He Plays Dead, and I Make It Real

In the past, Josiah would make me spend a whole night reflecting on my mistakes whenever he lost his temper with me. Only after I admitted my wrongdoings would he grudgingly forgive me.

I closed my aching, sore eyes and saved both videos.

Just as I was about to turn off my phone, I received a call from Monica.

After I tapped on the answer button, deafening music exploded in my ear. She screamed over the line, "Nicole, are you seriously holding a funeral for Josiah? Have you lost your mind?

"I'm warning you—cancel it, or you'll be sorry when he gets back!"

I didn't wait for her to finish. Instead, I ended the call and turned off my phone. After dragging a blanket over myself, I curled up on the couch to sleep.

It was the soundest sleep I'd had in three months.

…

Early the next morning, I took the documents and officially had Josiah removed from the identity records. After completing the procedures, I went straight to Monica's place.

Her door was tightly shut. I had to repeatedly ring the doorbell before she finally answered the door.

She leaned against the doorframe in a strappy silk nightdress. A trail of red marks ran down her neck and disappeared beneath the fabric.

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?"

My gaze traveled from her neck to her face before meeting the look of open disdain in her eyes. "I hope you'll attend Josiah's funeral. After all, you were his closest best friend."

She rolled her eyes and sharply snapped, "You're his wife, Nicole! He's currently missing but not confirmed dead, and instead of searching for him, you're throwing him a funeral!

"What if he's alive? Are you trying to jinx him to death? What kind of wife does that?"

I produced the freshly issued death certificate from the state vital records office and gave a light laugh. "I couldn't find him after he'd been buried under snow for three months, so I took him off the records.

"Weren't you all the ones who told me to move on back then?"

When I first received the bad news, I'd passed out on the spot and woken up the next morning to find all of Josiah's so-called buddies crowding around my bed.

"Josiah went missing in a dangerous area. It's going to be near impossible to locate him, so shall we just call off the search?"

"Exactly. That place is a death trap, so you shouldn't go."

Still, I'd struggled out of bed and bought a ticket. After hiring a search-and-rescue team, I headed straight for the mountains.

For two solid weeks, I searched and barely slept.

Back then, I didn't notice why there hadn't been a shred of genuine worry in the eyes of Josiah's so-called buddies, only amusement.

As my words faded away, a loud crash came from within Monica's apartment.

Her expression shifted. "Don't try to stir things up, Nicole. When Josiah comes back, he won't let you off easy!"

Just like the night before, I acted as if I hadn't heard a thing. She glared at me and slammed the door shut.

Sounds of a heated argument drifted through the door.

Josiah finally couldn't sit still when he heard that I'd officially taken his name off the identity records, but there was no way I'd let him find me.

He'd disappeared for three months, so it wouldn't be too much if I went missing for a few days, would it?

I picked up the suitcase I'd packed in advance and had Carissa book a seven-day hotel stay under her ID.

For the next seven days, I spent my time holed up in the hotel room, apart from making arrangements for the funeral.

When Carissa came to visit, she looked downright gleeful. "Word is he's gone crazy trying to find you. He's practically turned the whole of Aquaria upside down."

I glanced at the missing-person notice playing on TV and smirked. "So what if he does? He won't find me if I don't want to be found.

"He said he'd show up once I've gone completely crazy searching for him, so why is he being so impatient right now?"