AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where is she?” I demand.
The receptionist looks terrified under my stormy stare. “Mr Rivers?”
I slam my fists down on the counter. “Where the fuck is my wife?”
“Xavier?” Savannah cries.
I shrug her arm off me. “Take me to her.”
The woman hurries out of her seat and guides me to Emery. There is a chill that makes me shiver. We enter a narrow room with a glass panel looking into a small room. The metal table is covered by a cloth.
The doctor warns about the body’s state, but I don’t care. I want to see it with my own eyes.
Savannah mumbles something under her breath, but I pay her no attention. The balding doctor takes me through the door. I stand with bated breath as he pulls the covers down to reveal her face.
My eyes close. Six years of Emery flash through my mind. Every laugh, smile, tear, and scream we shared from the first day rush through me. Emery was supposed to be my checkmate. She wasn’t supposed to cheat like my mother. She was supposed to protect me from speculative eyes. She was supposed to be the last one.
My knees buckle under me as I let a few tears fall. I allow myself to feel the grief and guilt for the outcome of this love story.
Behind me, I hear Savannah gasp before she lets out a scream. Her cries merge with mine until the room is filled with nothing but our howls for a dead Emery. Savannah begins to hyperventilate. She walks in reverse until her back hits the wall. She slides down to the floor, unable to take her eyes off Emery. She cradles her bump as her cries break my heart.
“Get her out of here! She’s pregnant!” I shout.
The receptionist and doctor tend to her. She refuses to get up or out of the room. Her eyes don’t move from Emery.
“She’s dead,” she gasps. She repeats those same words as she is forced back into the hallway.
All alone with Emery, I stroke her face. I kiss her cheek. “Didn’t I tell you divorce was never an option? I’m sorry I didn’t do it myself, but it would have raised too many suspicions,” I explain.
I lightly stroke her hair. Even matted with blood, it’s as soft as that first day.
“As you said, till death do us part.”
33
Onetaponmyphone has the blinds lifting themselves up and the glorious morning sun shining through. The content smile on my face is a rare one but well-earned. I slept well last night now that the board is back in my favour. My arm falls onto the empty pillow beside me. Soon, I’ll wake up next to Savannah, and every morning will be as wonderful as this one.
Feeling in the mood to celebrate, I put some music on. The universe is a funny little thing as Michael Bublé’sFeeling Goodcomes through the speakers. My fingers thrum along with the song’s beat until I lose myself in my victory.
“What are you doing?” Savannah’s horrified tone matches her expression.
I almost forgot I’m supposed to be the grieving husband. I lower the volume and sit taller, exposing my torso. “We danced to this song at our wedding,” I lie.
She’s lost her glow. Her eyes are red and puffy, with the skin underneath having a purplish hue. Even in the warm weather, she wears a hoodie that stops just above her knees. Her beautiful silky hair is pulled into what can only be described as a mess. Savannah rubs her eyes as she loiters near the door.
“Please tell me yesterday was a nightmare,” she pleads.
I rub my face as a pretence of exhaustion. “I wish it were.”
She begins to cry again. “How can she be dead? She waited her whole life for this baby.”
Leaving the comfort of my bed, I walk over to her. When I try to reach for her, she pulls away from me. “Savannah…”
She looks up at me and shakes her head. “Don’t touch me.”
I let her walk past me and sit on the edge of my bed. “I wasn’t going to try anything.”
Of course, I wasn’t. A good widower would never move on less than twenty-four hours later. He waits.
