?"
Then he turned on Jayden, his voice dripping with venom.
"You little brat! Just as useless as your mother. I should've thrown you both out years ago."
A smug smirk flickered across Chloe's face before she buried it under fake tears.
"Grayson, he's just a child. Someone must have put these ideas in his head!"
She sniffled, playing the victim.
"I don't know what I ever did to make Mila hate me so much…"
"Even now, after all this time…"
The audacity. I'd been dead for three years—how could she still blame me?
But Grayson bought it. His expression turned to ice.
"Ivy must have poisoned him against you."
His jaw clenched as he snapped at the bodyguards.
"Lock him up. He doesn't leave the villa until I say so."
"Let's see how long Mila lasts, watching her son starve."
The bodyguards hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.
Grayson's glare sharpened.
"Do it, or none of you get paid this month."
They moved instantly, grabbing Jayden as he thrashed and kicked.
"No! Let me go! I want to stay with Mom!"
His small hands clawed at the crude gravestone—the one Grayson had kicked over last time, leaving only the faintest trace of my name: Mila Nelson.
"She's cold… she's hurting… I can't leave her alone—"
Grayson's face twisted with rage.
"Oh, you want to stay with her?"
He snatched up a shovel, rolling up his sleeves.
"Fine. I'll make sure you do."
With brutal force, he drove the shovel into the dirt, digging deeper with each strike. Jayden screamed, fighting against the bodyguards' grip.
Then—clink.
The shovel hit something hard.
Grayson frowned, tossing the shovel aside as he crouched down.
I drifted closer, curiosity prickling.
There, caked in dirt, was the iron ring he'd given me eight years ago—back when he couldn't afford diamonds. A tiny, colorful stone sat in the center, something he'd found on his first trip to the beach.
"You're like this stone," he'd said when he slipped it onto my finger. "Small, but the most precious thing I have."
Even after he made millions, even when he could buy me any jewel in the world, I never took it off.
Grayson knew that.
So why was it buried here?