All Chapters of The Day My Husband Cut Me Open, He Went Mad with Regret: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

My body lay faceup at the end of an alley. My face was unrecognizable.The people who reported the body said I was covered in wounds, my face slashed beyond recognition.Even the officers who found me doubled over and vomited.One of them, a seasoned officer named Marcus Reed, was furious. "What kind of grudge could drive someone to do this? Poor girl."They called in the medical examiner. Julian, my husband of three years.Julian was wearing the white coat I'd ironed for him more times than I could count. He crouched beside me, but the moment he saw my face, he froze.The city's best medical examiner had handled countless bodies and seen every kind of horror, yet the sight of me stopped him cold.He stared at my unrecognizable face, then at the wounds covering my body. He swallowed hard and said nothing for a long time.Marcus spoke first, his voice heavy. "Every one of these wounds was inflicted while she was alive. She must have been in agony, but her tongue had been cut out. She co

He turned the photo over. The names on the back had been soaked in blood and smeared into a blur. No one could read them now.Julian hesitated, then clipped the photo into the case file and jotted down a single line. "Victim's personal property. Details to be verified."My heart sank.He didn't recognize our photo.When Julian got to my hands, he paused and noted quietly, "Thickened knuckles. Rough skin."After a moment, he said abruptly, "Clara's hands are like this too."Standing behind him, I gave a bitter little laugh. My hands hadn't always been this rough.When we first got together, Julian was poor. To help make ends meet so he could focus on his career, I washed dishes at a restaurant at night after finishing my day job.Back then, it broke his heart to see them. "Once I make something of myself, I'll buy you the best hand cream there is and make your hands soft again." Later, he became a medical examiner, cracked one big case after another, and made a name for himself.Our lif

Julian gripped the phone. "Tell me," he snapped.The caller stammered. "The DNA results show the Jane Doe... is your wife... Clara."The phone slid away from his ear and hit the desk with a dull thud.Julian grabbed the edge of the desk. Suddenly, he could see the truth. The woman named on the diagnosis report was the same woman lying on his autopsy table.He lurched to his feet and stumbled out, running all the way to the morgue.He burst through the morgue door, slamming his shoulder against the doorframe. He barely noticed.But when he reached the body, he froze. He stood there for a long moment, unable to bring himself to lift the sheet.When he finally did, he touched the scar running from my left ribs diagonally down to my lower abdomen one more time.His knees buckled, and he fell, striking the tile with a heavy thud."Clara," he said, his voice shattered. "How? How can it be you? Get up. Get up!"But Clara was just a cold body on an autopsy table now. She'd never hear him cry a

The door to her room was open a crack. Inside, a few nurses were chatting with Alice."Did you hear? Julian's wife was murdered. Apparently, it was brutal. And Julian was the one who performed her autopsy.""That explains why he wasn't here yesterday. He must've been dealing with this."With every word, Alice looked a little more pleased.She let out a soft sigh, her voice dripping with feigned sympathy. "I can't believe Clara's gone. Poor Julian. He must be devastated."A young nurse smiled at her. "Well, maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Now you and Julian can finally be together. You were always meant for each other. You missed your chance before, but now you have a second chance."Alice had been telling everyone that she and Julian were once deeply in love.According to her, she'd only left because she was sick and didn't want to burden him. Her supposed sacrifice had won plenty of sympathy, and many felt sorry that the two had been forced apart. This nurse was one of them.Alice