Mrs. Wit wanted to scream for everyone to maintain order, but at the same time, she didn’t mind watching her scum husband get slapped. So, she decided to wait it out. One more slap couldn’t hurt. "Ha! Durand, don’t you make me shut up all the time? Doesn’t your mother tell me to talk less because I am not intelligent. Finally, someone with real power has put you in your place. Talk again, I dare you." She taunted deliberately, with a smile on her face.

Mr. Wit growled at her. He wanted to retort,

His mother could not help herself, she screamed, "You jinx..."

Mr. Wit received another slap, causing him to cry out. "But, we didn’t start it." He cried out.

Linera replied calmly, "It is still her turn to talk, so she can say anything."

Mr. Wits ears folded sadly, while his mother rushed to comfort her son, shooting glares at Sienna. Only now, she was not brave enough to say anything. She did glare at her husband and two sons, blaming them for not daring to speak up for Durand Wit at all.

Sienna cleared her throat, "Now that everyone is willing to behave, let’s begin. Mrs. Wit, you have the floor."

Mrs. Wit pointed her gun to the members of the Wit family, "They are going to keep saying that I am crazy, but I swear on the fox god that I am not crazy. It is them, they are driving me crazy." She accused, her eyes fixed on Sienna, who sat calmly with her cup. "I heard them two nights ago, my husband and his mother. It was in the middle of the night, and I heard voices, so I left bed to investigate. They were whispering, my mother-in-law Claire was crying. Her youngest son is dying, doctors have told them to prepare to say goodbye this week."

Sienna raised her hand. "Hold on." She looked at Wayo. "Confirm that the older Mrs. Claire Wit has a fourth son. If yes, check which hospital he is in and in what his condition is."

Wayo did not even blink as he responded immediately, "I did look into both families here. The older Wit couple does have four sons. Eighteen year old Vaco Wit is not here."

The younger Mrs. Wit laughed, her gun shaking dangerously. "See, I told you that I am not a liar. Vaco is sick, he was born sickly. Even his tail didn’t grow out properly. He is a living pill body, surviving on medicine for most of his life while his mother waits for a miracle cure. I guess that cure is not coming.

I heard it so clearly that night, his organs are shutting down. At first, I thought Claire was crying because of grief, I even considered going out to comfort her despite how horrible she has been to me all these years.

But neither she nor my husband has said anything to me, so I decided not to stick my nose in the matter. They would just insult me anyway. Claire would call me a jinx and say his death is my fault.

Mrs. Wit drew a deep breath. "I thought the matter did not concern me until I returned from the market so early in the morning today, only to see my parents here to visit, along with my sister. It is not normal. Durand doesn’t like it when I speak to my family more than once in a month. They can’t see me for more than two times a year and he decides when. Those two times are already used up this year. I got this funny feeling that something was wrong as soon as I found my family here.

I asked Durand and he said it was a surprise for me, a family gathering to bring us all closer." She shrugged, "I figured hey...we are going to talk about funeral arrangements. But it was no such thing. Claire, that old withered prune, proposed that my younger sister Anita who just turned eighteen two days ago should marry Vico."

Everyone looked at the Wit family of five, seeing shame, discomfort and a plethora of other emotions on their faces.

Mrs. Wit’s voice cracked, but she pressed on. "I knew immediately what it meant. They are trying to make her a sacrificial bride. It is the Rite of underworld ties, an ancient beast man ritual, outlawed generations ago, but some families still do it secretly. A young bride is bound to a dying unmarried beast man, her life force siphoned to prolong his until she fades into nothing. If it can’t be siphoned, they kill the bride and bury her with the man.

The families of the groom don’t mind killing another person’s child by the way, because the goal is for their child to have a smooth journey in the after life, with someone to look after them like a servant."

The already silent room seemed to become even more silent. Sienna stiffened, her aunt screeched in surprised, Mija hissed. All the beast men reacted with their bodies somehow, to this news. Sienna lowered he cup, the faint click of metal against the glass table echoing like a verdict.

Mrs. Wit’s eyes burned with fury. "I will not allow it. My sister is barely a woman. But even is she was older, I would not agree. This greedy family has already ruined me, yet they target my sister now! They will drain her life force to keep Vaco breathing for a few months! For what? I knew I had to act quickly, so I stepped away and got a gun I bought months ago to kill Durand."

There were some gaps from the Wits. Durand Wit turned pale immediately.

Mrs. Wit laughed. "I have been working on my courage for months. I was waiting until I was brave enough to do it. I called the tribal guards personally, told them I was holding everyone hostage and demanded to see you. Then, I came out of the bedroom, grabbed a knife and staged this show, waiting for you."

Sienna nodded. "Clever plan."

Mrs. Wit said with resolve, "I want to save my sister. I want them arrested. I want a divorce from Durand. I tried once, and I went at it on my own because I thought it would be easy. But he has connections with many doctors at Merde Central Hospital, and he made me look crazy. Since then, no one listens when I speak. But I am not mad.

Even my own parents doubt me. Durand has a way...he is clever with words. Always smiling in public but cruel to me in private. He whispers in my ears, pinches me in places no one can see. He makes me doubt myself, makes others doubt me." She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. "But that is over now. I will not be silenced anymore. I will expose him for the whole world to see."