The Fourth Mistress

"Then why didn't you have rat poisons with you, where you were sleeping? None of the other maids or servants have complained about it, and they used to sleep in the same room as you. Not once, but you bought it twice," Lady Viola accused Emily, and the woman clenched her jaw. 

"Why did you kill them?" questioned Mr. Wensley. He walked forward, raising his hand, he slapped right across her face. 

Emily didn't move for a few seconds, and then she lifted her head back, running her tongue over the corner of her lips, tasting blood. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she said,

"I have nothing to do with it. Why don't you believe me?"

Lady Viola stated, "You are that girl who was with Graham when both of you were children. You are that girl, who came to our house. You came as a maid here, knowing I would never allow you anywhere near the manor, didn't you?"

Emily stared at Lady Viola. 

Lady Agatha said, "You are that filthy woman's daughter! That disgusting woman who used to sleep around with men."

"My mother didn't do anything like that!" Emily suddenly turned furious on hearing her mother being bad-mouthed. 

"We heard everything about what your mother did and wanted to do, Emily," said Robert, and Emily could see the disgust in their eyes as if she belonged to something dirty. "Confess to your crimes and we will see what to do."

"Do what?" asked Emily with a frown. 

"She's not going to listen like this," muttered Mr. Wensley. 

A day passed, and Emily was kept in the hut, refusing to accept her crimes. At the time of the night, Mr. Wensley said to Senior Mr. Reed. 

"We all know that she has committed the crime, even if she agrees to it here, there's no telling if she will accept it in front of the officers."

"You are right, she's not going, which is why Elias will help us," said Mr. Robert. He signalled Elias, and the man walked towards where Emily sat. He pulled out a knife, and it scared the young woman. 

"W-what are you doing?! Graham won't be happy if he comes to know about this!" Emily started to panic. 

"Graham isn't here, Emily. And Elias is very good at whatever he does," Mr. Wensley informed her.

"You cannot do this to me!" Emily's face slowly started to lose colour. "You cannot do this to me! It isn't right! Please, mother!" 

"Do not call me that with your filthy mouth," said Lady Viola, her face turning stone-like. 

When Elias brought the knife near Emily's neck, Emily blurted, "They weren't even good enough for him! Graham is happy with me!" 

They now got the confirmation they needed. The family stared at the former maid and now wife of Graham. And then Emily smiled, 

"No one can love him, the way I do. None of his former wives. I have known Graham since childhood and there's no one more perfect for him than me. Don't you see it? We were meant to be together," Emily tried to convince the family, but they only became more shocked by her words. 

Out of nowhere, Graham appeared at the front of the hut, and everyone looked shocked. He had finished his business dealing soon and had returned to find the family members, not in the manor.

"What are you doing here, Graham?" questioned Mr. Robert. 

But Graham stared at Emily's face, where she sweetly smiled at him and then said, "Look what they did to me, Graham. This man grabbed me from the bed and dragged me there."

Graham only stared at Emily with an expressionless face. He had only heard the last few seconds of the conversation, and he questioned her, "Did you kill her?"

Emily tried to behave naively and asked, "About who are you talking about?"

"How many of them have you killed?!" Lady Viola demanded at Emily's words, with her eyes wide. 

Graham walked to where Emily was tied to the chair, coming to stand in front of her. He asked, "Whom did you kill, Emily? Did you kill Lisa?" 

Emily pursed her lips and stared at Graham. She shook her head, but Graham noticed something, the evil glint in her eyes. "I didn't do anything, Graham. Without reason I am being accused." 

Graham's hands turned into fists, and he clenched his jaw at what he just heard. 

"Lisa treated you as her friend, did you kill her?" Graham asked calmly. When she didn't answer, his voice turned loud, "Did you kill her?!"

Emily had never seen Graham this much angry before. Tears started to brim in her tears. Why was he angry for a woman who was no more? She was here! She was all he needed!

Graham turned angrier, and he shouted, "You killed her! You killed the woman I loved and deeply cared about. How could you do this, Emily? She believed you!"

Emily shook her head and broke down, "I am the woman you are supposed to love! I have cared and loved you for so long, Graham! Please untie me!" she pleaded with him. 

Graham was in shock knowing the truth and the way Emily was behaving; it was apparent that she was responsible for the deaths that had taken place. "You killed people," he whispered in shock. 

Emily shook her head, "It was for you. It was for us, Graham."

The Reed's family members looked at Emily with a look of disbelief on their faces. Never would they have imagined that one of the maids would turn out to be a psychopath killer. 

"Elias," called Mr. Robert, and he said something to the kidnapper, and Elias nodded his head. 

Emily's eyes looked at Mr. Robert, not knowing what he was talking about, and she then turned to look at Graham. She said, "Graham, please untie me. All I did until now is only for you! I love you!" she started to sob. 

"I don't love you, Emily," came the cold words from Graham and Emily's heart broke. "I decided to marry you because of Lisa. Not because of you." 

"As you have ruined our family, bringing down the family's reputation, we won't be handing you over to the officers," said Mr. Robert. He then continued, "We have decided to deal with you personally, in our own way. Bring her outside," and he walked out of the hut with the rest of them.

"No!" Emily screamed, "Where are you taking me?!"

The young woman started to thrash in her chair. The three men opened the ropes, tied her to the chair, and then bound her hands and legs. Emily didn't know where they were taking her. To stop her from screaming, they tied the cloth around her mouth. 

When the men, who carried her, walked for a while through the thicket of trees, they put her down on the ground with little to no gentleness. Emily flinched in pain due to the impact of her body hitting the ground. 

Wondering where they had brought her in the forest, Emily turned her head to the right and saw heaps of mud that was dug from the ground.  Realizing what it was, she crawled for her life, trying to get away from them, but she couldn't go too far as two men came to pick her up. The cloth around her mouth was removed, and she was then pushed into the hollow pit dug for her.

Tears streamed down from her eyes, and she looked at Graham with her eyes pleading at him and seeking his help. 

"You have caused too much grievance to our family, girl," commented Lady Agatha. "You killed three women, hurting and playing with our sentiments. You reap what you sow."

"Please don't do this to me! I promise to you, Graham! I will be good, I promise to not do this again!" 

"Did you ever think about it when you killed those innocent women?" came Mr. Wensley's harsh words.

Lady Viola was uncomfortable with this, and she turned to her husband and whispered, "Won't it be better to just send her to the officers and never see her again?" 

"Who knows again in which way will come back. The last time the officers didn't find her and yet she made it here to our manor. This is her punishment," replied Robert Reed. He then looked at Elias, "Get this done and the rest of the payment, Ernest will send it to you after two weeks from now."

"Yes, Mr. Reed," replied Elias and one by one, the members of Reed's family started to head towards the manor. 

"Graham, I love you. I have always loved you," Emily cried, in hope that he would stop these people from killing her.

"I cannot forgive you for what you did to. Never,"  Graham turned his back and started to follow his family members.

Tears slipped through the corner of Emily's eyes, watching Graham's back. She had wished to be happy with him. She screamed his name, "GRAHAM!" but Reed's estate was big enough for no one to hear her scream, and but she continued to call out his name.

The men had already begun to fill the pit with mud where she was. Pushing it, one after another. Emily continued to cry, tears falling on her pale cheeks. 

Once the men were done putting back the mud in its place, the woman buried underneath it was still alive. They planted a small plant to avoid any suspicion and levelled the ground before leaving the place.