Dead Men Don't Get Justice

I Truly Hate Myself

Night had long fallen by the time Yuna left the old apartment.

She immediately drove toward Joe's apartment.

Joe answered the door, dressed in a set of loungewear. He was startled by how lost she looked. "Yuna? Why are you here?"

She stood there, stammering for a long time with quivering lips before she finally forced out her words. "Finn's parents are dead..."

Joe's hand, which was holding a glass of wine, froze mid-air.

He placed it down and walked over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Come in. Tell me everything."

Yuna was in a state of complete disbelief as she was guided to sit on the couch, murmuring blankly, "My assistant looked into it. There were medical records, death certificates, and storage records from the crematorium."

She looked up at him with red eyes. "Joe, they're actually gone. Finn's father died five years ago, and his mother died three more days later."

I watched as Joe's face turned stiff for a few long moments.

Then, he knelt down and held her hand with his, gently stroking the back of it with a thumb. "Yuna, it's not your fault."

"But..."

"No buts," he said, interrupting her. "You didn't know this would happen, right? No one would've foreseen such a tragedy.

"If anyone is to blame, then it has to be me. If I didn't need Finn's help with the case back then, you wouldn't have gotten into such a terrible spat with him. If none of that had happened, you wouldn't have lost the chance to see them one final time."

Then, Joe put on the wounded look, pinning the blame on himself to gain her sympathy. Surprise, surprise. It worked like a charm.

"Don't say that, Joe!"

"I'm telling the truth. You've done more than enough for me over the years, Yuna. Once this election is done, I'll personally visit his parents' graves and apologize."

Tears continued to stream down Yuna's cheeks. She held tight to his hands like he was her last shred of hope. "What about Finn? His parents are dead. How do we find him now?"

Joe thought for a moment before speaking in a softer voice than before. "Think about it, Yuna. If Finn is truly dead, who would have organized his parents' funerals? Why has no one collected their ashes for five years?"

Yuna was surprised. "You mean to say..."

"I just find it suspicious. You know how Finn is. He may look like an honest man, but he's the greatest schemer ever. Back then, he only agreed to take the blame for me because he knew you would think well of him."

He turned away from her, a bitter smile painting his lips. "Sometimes, I truly hate myself. Yuna, you wouldn't have been forced to marry him if I had returned sooner."

"Don't say that, Joe!" She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. "I was a blind fool back then. Don't worry. It doesn't matter whether he's dead or alive. I swear I'll make sure to support you through this crisis!"

As I watched the two cling to each other, a chill spread through my translucent form.

What a loving couple.

They loved each other so much that they would scheme to make the victim of their malicious plots forgive them.

My abusers were delusional and totally sick in the head.