AHumanMadeMOFO
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Chapter 20: I Want a Divorce
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 14:41:47 +0000 UTCJoe had no idea that his unintentional guess was correct.
What Tony Windis wanted him to do was nothing less than commit murder.
And the target was none other than Tony Windis' wife, Margaret, as well as Josh, Margaret's "lover.
Of course, the primary target was still Margaret.
Didn't Margaret want a divorce? Didn't she want him out of the house?
Then let her die.
Once Margaret was dead, with no other relatives left, her vast fortune would naturally fall into his hands.
But this was no simple matter of hiring a hitman.
The gangland model of revenge simply did not work for the truly upper class.
After all, in the free country of America, the real rulers are the capitalists.
The so-called gangsters are mostly just lackeys picking up the crumbs of their profits.
A similar example would be when the Hong Kong gangs were at their peak, daring to challenge the military and police. But unless you are a thug like Cheung Tze-Keung who came to power from a middle class family, has anyone heard of a local gangster taking on those wealthy families?
If Tony Windis really dared to let Joe ruthlessly kill Margaret, what if one day Joe got caught and snitched on him? Even if the police didn't bother him, Margaret's father's friends wouldn't let him off the hook.
So Tony Windis had to come up with a flawless plan to get himself completely off the hook, one that even if Joe did squeal, no one would believe.
Before he called Joe, this plan had already taken shape in his mind.
However, Tony Windis would not reveal the entire plan to Joe right away.
"What I want you to do is not just one thing, but several. But don't worry, they're all simple," Tony Windis said slowly. "For example, the first thing is for you to follow my wife, take pictures of her with her having affair with a person named Josh, and then look for an opportunity to steal her handbag. The thousand dollars is your reward for this first step. As for the subsequent things, I will notify you after you complete them."
"I understand!" Joe nodded.
. . .
Tony Windis's plan was unknown to Josh and Margaret.
To Josh, Margaret's husband had been just a name; he had never even seen him.
As for Margaret, a relatively naive rich housewife, she had no idea that her husband was so deranged that he wanted her dead just because they were fighting for divorce.
The next day, wanting to avoid Tony Windis, Margaret left early to find Josh, not wanting to see him at all.
When she arrived at Josh's house, Josh was chatting with his middle-aged neighbor, Tommy, over the fence in the yard.
"Why are you here so early today? Let me introduce you; this is Mr. Thomas 'Tommy' Angelo, my neighbor, a very friendly elderly man that I get along with very well," Josh said as he greeted Margaret and introduced his neighbor.
"Hello Mr. Angelo, nice to meet you. I'm Margaret," Margaret replied graciously to Josh's neighbor, though for some reason she didn't mention her last name.
Maybe in her mind she thought the Windis last name wouldn't be hers for long.
"Hello, pretty lady, you can just call me Tommy. Well, I won't bother you young people any longer; my flowers still need watering," Tommy said, smiling as he greeted Margaret, then shook the watering can in his hand as an excuse to finish his conversation with Josh.
Looking at Margaret's demeanor, it was clear that she had a lot to tell Josh, and of course, being the older one, he didn't want to interrupt.
"What's the matter? You look really down and a bit haggard," Josh said after Tommy had left, having also noticed Margaret's strange state.
"Ah? Is it that obvious?" When she heard Josh's words, Margaret instinctively touched her face, because she really hadn't slept well after the fight with Tony Windis.
"Of course. Come in, it's cold out here. By the way, have you had breakfast?" Josh asked casually.
"Uh, not yet," Margaret shook her head. The housekeeper usually prepared breakfast very early, but not wanting to face her husband, she had completely ignored it.
"Just in time! I have some rolls I made this morning. I'll prepare them for you. We can talk more after you eat!" Josh said immediately when he heard that Margaret hadn't had breakfast.
Then the two of them entered the house.
Josh had made the buns in the morning with flour he had bought at the farmer's market. The filling was fresh onion and beef, and they tasted pretty good.
After they were done, he had even delivered some salad to Tommy's wife, who was also making breakfast.
This was also the reason why he had chatted with Tommy earlier.
Since he had crossed over to this era, Josh rarely got up late, and if he did, it wouldn't be after eight in the morning.
The main reason for this was that the entertainment options now are quite limited.
No cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no game consoles.
There was television, but in this era, there was pitifully few shows, and the three major broadcast networks in America were mostly focused on radio. ABC hadn't even been officially formed yet; it was still part of NBC, known as the Blue Network.
In addition, the crude shows of the era made it difficult for Josh to fit in.
With all this in mind, Josh naturally had to keep an early schedule in order to stay healthy.
Of course, there were still various brothels and other entertainment venues in the city at night, so the nightlife was not monotonous.
However, Previously, Josh's finances hadn't allowed him to experience this decadent, corrupt capitalist society.
Today, perhaps because he was in a new house, he woke up before six, when it was still dark outside, and decided to go to the farmer's market to see what good items were available. When he went yesterday, it had already been afternoon, so there were not many stalls left, and Josh had asked and learned that the farmers' market usually opened at six in the morning.
Josh could only say that the working people in every country are indeed quite diligent.
After reheating the buns, he also warmed up a glass of milk.
Margaret was indeed very hungry, and she surprisingly finished three large meat buns without feeling satisfied.
"So tell me, what's going on?" Josh asked after Margaret had finished.
"My husband is back," Margaret said. "And I asked for a divorce."
Meanwhile, after Josh and Margaret entered the house, Tommy, who was watering his flowers, seemed to sense something.
He looked around and noticed a black car parked across the street, with someone inside who seemed to be looking at the next house.
Seeing this, Tommy couldn't help but furrow his brow.
