My wife's dead, and her sister has ulterior motives.
The night my wife died in a car accident, her "adoptive sister" walked into my room wearing my wife's nightgown.
"Eric, let me take your wife's place and love you!"
She pretended to offer comfort, but I knew she had been eyeing me for a long time.
And it was her who had a hand in killing my wife.
"Fine, I'll make you join her in death!"
...
My wife died in a car accident.
Her face was covered in blood, shards of glass scattered across her face, body, and her seven-month-pregnant belly.
The crash happened in an instant. She had a slight smile on her face, looking toward the driver.
The driver was someone I knew. It was her best friend, Gavin Parker.
Gavin had one hand on the steering wheel and the other under my wife's skirt.
I lifted the corner of her skirt, and rage surged through me.
Under the skirt, she was wearing nothing!
Those cheating scumbags!
My blood boiled, and I had only one thought, "I wanted to kill them!"
I grabbed the folding fruit knife from the car and stabbed it toward Gavin's hand under the skirt.
"Hey, what are you doing? Stop!"
Two policemen restrained me, warning me not to act out and to preserve the accident scene.
I struggled, but it was useless. I could only shout over and over, "Those bastards! I'll kill them, kill them both..."
But they were already dead, leaving me with no chance for revenge.
"Why? Why did she cheat? She was carrying our baby!
If she didn't love me, she could have asked for a divorce. Why did she have to die like this?
How am I supposed to accept this?"
I lowered my head and cried silently. After a while, my emotions settled.
The police let go of me and calmly said, "The brakes failed, and the car slammed into the truck in an instant. The dashboard camera was dead, so there's no footage."
In such a violent crash, how could Gavin's hand have stayed under Ashley's skirt?
I grabbed the officer and asked, "How is it that the camera just happened to fail at the crucial moment?"
This accident is full of suspicious details.
"The preliminary judgment is that it was an accidental crash."
The officer looked at me with a hint of sympathy.
"We understand your feelings, but respect the dead."
Forget about the betrayal. I needed the truth.
I glanced at Isabelle and my wife's adoptive sister.
My wife's adoptive sister, Ashley Howard, was originally named Ashley Flores. Isabelle, her stepmother, couldn't have children, so she adopted Ashley and changed her name.
They were crying their hearts out, but Ashley's eyes were fixed on me in a way that sent shivers down my spine.
I turned to the police with my request.
"I demand an autopsy!"
"We don't agree!"
Ashley pulled Isabelle over, and all the grief vanished from her face.
"Eric, we understand your anger, but Jane is gone. Let her rest in peace!"
Isabelle pleaded, and Ashley chimed in, "Yes, Eric, give yourself and your wife some dignity. What if they find something inside her..."
Her eyes darkened as she trailed off, hinting at the affair between my wife and Gavin.
"Enough!"
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, then angrily slammed the car door shut.
I punched the car hard, blood dripping from my hand, but I felt no pain as I walked away in a daze.
Ashley grabbed my arm. Her eyes were filled with tears, looking pitiful.
"Eric..."
I stopped and cut her off, trying to contain my anger.
"Ashley, don't call me Eric!"
Ashley had feelings for me, a twisted form of love that made me sick.
And my wife's death was suspicious. I had a gut feeling Ashley had something to do with it.
Now she thought I was just taking out my anger over my wife's death on her.
Ashley's tears fell as she whimpered, "Eric, I'm sorry! I'm apologizing on behalf of my sister!
"I tried to talk her out, but she wouldn't listen. She said she and Gavin were in love, and with you... she was just settling.
"The baby she was carrying might not even be yours."
Ashley kept adding fuel to the fire, but strangely, I felt calm.
She glanced up to read my expression, then continued, "Eric, they're dead now. There's no point digging further. They're reunited as a family of three. You need to let it go.
"My sister didn't love you, but you can find someone who does!"
I probed, "Oh? I just lost my wife. Who would want me now?"
Her face turned red, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
2After returning home from the accident scene, the wedding photo on the wall glared at me, making my eyes hurt.
I grabbed a cup and smashed it against the photo, then proceeded to break everything I could find in the house. I sat among the shattered glass, numb to it all.
"They say the dead deserve respect, but does that mean the pain of the living has to be swallowed alone?
Jane, out of all the ways to die, why did you have to choose the one that humiliates us both?"
I picked up a glass of liquor, the fiery burn rolling down my throat to my stomach. It almost felt like it warmed my heart.
Through the haze, I smelled a familiar scent. The fragrance of her pajamas and body wash. It was... my wife's scent.
She helped me lie down, undressing me as her soft lips pressed against mine.
Feeling a long-lost excitement, I pulled her into my arms and rolled on top of her.
My hand slid up under her nightgown, roaming upward until I reached her waist. She trembled slightly and wrapped her arms around me.
She pressed closer, kissing me and teasing me.
"Jane, you finally came home."
This must be a dream. In dreams, there's no betrayal or arguments, just warmth.
My hand moved to her waist, searching for the familiar scar. Every time I was intimate with my wife, I liked to touch the scar from when she'd been burned by boiling water as a child.
No scar! She wasn't Jane!
It felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped over me. I snapped back to reality instantly, my mind clearing.
Ashley was wearing her sister's pajamas. Her face flushed as she looked at me shyly, calling out seductively, "Eric..."
A chill ran down my spine.
"Am I a monster? What the hell am I doing!"
I slapped myself hard twice, the pain grounding me, reminding me this was all real.
I awkwardly stood up, but a slender hand grabbed my arm while the other caressed my chest.
"Ashley, do you know what you're doing?" I demanded sharply.
She smiled shyly, her hand sliding down my chest as she gazed at me affectionately.
"Eric, I like you. You like me too, don't you?"
I angrily shoved her onto the bed. She curled up, looking pitiful as she asked, "You... don't like me?"
Jane had just died, yet her sister didn't show a trace of sorrow. She was in a hurry to get into her brother-in-law's room...
"Take off your sister's clothes!"
I was furious about Jane's infidelity, but that didn't mean I'd stoop to the same level to get back at her.
Ashley hesitated for a moment, then seemed to understand.
She pulled down one of the straps, revealing her pale shoulder, seductively teasing, "Eric, you know how to play.
"How about I get my sister's photo? We can put it next to us while we do this."
"What is she thinking?
Idiot!"
I jumped up, throwing the blanket over Ashley's bewildered face.
This only made me more certain. There was more to Jane's death than met the eye.
3At the accident scene, the police mentioned "brake failure," which might be the key to the whole thing.
I looked into the car's maintenance records. It had been serviced at the same auto shop several times recently.
After staking out the shop for a few days, I was surprised to spot Ashley there.
After that awkward night, Ashley didn't try to avoid me. Instead, she stayed at the house, acting as if nothing had happened.
I hinted to her that it wasn't proper for us, a man and a woman, to be living under the same roof alone.
But she just started crying and said, "Eric, this is your and Jane's home, and it's my home too. You promised to take care of me and Mom. You can't break your word!"
Jane had always been straightforward. Whatever she felt showed plainly on her face.
But Ashley... the more innocent she acted, the more uneasy I felt.
After Ashley left the shop, I pretended to wash my car and slipped the mechanic a pack of cigarettes to get the info I needed.
Turns out, every time she went to the shop, she met with a mechanic named Jeremy Brooks.
According to Jeremy, Ashley was his girlfriend.
"That girl looks like a sweet, young college student. Doesn't seem like a good match for Jeremy," I said, making small talk with the mechanic.
I handed him a cigarette, keeping my tone casual.
The mechanic smirked, blowing smoke out of his squinty eyes before taking another deep drag.
"That Jeremy sure knows his way around women. He's got quite the skillset!
"He's not just juggling multiple women, he's also a gambler. Decked out in designer brands at his age, I hear he's been using sugar mommas' money to support his college girls."
Gambling, sugar mommas, and multiple relationships. It was classic.
I immediately contacted my private investigator and waited for some good news.
I got home, exhausted, and headed to the shower. Just as I lathered up my shampoo and rinsed my face, something caught my eye.
I glanced at the corner of the wall and noticed a small red light blinking.
A hidden camera!
Damn it!
My heart nearly stopped.
"What the hell is Ashley up to?"
I needed to stay calm and keep my cool. I quickly stepped out of the bathroom.
If Ashley was spying on me, there had to be more cameras. Pretending to look for my phone, I walked around the house.
Sure enough, there were cameras everywhere. My bedroom, the closet, and even the bathroom. She had me under 360-degree surveillance.
While Ashley was out for her night class, I went through her room. That's when I realized just how deeply she "loved" me.
She had hidden photos of us under her vanity mirror.
In the photos, Jane's face was scratched out with a knife, and between Ashley and me, she had drawn a heart.
Our pajamas were hanging together on the same hanger in her closet.
But the worst part...
Her underwear was neatly folded with mine and placed under her pillow.
A chill ran down my spine.
I couldn't even imagine what else she might have hidden that I hadn't found yet.
If that's the case, maybe it's time to test her. See if she had anything to do with Jane's death.
I bought some takeout and alcohol, waiting for her to get home from work.
When she walked in and saw me sitting on the couch, her eyes lit up.
After a few drinks, she was tipsy.
I asked her, "Do you like me?"
Ashley smiled. She nodded as she leaned into my shoulder, twisting her hair with her fingers, slurring her response, "Eric, I love you so much.
"I fell in love with you at first sight. Before I even got to know you, you became my brother-in-law."
I nudged her away, remembering when Jane had confronted me about our relationship. I had brushed it off as her just being upset.
Now, it seemed like I might have wronged Jane after all.
"Your sister said she caught us kissing in bed, like we couldn't pull away. When was that?"
Ashley chuckled, even sucking in a bit of spit.
"On her birthday! I helped you into bed, and you were pouting so cutely I couldn't help but kiss you.
"How could Jane not be mad?
"Her husband and her sister are on the bed on her birthday. It's so thrilling!"