He Plays Dead, and I Make It Real

I ignored the first few questions and only replied to the last."If Josiah's dead, how can he get mad?"With that, I tossed my phone aside and started packing up the items Josiah had left in the house.For the past three months, I'd mostly been searching for him in the city where he supposedly disappeared while skiing, making me rarely come home. The bedroom looked much the same, except for the bed.When I opened the closet, I froze. More than half of Josiah's clothes were gone. What remained were mostly items unfit to be worn this season.Tears immediately streamed down my face as I let out a bitter, mocking laugh.While combing through the snow mountains searching for Josiah, I'd come home only when I truly reached my breaking point. And during those days when I'd been on the edge of collapse, he'd returned home multiple times to retrieve his belongings.I accessed the home security footage and fast-forwarded through the recordings from the past month.Early in the month, J

"Serves him right!" Carissa snapped. "I truly don't understand how monsters like him even exist."She was getting more fired up by the second, so I quickly stopped her. "Enough. Today's Josiah's funeral, so we're supposed to be grieving."As I spoke, I pulled out my cosmetics bag and applied makeup to dull the healthy flush on my face, layering on shadows until I looked worn down and heartbroken to the core.After Carissa confirmed I did look haggard from the makeup, we headed to the funeral together.On the way, I handed her a USB drive containing video proof that Josiah was alive and instructed her to play it on my cue. Once everything was set, I mass texted the funeral address.Claud was the first to arrive. Dressed in a black suit, he stepped out of the car, walked up to me, took out a white mourning flower, and pinned it to his sleeve. With all due solemnity, he offered his condolences.Next came a stream of relatives and friends who were still in the dark.Their grief was

"If you want your identity restored, you'll still need my help, Josiah. I'll give you two options."I held out a set of divorce papers."Sign it, and you get to come back to life. If you refuse to sign it, you live the rest of your life as an undocumented citizen."Josiah's chest heaved with rage. He snatched the papers, flipped straight to the asset division section, and then hurled them to the floor."Why should I walk away with nothing?"His face was flushed red, and his eyes were bloodshot. It was a horrifying sight.Once, I would have been terrified of his anger. But now, looking at him, only one phrase came to mind—all bark and no bite.He had absolutely no leverage, yet he still thought he could get the upper hand.I gave a cold laugh. "Because right now, you're an undocumented citizen who has cheated!"He fixed me with a cold stare and suddenly laughed. "Cheated? I just spent the night with my best friend, and we never did anything."When our eyes met, I caught the sm

Claud pulled the car to a stop in front of a steakhouse. I froze when I saw the sign.Standing behind me, he casually asked, "What are you spacing out for? I thought you liked steaks.""I haven't had it in four years…"Josiah had a severe allergy to red meat, so I'd never stepped foot in a steakhouse in the four years I was with him.Claud tugged lightly on the hood of my sweatshirt and chuckled. "So today, I'm treating you to the steak you've missed for so long to celebrate your divorce."I laughed too, then proceeded to order a feast without hesitation.Over dinner, we discussed the upcoming partnership. It was a genuinely pleasant conversation.By the time we finished, night had fully fallen.Claud insisted on taking me home, but as soon as we arrived at my house, I saw an unwelcome visitor waiting at the door.Josiah was crouched by the villa gates, shivering in the cold. His eyes lit up when he saw me. "Nicole, you're back!"I raised a brow, baffled by whatever tricks he

Claud's expression turned serious as he leaned in a little closer to me. "That's not an issue. Josiah was just an adopted child taken in by my brother and sister-in-law. "When he came of age, he made a serious mistake and got himself kicked out of the Eriksons. I only paid for his college out of respect for my late brother and sister-in-law."I nodded and took his hand. "Three months' probation. Whether you get promoted to a permanent role depends on your performance."Claud eagerly nodded."Since work's done for the day, shall we get some steak again?"Maybe it was because I'd gone four years without steak, but I'd become a little too obsessed with it. Every two to three days, I had to have steak. It felt off all over if I didn't.Claud had been eating steak with me for a while now, yet he showed no sign of getting tired of it. Every time, he'd find a different restaurant so we could try it out, and today was no different."I just found another great place. Let's go."But jus