All Chapters of The Livestream That Exposed a Corpse: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

A man in a slicked-back haircut and a sharp suit stepped forward holding a briefcase.He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and gave the camera the practiced little smile he had used a hundred times.The chat caught him fast.[That's Marshall Pierce!][Top defense lawyer in the country. Crowley group's chief counsel!][Oh good, let the pros handle her!][May Fairfax is finished! There is no escaping Marshall Pierce!]Marshall pulled a sheet of paper out of his briefcase, cleared his throat, and read it like he was reading a verdict."Per the criminal code, anyone who intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury on another person may be sentenced to a multi-year term, depending on the severity and the specific circumstances. In cases involving particularly cruel methods or aggravating factors, the sentence may be longer."He paused. He looked toward the dead, empty room."Ms. Fairfax. You are suspected of intentional bodily injury resulting in miscarriage, with aggrava

The officer's words hit the courtyard like a charge."Dead?" The color was already going out of Tristan's face. "You said May is dead?"The officer glanced at him. His tone was flat."Yes. The owner of this house. May Fairfax. Time of death roughly seven days ago. The neighbors called us in because no one had come or gone for a long time. We found the body. The initial assessment is suicide. Multiple injuries on the body. The fatal wound was to her wrist. She lost too much blood."I stood between them and watched.Nobody could see me.I had been dead a week. There was just a weightless thing left of me, walking around the world.Wendy's eyes shifted. Then she shrieked."She killed herself out of guilt! She knew she could not get away with what she did to my baby! She ran first!"She threw herself into Tristan's arms. Her shoulders were shaking."Tristan, she is dead! Does that mean my baby's death does not get justice? Does she walk away from this just by dying? That isn't ri

A week later. Wendy's case opened.I sat in the gallery. No one could see me.The prosecution put forward stack after stack of evidence.They proved Wendy had not just produced a deepfake. She had taken a scalpel to her own belly to fake the wound.When the medical examiner took the stand and said the depth and angle of the cut were inconsistent with an attack and consistent with self-inflicted injury, the gallery went up in a roar.Tristan and Wendy's mother sat in the gallery, sobbing into her hands.She had believed every word her daughter had ever told her. She had believed the pregnancy, the miscarriage, the attack.She had not known the whole thing was theater.Marshall Pierce sat at the defense table looking gray.He had been one of the top criminal-defense attorneys in the country. He had been Crowley Group's chief counsel.In this case, he had not only failed to keep Wendy out of prison. The investigators had also confirmed that he had taken a substantial bribe fro

Three months later.Spring came.In front of my grave, on top of the funeral flowers a thousand strangers had brought after the livestream went around, there was something new.A small bunch of wildflowers. They had been tied off with a piece of grass. There was still dew on the petals.The drunk was standing in front of the stone. He was wearing an old shirt that had been washed soft.His hair was longer than it had been three months ago. The dirt was off his face.I was beside him. The sun came through me and landed on the wildflowers.He looked at the photograph on the stone for a long time."I never knew you." His voice was rough. "They tell me your name was May Fairfax.""You used to sit out on the rooftop at night. You used to talk to the moon. You said you wanted to go home. You said you wanted to see your grandmother. You said you wanted to see Tristan."I never answered you. I thought a man like me had no right to talk to a rich woman."His eyes went red."You neve