Live Comments Revealed My Husband's Fake Death; I Made It Real

1: 1

On Thanksgiving, I'd just finished cooking when a few lines of text scrolled across my vision out of nowhere.

Still cooking, are you? Your husband's about to run off with his mistress!

He's taken out a loan of several million too, and he's planning to fake his own death tonight.

By the time you reach the hospital, your mother-in-law will tell you the body's already been cremated. The debt, the kid, the old womanall of it dumped on you to clean up.

"And the son isn't even yours. Once your husband and his mistress come back to the country, you'll be the one left to freeze to death on the street!"

A shiver went through me. I thought my eyes were playing tricks. Then, the very next second,

I got a call from my nine-year-old son.

"Mom, come to the hospital, hurry. Dad drowned saving someone."

""

Hearing him, I gripped the phone tight, rushed downstairs, and drove to the hospital.

On the way there, I kept thinking about those lines I'd just seen.

Was it a coincidence? Mervyn Simmons and I fell in love in college, then married and had a child, more than a decade together, and he was always gentle and thoughtful with me. How could he cheat, let alone fake his death for a mistress and abandon me? My head was full of doubt and panic.

I called a classmate who works at the hospital and asked her to go check for me.

A few minutes later, she called me back.

"Mamie Swanson, your husband really is here at our hospital. When I got there, your mother-in-law was getting ready to have him cremated. Isn't that awfully quick?"

My heart sank all the way down. My husband had barely died, and his mother was already rushing to cremate him, not even waiting for me to see him one last time. It was too strange.

I spoke into the phone.

"Please, can you hold my mother-in-law off? I'm on my way, I'll be there any minute."

She agreed, and I hung up, chest heavy. I didn't want to believe what those lines said, but all of it was too much of a coincidence, and my mother-in-law was acting far too out of character.

By the time I reached the hospital morgue, my mother-in-law was arguing with my classmate.

"Who are you to stop me from cremating my son?"

Just then my son spotted me and blurted out, a little flustered,

"Mom, how'd you get here so fast?"

The moment my mother-in-law saw me, a flash of nerves crossed her eyes before she started crying.

"Mamie, you're here. Mervyn came home from work, saw someone had fallen into the water, and went in to save them, and he never came back up. I was just about to take him to be cremated, so he could rest in peace sooner."

But Mervyn couldn't swim to save his life. He was hopeless in the water. How could he have gone in to rescue anyone?

I looked toward the bed, my voice catching.

"Mom, I haven't even seen Mervyn one last time. Why are you in such a hurry to cremate him?"

Then I walked straight to the side of the bed and reached up to pull back the sheet.

My mother-in-law rushed to block me.

"Mamie, he drowned, the body's all swollen and bloated, it's horrifying. I didn't want you scared, that's why I wanted him cremated quickly, so you wouldn't have to grieve any harder."

I shook my head and cried louder.

"Mom, Mervyn is my husband. I've been with him over ten years. No matter what he looks like now, I have to see him one last time."

With that, I shoved her aside and pulled back the sheet.

Mervyn lay on the bed, and if not for the ghastly bluish pallor of his face, you'd never guess he was dead at all, and certainly not from drowning.

I stood frozen for a few seconds, then turned to my classmate.

"Doctor, someone who dies from drowningdoes the body look like this afterward?"

She frowned too.

"His body doesn't look like a drowning at all. Though it's possible he was pulled out in time, so it didn't change."

My mother-in-law nodded quickly.

"Yes, that's right, Mervyn was pulled out very soon after he drowned, so the body didn't change."

A moment ago she'd said it was swollen and too gruesome to look at, and now suddenly he'd been pulled out right away. The two stories didn't line up at all. If that wasn't a guilty conscience, what was it?

My hands clenched into fists, nails digging deep into my palms. There was no doubt nowthose lines were real.

Someone grabbed hold of me.

"Mamie, I know Mervyn's passing is breaking your heart, but you have to take care of yourself. You can't collapse now. The boy and Auntie need you to look after them. Let me take you downstairs to rest."

I turned around and only then realized that Mervyn's childhood friend, Brooklyn Harding, was here too.

Brooklyn read the confusion in my eyes and started explaining.

"Mamie, I happened to run into Mervyn after work today, and he was giving me a ride home since it was on the way. But when we passed the river, we saw a child in the water calling for help. Mervyn went in to save the kid, and he was the one who didn't come back up."

2: 2

Then the feed appeared before my eyes again.

"On the way, my ass. The two of them went out on a date, to work out today's fake-death plan. This mistress has been carrying on with your husband for years, and your son is her child too."

"Your son was swapped for the mistress's baby the day he was born. Your real son died a long time ago."

A chill crept up my spine, and fury filled me from the inside out. Brooklyn was Mervyn's childhood sweetheart. All these years he'd told me she was like a sister to him, and all these years I had treated her as one. Yet the two of them had been sleeping together the whole time, and even my son was Brooklyn's child. So for more than ten years I had been kept in the dark, made a fool of.

When my eyes swept over Brooklyn, I saw the necklace at her throat.

That necklace. I'd caught a glimpse of it on Mervyn's phone once, and thought it was a surprise he was planning to give me. Now it hung around Brooklyn's neck.

My son spoke to me too.

"Mom, go rest for a bit with Auntie Brooklyn. What'll I do if you collapse?"

My mother-in-law wiped her eyes and joined in.

"That's right, Mamie, go rest. I'll handle the rest of this."

The way they couldn't wait to get me out of the room, along with every one of these odd little moves, lined up exactly with what the feed had said. I had no choice but to face reality.

I looked at Mervyn on the hospital bed and clenched my fists. He'd betrayed me for years, and now he was scheming against me too. Anger and rage churned inside me.

I forced the feeling down so no one would see anything was off.

Covering my face, I threw myself onto Mervyn, sobbing, and raised my hand and slapped him across the face over and over, a dozen loud cracks.

"Honey, you said you'd be with me your whole life. How could you lie to me, how could you leave me first? Wake up, please wake up."

My action startled my mother-in-law. She shoved me hard to the floor, and the small of my back struck the bed frame. The pain made me suck in a sharp breath.

"Mamie, have you lost your mind? How could you hit Mervyn?"

Fighting through the pain, I kept up the frantic display and lunged at Mervyn again. When my mother-in-law and Brooklyn tried to stop me, I pretended to lose my balance and landed a slap on each of their faces.

"Mervyn isn't dead. He's just tricking me. If I hit him a few more times, he'll wake up."

I pulled the fruit knife I kept in my bag for protection and drove it toward Mervyn, crying out.

"Honey, you must be joking with me. You said, if you ever ignored me, I should stab you with a knife, and you'd wake up and coax me back."

You wanted to fake your death, didn't you, Mervyn? Let's see how long you can keep up the act.

My mother-in-law and Brooklyn screamed.

"Mamie, don't!"

Just as I brought the knife down, someone shoved me away hard.

My nine-year-old son, his face full of panic, planted himself in front of Mervyn's bed.

"Mom, Dad's already dead. Can't you stop acting crazy and let him rest in peace?"

My mother-in-law and Brooklyn let out a breath of relief.

"Mamie, Mervyn really is gone. Let him go with a little dignity."

My mother-in-law frowned and spoke too.

"Mamie, Mervyn is dead. Stop desecrating his body. Go home and get things ready. Let the relatives and friends know so they can send him off."

I had never actually meant to stab Mervyn. I only wanted to scare them.

I tossed the fruit knife aside, and their expressions eased a little.

I picked up my phone, still covering my face, and spoke.

"Is this the organ donation center? My husband has passed away. Could you send someone over?"

At those words, my mother-in-law and Brooklyn rushed at me, grabbing for my phone. I dodged, and they crashed to the floor.

My mother-in-law clutched her waist, yelping in pain, then shouted frantically.

"Mamie, what nonsense are you spouting? Who gave you the right to decide to donate my son's organs?"

"Mamie, Mervyn just passed away and already you're taking it upon yourself to donate his organs. Is that how you honor everything he felt for you?"

3: 3

My son rushed at me and shoved me to the floor, screaming.

"Mom, Dad was always so good to you, and he's not even cold yet and you want to donate his organs? You're evil."

I knew he wasn't mine by blood, but I'd raised him with everything I had for nine years, and hearing him curse me like this still turned my heart to ice.

I slapped him across the face.

"You little wretch. Your father is dead. I'm barely holding myself together, and the only reason I've kept going is to honor his last wish. And you turn around and curse me without even asking what's true. Nine years of raising you, all for nothing."

He clutched his cheek and stared at me, shocked. It was the first time I'd ever raised a hand to him.

"Mom, you actually hit me."

Brooklyn quickly pulled him into her arms and glared at me with pure resentment.

"Mamie, how could you strike a child?"

I hung up the phone, forced out a few tears, and looked at them.

"I'm Mervyn's wife. I love him more than anyone. I want him to leave this world whole, too. But he told me once, when he died, he wanted his organs donated, to help more people, so his life could go on. No matter how much it hurts me, I have to carry out his last wish."

Then I pointed at my son, my voice full of disappointment.

"But George, I raised you for nine years, and over one thing you decide I'm evil. You've let me down more than you know."

He glared back at me.

"You hit me, so you're the bad one. You're not gentle and kind like Auntie Brooklyn. I don't want you for a mom, you bad woman. Auntie Brooklyn is my real mom"

Before he could finish, Brooklyn clamped a hand over his mouth and shot me a nervous look.

"Mamie, he's just a child talking out of anger. You gave birth to him. You're the only mother he has."

But I kept my eyes cold on my son, my voice low.

"George, are you sure you want Brooklyn to be your mother?"

He was about to speak when Brooklyn dug her fingers into his arm and snapped.

"George, apologize to your mother right now."

His eyes went red, wounded, but he still spoke.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Inside I laughed coldly. Nine years I'd raised this child, and he threw poison at me while obeying Brooklyn's every word. Nine years of my life, and it had all been a joke.

Brooklyn looked at me.

"Mamie, he doesn't know any better. Don't hold it against him."

Just then more than a dozen people walked in.

"Hello, we're from the organ donation center. Is Mr. Mervyn Simmons's body here?"

I nodded and pointed to Mervyn's body.

"Yes. I'm Mervyn's spouse. My husband died today in an accident. I want to donate his organs on his behalf, to help more people and fulfill his last wish."

The person in charge took out a donation agreement and handed it to me.

"Miss Swanson, if you're certain you want to donate Mr. Simmons's organs, then please sign, and we'll take his body now for examination and surgery."

I was reaching for it when my mother-in-law rushed over and tore the agreement to pieces.

"I don't agree. Mamie, my son treated you well, and now that he's dead you want to cut out his organs and rob him of any peace?"

I sighed and explained through my tears.

"Mom, this was Mervyn's last wish."

But she glared at me and shouted.

"I don't care. My son never said any such thing to me. I won't allow his organs to be donated. Where we come from, if a body isn't whole, the soul can't pass on into its next life."

Suddenly my son threw his arms around my arm, crying and pleading.

"Mom, please don't donate Dad's organs, okay? Please, I'm begging you."

Any other time, this would have broken my heart. But now, remembering that he'd helped that pair of adulterers frame me, I felt nothing but disappointment and cold.

4: 4

The man from the organ donation center looked at me and asked.

"Miss Swanson, are you still donating Mr. Simmons's organs? If so, please decide quickly. Any longer and it will affect how viable they are."

Fay and Brooklyn both watched me tensely.

"Mamie, Mervyn only said it in passing once. Are you really going to send him off with his body cut apart?"

"Mamie, Mervyn is my son. I do not agree to donating his organs. If you want to touch him, you'll have to step over my dead body first."

I sighed and turned to the man.

"I'm sorry. My husband's organs won't be donated. Let him leave this world whole."

The man looked disappointed, but he nodded and left with his people.

Fay was still watching me anxiously.

"Mamie, you're not going to donate Mervyn's organs anymore, right?"

I nodded and pointed toward the door.

"Mom, you've made yourself clear. What else can I do? The people from the organ donation center have already gone."

Fay patted her chest and let out a long breath.

"Good."

Just then, several people in suits walked in.

"Hello. Are you Mr. Simmons's family? We're from Atlantic Insurance. We heard Mr. Simmons passed away in an accident, and we're here to discuss the payout."

Fay and Brooklyn both looked at me, confused.

I explained, my face full of grief.

"Mervyn and I bought some accidental-death insurance on a whim six months ago. I think it pays out a few million."

At the words a few million, a flash of delight crossed both Fay's and Brooklyn's eyes.

I pushed down my emotions and spoke in a choked voice.

"Mom, this is money that only comes because Mervyn is gone. I can't accept that he's gone, and I don't want to take it. You and Brooklyn go talk to the insurance company about the claim."

Fay and Brooklyn exchanged a glance. Even as their excitement showed, they still looked uneasily at Mervyn on the bed.

I wiped my tears and said,

"Mom, I'll just stay with Mervyn a little longer. The organ donation people have already left, so there's nothing more I can do here. You go handle the payout first."

Fay and Brooklyn thought it over for a moment, but they couldn't resist the pull of a million-dollar payout.

"Mamie, don't take it too hard. I'll be back soon."

Brooklyn spoke to my son.

"Georgie, take good care of your mom and dad."

Taking care of me was the excuse. Mostly she wanted him to keep an eye on Mervyn.

George thumped his chest.

"Auntie Brooklyn, don't worry. I'll take good care of Mom and watch over Dad."

Fay left with Brooklyn to go meet the insurance people.

Once they were gone, I turned to my classmate.

"Where's Mervyn's death report?"

He handed it to me.

"When your mother-in-law had Mervyn sent for cremation earlier, I took it to have a look."

I read through the death report, then took out my phone and made a call.

A little over ten minutes later, several people came to wheel Mervyn's body away.

My son panicked and tried to stop them. I held him back with one hand.

I drove straight to the crematorium.

Watching Mervyn get pushed into the cremation chamber, I clenched my fists. Didn't Mervyn want to fake his own death? Then I'd give him that. I'd make his fake death real.

Just as I reached for the switch, Brooklyn came running over in a panic and shoved me aside.

Her arm knocked against the switch, the program kicked on, and the cremation began.

Fay rushed in, and the moment she saw the cremation had started, she broke down completely.