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Ninety-Nine Lies Proven True

Ninety-Nine Lies Proven True

Short Story · Emotional Realism
By:  Star TrailCompleted
Language: English
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Synopsis

Face Slapping

Bias

Independence

After Death

Plot Twists

In the fifth year of our marriage, my wife, Delphine Dorsett, started keeping a notebook just about me. She called it the ‘Lie Ledger’. She said my biggest flaw was that I loved to lie. When I said her father had switched out my medication, she logged it. When I said her younger sister had secretly been using my bank card, she logged it. When I said our chef had snuck peanuts into my food, which I was allergic to, she logged that too. Delphine said, "Harvey, once this log hits a hundred lies, we're getting a divorce. Don't say I didn't warn you." After that, I started to explain myself less and less. One day, I tumbled down the stairs. I cut my side where it slammed into the steps, and blood was gushing out. I pressed a hand over the wound as I called 911, then dialed her. "Delphine, I fell down the stairs. I think I might be dying." She let out a cold laugh on the other end of the line. "That's the 99th lie. One more to go." After a pause, she added, "You'd better think long and hard about your last lie." I looked at the blood pooling in my palm and suddenly laughed too. "Fine. Then I won't say anything else." I died in the hospital that night, and Delphine never came. At that moment, she was locking the Lie Ledger in the safe, waiting to hear the hundredth lie from my own mouth. In this life, however, she would never get to hear it.

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Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The first night after I died, my wife, Delphine Dorsett, reheated a pot of potato soup three times. Once at 11:30 PM, and again at 12:40 AM.

A little after 1:00 AM, now tired of going back and forth, she turned the heat down to the lowest setting and muttered coldly, "If it burns, he won't eat it anyway."

Even so, she nudged the lid open a crack.

My spirit stood in the kitchen doorway, watching her quietly.

That was just how Delphine was. She always remembered my weak stomach and how easily I got the chills. She remembered that I always wanted extra lemon on my crab pasta, and that my feet were always cold when I slept.

However, she never once considered that my ‘ridiculous lies’ were actually the truth.

She texted me three times.

Delphine: [It's getting cold out.]

Delphine: [The driver is waiting at the front gate.]

The last one came ten minutes later.

Delphine: [Come home. We can finish this when you get here.]

That used to work on me every time.

In our first year of marriage, after one fight, I grabbed my pillow and went to the guest room. When I woke up in the middle of the night, Delphine was cuddling me from behind with her face pressed against my shoulder blade, sound asleep.

I squirmed. "Didn't you tell me to get lost?"

Without even opening her eyes, she tightened her arms around me again. "I told you to get lost. I never told you to actually leave."

Those few words were enough to soften me for a long time.

From then on, she never really had to back down after an argument. All she had to do was heat up a bowl of soup, leave a light on, and say something simple like "That's enough now," and I would find a way to smooth things over for our marriage on my own.

At 2:00 AM, my father-in-law, Bernard Stockwell, came downstairs. When he saw his daughter still sitting in the dining room, his expression darkened.

"He's still not back?"

"No."

He snorted. "Then leave him be. Yesterday he had the nerve to say he was dying. If you actually go looking for him now, he'll only get worse."

Delphine's brow creased slightly. "Dad, once he's back, don't say things like that again."

He stared at her. "You're still defending him?"

"He was in pain and wasn’t thinking straight, so he said things he shouldn't have. I'll handle it."

With one sentence, she protected me from her father yet convicted me of ‘lying’ at the same time.

She called me for the fourth time. No one answered. When it went to voicemail, her patience finally ran out.

"Harvey, I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said yesterday."

She paused, and her voice softened. "I'll let number 99 slide too. Just come home."

Two seconds later, she added, "Your gastric medicine is on the nightstand, and I saved some soup for you."

Out of habit, I almost answered, "Got it."

Only when my fingers passed straight through her shoulder did I remember.

I was already dead.

Delphine suddenly turned around, and my chest tightened.

However, her gaze went right past me and landed on the entryway. My slippers were still lying askew. She walked over and nudged them neatly together with the toe of her shoe, then moved the dark gray coat I had left behind to the front of the rack.

Bernard frowned. "Does he not know it's cold out?"

Delphine straightened the hanger. "He's been like this since he was a kid. He knows when he's sick and hurting, but he never thinks to dress warmly when he goes out."

Her tone even carried a hint of fond indulgence.

Suddenly, it all seemed so ridiculous.

Delphine remembered that I always forgot my coat, yet she somehow never considered I was truly in pain when I said I was dying.

The driver texted her to say he still had not seen me come back. Delphine replied with only two lines.

Delphine: [No need to look for him.]

Delphine: [He'll come back on his own.]

She was so sure. In five years, she had never truly lost me.

Just before dawn, she sent me one last message.

Delphine: [Don't risk your health just to get back at me.]

I stood behind her and looked at the words for a long time. As I lay at the bottom of the stairs yesterday, I had wanted to tell her not to bet my life on the belief that I was lying again.

In her mind, she had won that bet 98 times. That was why she did not come to see me for the ninety-ninth time.

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9 Chapters
Chapter 1
The first night after I died, my wife, Delphine Dorsett, reheated a pot of potato soup three times. Once at 11:30 PM, and again at 12:40 AM.A little after 1:00 AM, now tired of going back and forth, she turned the heat down to the lowest setting and muttered coldly, "If it burns, he won't eat it anyway."Even so, she nudged the lid open a crack.My spirit stood in the kitchen doorway, watching her quietly.That was just how Delphine was. She always remembered my weak stomach and how easily I got the chills. She remembered that I always wanted extra lemon on my crab pasta, and that my feet were always cold when I slept.However, she never once considered that my ‘ridiculous lies’ were actually the truth. She texted me three times.Delphine: [It's getting cold out.]Delphine: [The driver is waiting at the front gate.]The last one came ten minutes later.Delphine: [Come home. We can finish this when you get here.]That used to work on me every time.In our first year of mar
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Chapter 2
The next morning, my side of the bed was still empty.Delphine had not slept all night. At 7:30 AM, she changed into her usual fitted light gray pantsuit and headed downstairs in her heels. Halfway down, she turned back to the bedroom.She stood by the bed and stared at the dent in my pillow for a few seconds, then bent down and smoothed out the comforter. It was as if she believed that as long as the room stayed neat, I had only stepped out for a while.Breakfast was already set out for two. My favorite crab omelet was still steaming.Our butler, Gilbert Tremaine, asked, "Ms. Dorsett, should we keep Mr. Dorsett's plate warm?"Delphine hummed in agreement.Bernard's face darkened. "You're still spoiling him after the scene he made?"She picked up her coffee and only said, "Feeding him is one thing. What he did is another."That was her favorite kind of logic. She punished me with one hand and took care of me with the other, as if hurting me did not count so long as she still co
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Chapter 3
I stood beside Delphine and stared at my name on the screen. Suddenly, it looked like our chat was between her and a mere stranger.So this was what happened after someone died. Everything that belonged to them was taken back, one thing at a time. She had taken back the card, the trip, the car, and now even my pet name.All that remained was the bowl of soup in the kitchen, still waiting for me to come home.That night was the Stockwell family dinner. I had never missed one. Half an hour after dinner started, my seat was still empty.Delphine's uncle, Norman Stockwell, asked, "Where's Harvey?"Bernard sighed. "Throwing a tantrum. Who knows where he's hiding this time?"Miranda had been drinking a little, and she chimed in with a laugh. "Harvey's really something these days. He's almost hit a hundred lies."The whole table perked up at once.She talked about the ‘Lie Ledger’ she kept like it was a joke. "One day, he thought his meds had been swapped. The next day, it was someone
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Chapter 4
That afternoon, a text message arrived.Delphine: [Family of Mr. Harvey Dorsett, please contact Eastbrook General Hospital as soon as possible.]Delphine glanced at it and set her phone face down on the desk. "So now he's even got the hospital asking for family."At 5:00 PM, she went home early.The first thing she looked at when she walked in was the entryway. My slippers had not moved, and neither had my coat. She searched the living room, then went upstairs to the master bedroom. Finally, she stood in the middle of the empty room and let out a soft breath.For the first time, it seemed to dawn on her that I really could stay away this long, even though she still believed I was only sulking.At 7:00 PM, the hospital called for the fifth time. Delphine stared at her phone for a few seconds, then turned it off and went into the study.She opened the safe and took out the Lie Ledger.The first page read: [Harvey claims my father entered our bedroom without permission.]The seve
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Chapter 5
The entryway went silent.Delphine stared at the officers for a few seconds, then let out a laugh. "Did he hire you to put on this act?"No one answered.On the way to the hospital, she did not rush the driver, and she did not say a word. It was as if she were only going there to call my bluff one last time.That lasted until a nurse handed her the bag of my belongings.Inside was my old phone, one corner shattered. The clear phone case had turned yellow, and tucked inside it was the photo booth picture we had taken in our first year of marriage.In the photo, I had deliberately squished my face up next to hers, grinning without a care in the world, while she looked thoroughly unimpressed. Later, though, she had secretly printed an extra copy behind my back and slipped it into her own wallet.Delphine stared at the phone for a long time. "Where is he?"The nurse led her farther inside and pulled back the white sheet.There was no color left in my face. The corner of my forehea
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Chapter 6
That night, Delphine went into the kitchen alone. She wanted to make potato soup.She did not add enough broth, and the soup grew thicker and thicker. Without thinking, she called toward the living room, "Harvey, could you check if I put in enough—"Her voice cut off abruptly.No one walked over to take the spoon from her hand. No one teased her, "You can't even make soup. If you didn't have me, you'd have blown up the kitchen by now."She stayed half-turned toward the doorway for a long time. Finally, she switched off the stove. She did not eat a single spoonful of that soup.Early the next morning, Jeremy brought another file into the study. "Ms. Dorsett, we looked into the bank card Mr. Dorsett mentioned before."Delphine looked up. Whatever hope she had left that this was all a mistake faded a little more.When Miranda came into the study, her face was deathly pale. The first thing out of her mouth was, "I can explain."Delphine pushed the bank statements across the desk. "
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Chapter 7
That allergic reaction had nearly cut off my breathing.Delphine rushed home so fast that she did not even change out of her heels. She and the driver each held me up on one side and helped me into the car. The whole way there, she let me lean on her shoulder and kept a hand pressed to the back of my neck."Harvey, look at me. Don't fall asleep!"As we neared the hospital, I grabbed her hand. "Delphine, am I dying?"Her face had gone frighteningly pale. "Shut up. Say something like that again, and I'll really be mad."They worked on me in the ER for an hour.When I woke up the next day, she was still the first person I saw. Delphine was holding my hand, asleep with her head on the edge of the bed. The moment I moved, she woke up. "Do you still feel sick?"I shook my head. "There was something wrong with the sauce last night."The worry in her eyes slowly faded.Once we got home, Ernest Coombs, the chef who handled our meals, denied it. Bernard also insisted that my food was al
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Chapter 8
Delphine stared at the schedule for a long time. "Why didn't I go in the end?"Jeremy thought back for a moment. "That morning, your father suddenly wasn't feeling well, so you took him to the hospital."He paused. "As for Mr. Dorsett, I assumed you would let him know yourself."Delphine lowered her head.I remembered that afternoon too. I had waited outside the hospital for forty minutes before I called her."Where are you?""I'm with Dad at his checkup.""What about me?""Just go in on your own first."I stood in the crowd for a long time before I asked, "But you promised you'd come with me."The line went quiet for a few seconds.Delphine had genuinely forgotten. That was why her next words had come out so assured. "When did I promise that?""Two nights ago."Her tone dropped at once. "Harvey, don't make up things I never said just to drag me over there."That day, I went home alone and skipped the appointment. When she came home that night, she even brought me a slice
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Chapter 9
Three years after I died, Delphine still held onto the Lie Ledger.She did not keep any jewelry or important documents in her safe. There was only the ledger, my wedding ring, and the pair of black pearl earrings she had never gotten the chance to wear.She rarely mentioned me after that. Still, there was never a single peanut in the house again. She always answered calls from unknown numbers. The entryway light stayed on until midnight every night. There were always potatoes in the fridge, yet she never made soup again.Bernard and Miranda had both moved out. Delphine never covered for anyone again. The money that needed to be paid back was paid back, and those who needed to take responsibility took it.Whatever evidence could still be recovered was handed over to the people who could deal with it.As I watched it all, I no longer felt much of anything.What I had wanted back then was never for her to get revenge on anyone for me. When I said my pills were wrong, I only want
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