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The Wife's Murder Loop
The Wife's Murder Loop
Author: Absolute Orange

Chapter 1 The News for Tomorrow

Author: Absolute Orange
"Julian, I-I'm not feeling well. The baby's been restless."

My voice trembled. My mind replayed the news alert I'd just seen.

When I said that, Julian Lawson's smile fell away, and impatience hardened his tone. "Again with not feeling well? What are you crying over this time?"

I froze. Julian never spoke to me like that. He'd never raised his voice before.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he lunged forward and gripped my wrist hard. "Are you seeing someone else? Is that why you keep finding excuses so I can't touch you?"

A cold breath of panic hit me.

A creeping dread rose inside me. Could that news story actually be real?

I tried to pull away and climb out of bed, but he was frighteningly strong. He yanked me back and slammed me down.

Pain stabbed through my belly.

He scanned the room and grabbed the kitchen knife from the nightstand—the one I used to peel apples.

The blade pressed against the side of my neck, cold and bright.

"If you're that unwilling, I'll send you and your bastard on your way."

Pain exploded. Blood poured out.

I watched his face contort into something I didn't recognize as mine to keep loving, and then the world tilted into darkness.

I jerked awake, sitting bolt upright, gasping.

I looked down. My body was unhurt. My phone screen still glowed. The clock showed I'd jumped back ten minutes.

The same bloody news alert had just popped up again.

The bedroom door clicked and opened. The same familiar face stepped in and repeated that phrase that had chilled me to the bone.

"Honey, I want you tonight."

This time, I didn't meet force with force.

I steadied myself, pulled up a smile, and softened my voice. "Darling, the baby's been so fussy today. I'm exhausted. Maybe another night?"

I thought that gentle dodge would buy me time.

His impatience flared faster than before. "That line again? Elena, do you think I'm stupid?"

He closed the distance between us; his obsession looked darker this time.

"Elena, do you not love me anymore?"

Before I could answer, he attacked like a furious animal.

But I was ready. I rolled to the other side of the bed, and he missed.

Flushed with anger, he snatched up the knife. I thought it was over.

As he raised the blade, my eyes caught the back of his hand. There, near the base of his thumb, was a pale brown birthmark.

My pupils contracted. Julian didn't have a birthmark.

The one with that mark was his twin brother, Jayden.

Julian and Jayden were identical in looks but nothing alike in temperament.

Julian had always been gentle; Jayden was brooding and withdrawn, someone I'd always been wary of.

Because our in-laws were superstitious, believing twins could harm each other, Jayden had been sent to the countryside to be raised by elders and only came home when he went to college.

He had never been close to us, and his relationship with Julian was distant at best.

Why would Jayden pretend to be Julian and come here to kill me? Where was the real Julian?

A thousand terrifying thoughts flashed through my head. Survival instinct surged, and I fought to get up again.
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  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 9 A Fragile Calm

    It felt like a reprieve after surviving a storm.I was staring blankly out the window when Julian walked over, carrying a glass of water and a few capsules from the coffee table."Elena, you're doing better now, but you still need to take your medication on schedule."Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, warm and bright.I nodded obediently and took the glass, swallowing the pills with the water. For a moment, it seemed like everything was back on track.I was well again. My husband hadn't betrayed me. He still loved me.The sudden happiness felt almost unreal, like a fragile dream.Yet, I couldn't shake the faint sense that something was off, like a puzzle finally complete, but one piece was slightly out of place.Julian must have noticed my distraction. He wrapped his arms around me. "What are you thinking about?"I shook my head and forced a smile. "Nothing… It just feels like a dream.""This isn't a dream. We'll never be apart again." He held me closer an

  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 8 Waking Up

    When I came to, the faint smell of disinfectant hovered at the tip of my nose, subtle but unmistakable.I blinked. I had been asleep in the office chair, hadn't I?The ceiling above me was a flat, clinical white. A blue-and-white striped blanket covered me. At the foot of the bed sat a man in a white coat.I knew that face all too well.I sat bolt upright and felt blood rush to my head.It was Julian."Elena, you're awake," he said, reaching out as if to take my hand. "How do you feel?"My mind was a tangle. What was happening? Wasn't I in the office? Hadn't Julian been dead?I recoiled in panic, my back slamming against the headboard."You're a ghost!" I cried."Don't be afraid," he replied, stopping and speaking softly, a sadness I couldn't read in his eyes. "It was only a dream. You had a very long, very bad nightmare."A dream?No. Julian had been killed—stabbed by Jayden. Blood everywhere. I had seen it with my own eyes."You're lying," I said, clutching the blanket a

  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 7 The Perfect Crime

    Julian's body collapsed like a lifeless heap, crumpling onto the floor.Blood spread quickly beneath him, soaking into the wood until half the room was red.It was over.Jayden stared at the corpse, then at his own hands dripping with blood. He stood frozen, as if his soul had been ripped out.I, on the other hand, once certain that Julian was truly gone, didn't hesitate. I pressed the call button on my phone.The line connected.I drew on every ounce of strength I had left in this life and let out a piercing scream into the receiver."Help! Somebody help! My brother-in-law's gone insane! He just killed my husband!"The police arrived in minutes.The scene was flawless.I curled up in the bathroom corner, blood splattered across my clothes, half-dried and sticky. Only when I heard the knock of authority did I unlock the door.Two officers dragged Jayden out. His body sagged like it had been stripped of bones.When he saw me, his lips trembled, desperate to speak.I beat hi

  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 6 The Trap

    "And then what?""Then, you wait right here for him. The moment he walks in, when his guard is down…"I didn't need to finish. He understood.Jayden's eyes locked on mine, wary and conflicted. "Why should I trust you? What if this is just your setup, your way of stalling for time?""Because we're stuck on the same sinking ship." I held his gaze, steady and sharp. "I don't want to die, and you don't want to rot in prison. And besides…"I paused, reached into my pocket, and pulled out my phone. On the screen was the photo of the insurance policy I had just taken."I've got the evidence and the recording. If I send this out, you and Julian are both finished. So, Jayden, you don't have a choice but to believe me."He went silent.A few seconds later, he picked up his phone and, just as I told him, dialed Julian's number. He put it on speaker."Julian! It's bad. She got away! She… She took the insurance policy and said she's going to the cops!"Jayden's voice trembled perfectly, e

  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 5 Two Paths

    At that moment, Jayden's phone buzzed in his pocket.When he saw the caller ID, he sucked in a breath. I didn't have to look to know who it was.He shot me a conflicted glance, then snatched up his phone and hurried out of the bedroom. Worried I might try to run, he locked the door from the outside with the key.I sprang up and rifled through every corner of the room. In the topmost compartment of the closet, I found a small safe. I tried Julian's parents' birthdays, and it opened.Inside lay a personal accident insurance policy. I was the insured; he was the beneficiary.I took the policy out and photographed it with my phone.When I was done, I sat on the bed and waited for Jayden.He came back in rigid, all coiled anger. He barely said a word before lunging at me.I didn't dodge. I let him pin me to the mattress.The knife rose. At that instant, I asked, "Is your brother starting to suspect you?"He froze."Has he been calling you useless, telling you not to get any ideas

  • The Wife's Murder Loop   Chapter 4 The Fifth Time

    The sting of such a huge betrayal swallowed me whole.Tears fell without my control, and I trembled so badly I could barely stand. "Why?" I whispered."Why?" Jayden's face went soft with pity and hard with cruelty. "Because he loves you, Elena. He loved you so much he couldn't bring himself to do it. That's why he let me do it for him so you could be freed."He stepped closer, the blade in his hand flashing cold light."Now you can leave in peace. Your death will save the husband you love. You should be happy about that, shouldn't you?"I looked at him. The tears in my eyes dried up, and my heart turned to ice.To hell with love.Even if I had to claw my way back from hell itself, I would. I would personally drag those two demons down.It was the fifth time I'd been reborn.I didn't cry or make a scene. I lay in bed and waited quietly for that familiar blade.My enemy was no longer just Jayden. It was both of them, Jayden and Julian.I was outnumbered. Trying to fight them h

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