The Dead Wife He Came to Sacrifice

On the first April Fool's after my death, my husband, Timothy Ludd, once again tries to make me take the blame for his intern's alleged destruction of evidence and bribery. He storms into my food stall, only to find that it has changed owners. Feeling shocked, he goes to the nursing home where I volunteer after my release from prison to confront me. The nursing home director says, "Quinn Sutton? She's been dead for six months." However, my dear husband refuses to believe it and returns to the welfare home where I have lived for 16 years. "Make sure Quinn comes out to see me. "This has become a huge scandal. The Department of Justice's investigation team will be coming tomorrow. Doesn't she have her pregnancy as leverage? Pregnant women can apply for exemptions. She'll only get a suspended sentence. "I've already pulled all the strings. She's guaranteed to benefit from this deal. She shouldn't push her luck!" The welfare home director's eyes well up with tears. "Quinn is dead. Don't bother looking for her. She's been dead for six months." Chapter 1 "Ha! Is this some April Fool's prank?" Timothy Ludd tugged at his collar, his gaze disdainful as he questioned, "Did Quinn Sutton tell you to say that? She used to be a lawyer, after all. Now, she's not only learned to evade legal investigations, but she's also faking her own death to blackmail people?" The director of the welfare home where I volunteered shook with anger at his words. Timothy slammed both hands on the stone table and glared down at the director. "This has become a huge scandal. The Department of Justice's investigation team will be coming tomorrow. Shelly just got her law license. I'm not letting her end up with a stain on her record!" The director's eyes welled up in tears as her lips trembled, but she remained silent. However, Timothy mistook her silence for defiance. With a sneer, he took out a trust revocation statement from his briefcase. "She went to all that trouble to drug me and sleep with me just so she'd get pregnant. Wasn't this her plan all along? Why is she playing hard to get now?" I shook my head frantically. I hadn't done that. Shelly Leston had drugged the wealthiest man in Belleville to become a partner at the law firm. But by a strange twist of fate, Timothy ended up drinking it instead. When he woke up the next day, Shelly told him that I had set everything up just to keep him with me. Timothy believed her without hesitation. He called me despicable, kicked me out of the house, and cut off all contact with me. Unexpectedly, I became pregnant after that night. I had longed for a child for five years. The moment I learned I was pregnant, all the pain and torment faded away, and only happiness remained. I thought Timothy hadn't known I was pregnant. But in reality, he knew about it. He just didn't care. Now, he was even trying to use my baby as leverage to circumvent the law. It seemed that his affection for Shelly ran deep. "If she doesn't sign it by sunset tomorrow, I'll freeze the accounts and tear down the welfare home. You useless old fossils will end up on the streets!" He gave a cold ultimatum. The director finally lost her temper. She grabbed a cup from the table and smashed it at Timothy's feet. She was overcome with grief. "You bastard! Quinn's baby was your flesh and blood! She's already dead, and you're still dragging her name through the mud. Get out!" Timothy's gaze was sinister as he kicked over the flower stand in the yard. "Ungrateful fool! Search the entire place! She can't hide forever!" His bodyguards immediately stormed into the welfare home, and the sound of things being smashed filled the air. The bookshelf I had bought for the children with the money I had saved from running my food stall fell over, and the Children's Day gifts we had prepared were scattered all over the floor. The children's screams and the director's cries mingled together. I lunged at Timothy, desperately trying to stop this violence. But my hands only passed through his body, leaving behind only a trace of cold air. I screamed hysterically in his ear, "Stop this! Timothy, you lunatic! I'm dead! My baby and I lost our lives in that abandoned shipyard six months ago!" Timothy stood under the eaves, coldly watching everything. Then, he lit a cigar. Through the haze of smoke, he dialed his assistant, Theo Langley's, number. "Look into Quinn's whereabouts over the past six months. Her act was so convincing that even the old hag from the welfare home gave false testimony on her behalf. It looks like she picked up quite a few tricks for evading investigation while she was in prison." Chapter 2 The bodyguards came back empty-handed. Timothy frowned, feeling a little irritated. Then, his phone suddenly vibrated. Shelly was calling him. When the call connected, the coldness in his expression vanished, replaced by a gentleness I had never witnessed. "Tim…" Shelly sounded like she was about to cry. "The prosecution is asking for the case files again. If they find out that I destroyed that crucial piece of evidence, my career will be ruined. Quinn still won't agree?" She continued, "If it really comes down to it, I'll go to prison. I'll be repaying you for everything you've done for me." "Don't say that." Timothy's voice was low and resolute. "With me here, you'll never have to shoulder anything. "Quinn is just playing hard to get, trying to get more compensation. Pregnant women are more concerned about money. It's just how people are. Just focus on preparing for next week's court hearing. I'll handle the rest." Shelly asked, "Does Quinn resent me? After all, her license was revoked three years ago, and she even went to jail. It's also because—" "She brought that upon herself!" Timothy interrupted Shelly without hesitation. He continued, "I brought you into this industry, and I didn't even tell you the basics. This time, she'll only have to spend a few months in jail. She's pregnant, so no one will cause her trouble. Don't cry. Once this case is over, I'll take you to an exhibition in Orland." After ending the call, Timothy held the steering wheel and drove his Maybach to the city's legal aid center. Sitting in the passenger seat, I looked at his confident expression. I simply found the situation absurd. Three years ago, Shelly had wanted to win a business merger-and-acquisition case, but she came up with the foolish idea of paying off the opposing side's witness to recant their testimony. When the truth was exposed, Timothy accused me of professional misconduct at the Bar Association's hearing. And so, my license was revoked, and I was sentenced to three years in prison. Outside the courtroom, he told me, "Quinn, when you get out of prison, you'll be a partner in the law firm. This is just a temporary measure." As expected, he threw me a banquet after I was released from prison. But at that banquet, Shelly drugged the major shareholder, causing him to storm away. Ultimately, she pinned the blame on me, and he broke his promise to make me a partner. Timothy got out of the car and walked straight to Jack Sable, who was in the middle of a legal consultation with a migrant worker. He was my senior from university and my former partner at the law firm. "Jack, is Quinn hiding here?" Timothy questioned. Without so much as a greeting, he slammed a blank check onto the table. "Tell her to stop faking her death. Tell her to name a price, take the money, and turn herself in. Don't waste my time." When Jack saw the check, he immediately stood up. His usually gentle face twisted with fury, and he threw a hard punch at Timothy's nose. With a thump, Timothy staggered back, and blood gushed from his nose. "You inhumane piece of shit!" The furious Jack grabbed Timothy by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Jack yelled, "Quinn took the blame for you three years ago and went through so much in prison! When she finally got out, she got pregnant, but you still made her shoulder the blame for that intern! "She's dead. You killed her, and you still dare utter her name? Scram! Get out of here!" Gasps broke out among the people at the legal aid center. Timothy wiped the blood from his nose, his gaze cold. "Obstruction of justice and intentional assault? Mr. Sable, do you want to lose your license? Since you two are in this together, I'll play along until the end. "Three days. Tell Quinn that if she doesn't admit to all the charges before the prosecutors within three days, I'll make sure you never work in the legal industry anymore!" "You're inhumane! Timothy, you'll get what you deserve!" Jack's cry of despair echoed through the hallway. Timothy scoffed. He then turned away and disappeared into the rain. "What I deserve? Please! In Haddon, the law is whatever I say it is." Chapter 3 After returning to Skyline Villa, Timothy tossed his blood-stained shirt into the trash. Shelly yelled in surprise, "Tim, did Quinn have someone beat you up? How could she do this to you?" Her eyes were red as she gently cleaned his wound. Then, the doorbell rang. The butler brought in a thick, waterproof document envelope. "Sir, this is a confidential document sent via an urgent local courier service. The sender's name isn't listed, but it says that only you can sign it in person." Timothy opened his eyes and gestured for Shelly to open it. "Ah!" Shelly's face turned pale when she pulled out the stack of papers. She asked in shock, "Tim, w-what is this? This is scary!" Timothy frowned. At the very top of the papers was an official document from the Forensic Examination Center. It was an autopsy report, and I was listed as the deceased. Timothy's eyes widened in shock, and he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. A mocking glint flashed in his eyes, and he smirked. "Forging an official document? Quinn, you just keep growing bolder." Timothy casually tossed the report aside. "She had even replicated the Forensic Center's security watermark so convincingly. It seemed she had spared no effort." "Quinn has gone too far. She isn't showing Ludd Group any respect." Shelly asked tentatively, "Why don't you divorce her—" "What the hell are you saying?" Timothy barked. "Never say that again. She's sacrificed so much for me over the years. She's even pregnant with my child. Once this is over, I'll make it up to her." He massaged the bridge of his nose and continued, "Shelly, you'll transfer to the law firm in Lindville. I've already made the arrangements." Shelly bit her lip, her eyes filled with resentment and bitterness. He was transferring her to Lindville? I chuckled to myself, never expecting to witness such a thing after my death. Before I died, he had given it his all to protect Shelly and had caused me so much grief. Countless arguments wore away ten years of our marriage until no love remained. Timothy declared, "But since she wants to mess around with evidence, I'll go to the station myself and expose her in person!" Half an hour later, Timothy sat across from Don Wilcox, senior captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit at the Chilton Police Precinct. "Captain Wilcox, I'm filing a report against my wife, Quinn Sutton, and a legal aid attorney named Jack Sable, for allegedly forging official documents from a state agency and attempting to obstruct an investigation into a major economic crime." Don, who was reviewing the case file, looked up at him in shock. "Mr. Ludd, you think this report is forged?" He suddenly stood, walked over to the filing cabinet, and pulled out a black case file box. He then slammed it down in front of Timothy. "You're accusing her of forging documents? Do you think you can play legal games here as you do at your law firm?" Don said sternly, "Half a year ago, there was a gang fight at an abandoned shipyard in Southan. The victim, Quinn Sutton, was caught in the crossfire and died at the scene. You were listed as her family, so we contacted you immediately. "I called you myself, but a woman answered the phone. She told us not to bother you with a scam call. She said you didn't know Quinn Sutton, and then blocked our number! "Since no one came forward to claim her remains, we cremated her as an unclaimed body after the required public notice period expired." Timothy retorted, "Captain Wilcox, I may handle non-litigation work, but I understand the rules of the criminal court. How much did Quinn pay you to help her stage this farce?" He then got to his feet and slammed both hands onto the desk. "Just tell me where she is, and I'll pay you twice as much. No, ten times as much." Don glared at him. "Timothy, don't think you're untouchable. How dare you openly bribe a government official! You're in a police precinct, not a place where you get to call all the shots!" Chapter 4 Don kicked Timothy out of the precinct. Timothy looked at the file box on the passenger seat. Don had made him a copy of the complete case file so he would finally accept the truth. Yet, he refused to believe it. He couldn't believe that I, who had always put him first and compromised my own needs for his sake, would disappear from his life forever. Timothy's breathing quickened. He pushed open the car door, rushed into the rain, and stormed into the precinct's evidence room. Using his connections in the justice system, he managed to gain access to the storage facility holding evidence from cases that had remained unsolved for over six months. The evidence officer reluctantly pulled open the storage cabinet marked "1109." "Mr. Ludd, these are some of the belongings the victim left behind at the scene. Since the case still involves suspects who remain at large, it has not been officially closed. That's why we've kept them in storage." He then placed a transparent evidence bag on the table. Inside was a maternity dress stained dark brown with dried blood. The fabric had been torn to shreds by a sharp weapon and was stained with a mixture of machine oil and dirt. Timothy stared intently at the evidence bag, his eyes bloodshot. "This isn't real… She bribed you to stage the whole thing…" Timothy muttered to himself. Then, he grabbed the dress with trembling hands. With a loud rip, he tore the already fragile maternity dress in half, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. "Quinn! Do you think you can fool me with a tattered dress? Don't you know that fabricating evidence can get you over three years in prison?" Timothy shouted into the evidence room, driven to the brink of despair. Meanwhile, my soul could no longer weep. All I felt was endless grief at my own demise. Then, his phone rang. It was Theo calling. He reported, "Mr. Ludd, I've found Ms. Sutton's medical records from six months ago just as you asked." Theo's voice sounded somewhat heavy as he continued, "Ms. Sutton was indeed pregnant, but three days before the incident, she was treated in the emergency room at Dolce Hospital. "It was because she had… signs of a threatened miscarriage caused by severe malnutrition and prolonged psychological stress." "What do you mean?" Timothy asked, his voice beginning to tremble. "It means that… Ms. Sutton was killed along with her unborn child." After a pause, Theo continued, "I also had someone check her accounts after her release from prison. Every month, the compensation payments were immediately withdrawn from another supplementary card under the guise of various overseas purchases." Timothy felt his heart bleed. He wondered if someone had stolen the money. He finally knew that I was malnourished and that I had died along with my baby. "Also, Mr. Ludd, I just visited the unclaimed ashes repository at Chilton Cemetery." Timothy held his breath at Theo's words. Theo took a deep breath before continuing, "The management office said that since the storage fees had gone unpaid for so long, those unclaimed cremated remains were buried in a mass burial site in the hills two days ago." At that moment, he tore open the evidence bag, and something fell out from the very bottom with a ding. A metal object had fallen to the ground. He picked it up with trembling hands. As soon as he saw what it was, his eyes widened in shock.