My Wife Faked Her Death to Marry the Billionaire

l, the wipers thrashing against the torrent. The silence inside the car was louder than the storm outside. He'd forgotten to turn on the radio, too caught up

her face buried in a glowing laptop screen, her mouth tight and unreadable. He had said her name

ion near Hudson Avenue, the one Vivian always stopped at on her way to her office, the same one she texted him f

ck-but black, curling like a serpent

ed near the pump station at the far end. Something about the crowd felt unnatural. No shouting

wife's car. Her blue Camry. The front had melted inward like a tin can crushed underfoot. Fire licked from the engine, hissi

breath. His knees buckled before he

ght him und

re you

s, flashing lights, and a woman's voice on

lipped, revealing a blackened hand still clutching the stee

.. any identificatio

ance. "We found a purse in the passen

no longer existed. All he could see was her last glance, her silence

urn sat on the mantel

ooms like a ghost, untouched by time. He didn't eat. Barely slept. Every corner held a memory. The s

osed-casket. No one questioned

itch behind his thoughts. Not

But that morning she'd sent a text saying she was low on

er desk. Bills, pens, an old iPod. Nothing unusual. T

powered it on,

assw

f messages lit up the screen.

You'll have

discretion. I

car i

the phone lik

. Tech genius. The man Vivian used to write about with a strange f

phone again. He opened the p

dress, gold hoop earrings catching the light, smiling in a way he had

was

etail-the buildings behind her, the angle of the shadows, the type of railing. He Googled Damien Wolfe's r

and a man with headphones. The city pulsed with life-honking horns, flashing

the entrance. Sleek black cars came and went. A doorman in a tailored c

movement ca

On the

e

t someone inside. Then Damien Wolfe appeared-tall, confident, wearing a shirt that proba

again-but this time it wa

sleep th

hed. He

ned ever

vian stayed inside. Sometimes she went to the rooftop pool, reading. Sometimes

th night, h

ighboring building and leapt the three-foot gap onto Wolfe's terrace.

rs were closed-

open and st

A massive painting of a fox hu

foots

l potted plant, breath

the living room,

ped out

via

fr

her hand fell

, they were just husband and wife

she

before she rea

e screamed, pou

Vivian?! You faked

ou weren't supposed to come. Y

accept your ashes an

shouted back. "I owed peopl

" Adrian asked, h

isted. "But I had to disap

in the car?" Adrian's

unteered. She was paid. She-" Her e

ha

r sla

ts were alread

h a punch to the ribs. He went dow

a lamp and smashing it a

glass shard on the floor, and s

d. Adrian drove the

wailed

abbed Adr

e to go

y r

h the

he narro

escape shado