Chapter 1

The bodies had just been removed when my wife, Stella Covington, finally showed up with her junior, Noah Reid.

"Ugh, this is so gross. I'm going to have nightmares tonight!" Noah screamed, hiding behind Stella.

Stella kicked one of the bodies and looked at me with an annoyed look. "Why haven't you handled the bodies yet? Can't you see your parents are scaring Noah? Apologize to him now!"

I froze for a moment, completely bewildered. "Apologize? For what?"

Before Stella's parents—Phillip Covington and Maria Stone—died, I received a distress call from them, asking me to tell Stella to lead a rescue.

She had enough time for that, but what was she doing instead?

She and Noah were up on the mountain, setting off fireworks, and missed the search window.

I thought her negligence was the result of Noah's influence. But it turned out that she thought the dead bodies were my parents.

Noah grinned, treating the entire situation as a spectacle. "Wade, Stella's parents always lecture you about your ego. You can't even apologize for your parents? Seems like you haven't been listening to them."

Frowning, Stella added, "I was actually planning to get coffins for your parents, but now I see they probably deserved it. They raised such a rude son. Guess it's only fair that they paid for your mistakes."

I shot her a cold look. "Prepare the coffins or don't. I don't care. But don't talk about my parents like that."

With a look of sheer annoyance, Stella ordered her team, "These people aren't worth our time. Just find a stretcher to take the bodies back."

Noah added with a smug look, "Why bother with a stretcher? Didn't we just bring a garbage truck? Just throw the bodies in there. Wade, you won't be mad, right? We're just saving resources for the living."

Watching Phillip's and Maria's bodies being loaded onto a garbage truck, I couldn't help but laugh. "How could I be mad? Your idea's actually perfect."

After Stella and I got married, Phillip and Maria changed completely. They stopped being the caring in-laws and barely pretended anymore.

They forced me to quit my job and stay home, taking on the role of a house husband for Stella.

Every couple of days, they'd show up unannounced to check on me. They'd sit down and order a mountain of food. On top of that, everything had to be organic and fresh.

Once, they saw Stella mopping the floor and tore me apart.

"Stella's the leader of a search and rescue team! She works so hard out there. Why are you letting her do all this?"

I was treated like their personal chef.

Now, Stella had ordered them to be hauled away by a garbage truck. I figured karma did have a way of balancing the books.

Noah handed me a flyer, his gaze filled with mockery. "Since I found out your parents were dead, I've prepared a little gift for you. Keep it. No need to thank me."

The flyer described a funeral service specifically for livestock. Everything was arranged—cremation, an urn, and even a plot at the cemetery.

Except, it was for a dog.

When I didn't take it, Stella yelled at me, "Cemetery plots are rare these days! You'd better thank Noah right now! He's even helping you with the autopsy!"

I laughed so hard that tears started to well up in my eyes. "Thanks, once the autopsy's done, I'll make sure to bury them here."

As I watched Phillip and Maria being driven away in the garbage truck, I found myself genuinely looking forward to seeing Stella's reaction when she found out who was really dead.

I called Mom and Dad to confirm they were safe, then contacted a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement.

Just then, the cops showed up. "We suspect the couple who fell off the cliff yesterday were murdered. Could you tell us what you know?"

It turned out Phillip and Maria hadn't slipped by accident. Someone had swapped their hiking map.