Chapter 2

He gave the younger officer a pointed look and sat across from me.

"I think you're lying."

My nails dug into my palm.

"What do you mean?"

The officer stared at me, switched off the camera, and lowered his voice.

"Liam, don't you recognize me? I’m Heath Jennings."

I jolted.

I genuinely didn't recognize him at first. Heath was a classmate from high school.

He once had a secret crush on Shannon.

We never got along, and he spent a long time pursuing her.

I never saw him again after Shannon rejected him. I never expected him to become a police officer.

"The DNA comparison results for the body aren't back yet. We can't be sure this woman is Shannon. She could be an actress you hired."

He glanced at Shannon beside me, and his voice softened a little.

"Shannon, do you remember me?"

Shannon glanced at him, then quickly lowered her head again.

Maybe I imagined it, but a flicker of pain crossed Heath's eyes.

I immediately spoke up. "She has brain damage now. She can only answer yes or no."

Heath tapped his pen against the paper, deep in thought.

"Liam, tell me. What caused Shannon's car accident?"

I stiffened for a moment as the memories came back.

The truth was, I was devastated when I first realized Shannon was cheating.

About a year earlier, Shannon became especially good at lying.

At first, she often smelled of cigarettes. Then I noticed hickeys on the back of her neck. Eventually, she started staying out all night, claiming she was working late.

Every sign pointed to an affair.

But she removed the dashcam and wiped every record from her phone. I couldn't find any evidence.

Whenever I lost control and demanded answers, she just snapped at me.

"Enough! Do you realize how crazy you sound with all these paranoid accusations?

"You want to check my phone? Go ahead! If you can't find any proof, get on your knees and apologize!"

By the time I finally gave up on her and decided to file for divorce, she got into a car accident.

She was driving while exhausted, and her car collided with a truck on a road halfway up a mountain.

I sighed. "Should I call it divine justice? She crashed on her way to meet her lover, and it left her brain damaged. Check for yourself. The police have a report on file."

Heath nodded and sent a message on his phone.

A reply came back shortly afterward. His expression grew even grimmer as he read it.

"The records back up your story, but they don't confirm her identity."

I lost all patience.

"Are you out of your mind? Can't you tell whether she's Shannon just by looking at her?

"Back when you were learning to sketch, you secretly drew hundreds of portraits of her..."

Heath cut me off. "Liam, I suspect you killed Shannon."

I let out an angry laugh. "Heath, keep talking like that, and I'll file a complaint against you.

"The body is badly decomposed. Tell me, how did you decide it was Shannon? From an ID card?"

"There's more. The body's height and weight match Shannon's medical records."

Heath suddenly lowered his voice. "And there's the tattoo."

"Her face was badly decomposed from being in the water, but the tattoo on her wrist was one of a kind. It was..."

He paused and closed his eyes.

"I gave her that tattoo myself."

The interrogation room went dead silent. Shannon still sat beside me without a word.

Her hand only twitched slightly at the mention of the tattoo.

I grabbed Shannon's hand and pushed up her sleeve.

An ugly little dog tattoo appeared on the inside of her wrist.

Heath's expression changed instantly when he saw it.

"Don't tell me you gave two people the same tattoo!

"I always wondered why she had such a weird tattoo. So, you're the one responsible.

"Feel like an idiot yet, Heath? Still suspect me? You think I killed Shannon? What's my motive?"

Heath frowned deeply. "A tattoo can be copied..."

I cut him off immediately.

"Copied? So, I'd also need to find someone who looks exactly like her, with all the same physical features? Why would I go to all that trouble?

"Shannon cheated on me, and now she's half-witted. I'm the only person she recognizes. All I have to do is act like a devoted husband and look after her, and her parents are practically crying with gratitude.

“I can spend every penny she has however I like.

"But if she dies, her parents will want a share of her estate. What would I gain?"