Page 1 of My wife made me take the fall for her first love

In the hallway, the security door rattled as keys turned in the lock.

I floated near the ceiling, watching Wynona clutch the forged agreement as she burst into my old apartment.

She covered her nose, waving away the dust, her high heels clicking urgently across the floor.

"Everett, get out here!" she shouted. "Gavin's about to lose his license and you're still hiding?"

I smirked bitterly behind her.

After that medical malpractice incident five Christmases ago, Wynona and I had lost all contact. I never imagined that when she came looking for me again, it would be to make me take the fall for her first love once more. I had to admire how devoted she and Gavin truly were to each other.

Wynona circled the room twice, her gaze sweeping over the dust-covered sofa and cobweb-laden windowsill, her tone growing more disdainful: "What's this disappearing act? Where could someone kicked out of the hospital possibly hide? Gavin just texted that the police have started investigating. Do you want him to go to prison? I'm counting to tenget out here now!"

Watching her impatient face, I thought that after five Christmases, she still had that same entitled attitude.

But no matter how high she counted, I would never appear before her like an obedient dog as I had in the past.

Because I was already dead.

Wynona continued shouting: "Everett! Do you hear me? I'm just asking for a small favorwhy are you being so petty?"

She suddenly spun around and kicked the bedroom door, the wood making a dull thud. But inside remained empty.

Wynona sighed impatiently, searched the room fruitlessly, and finally realized no one was really there.

Muttering under her breath, she slammed the door and left.

The convenience store door was yanked open violently.

Wynona grabbed Daniel and asked: "Have you seen Everett? The guy who lives on the third floor."

Daniel paused, wiping the grease from his hands: "Everett? He died five Christmases ago."

Wynona's movements froze for a moment, then she let out a cold laugh: "Who are you trying to fool? How could someone like him possibly be dead?"

"I'm not lying." Daniel pointed toward the alley entrance. "Five Christmases ago, the family from that medical malpractice case cornered him in the alley and stabbed him over a dozen times. He died on the way to the hospital. What's your relationship to him?"

The fluency of his answer made a flicker of confusion cross Wynona's eyes.

She frowned slightly, her expression showing a trace of pain I couldn't understand.

But then her phone buzzed, drawing her attention.

It was a text from Gavin: [Forget it, Everett must still be angry with me and will just make excuses. Don't trouble yourself for my sake. I'll go to prison. Without me, you need to take care of yourself.]

That single message convinced Wynona that my death was just an excuse to refuse them.

Her fingers trembled as she replied: [What right does he have to refuse? I gave him such a large sum of money back thenwhen I need him, he has to show up!]

[Don't worry, I'll definitely drag him back to take the fall for you. I absolutely won't let anything happen to you!]

The message sent successfully. Wynona looked up and glared at Daniel: "Stop acting! He's definitely hiding somewhere. Did he pay you off?"

Daniel sighed: "Would I joke about something like this? It was even on the news."

"Since when can news reports be trusted?" Wynona unconsciously raised her voice.

She stepped closer, her eyes full of threat: "Tell himif he doesn't show up within three days, I'll stop paying for his sister's cancer treatment!"

Daniel opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but she cut him off with a sharp wave: "Don't waste my time! Either make him come out, or get ready to collect his sister's body!"

With that, Wynona turned and walked away in her high heels.

The convenience store door slammed shut with a bang. Daniel watched her retreating figure, shook his head, and sighed to the empty air: "What sister? His sister died long ago because there was no money for treatment."

I floated nearby, looking at the water bottle that had been kicked aside on the ground, my soul feeling soaked through by that icy liquid.

That money never reached my hands. While my sister Emily Gibson lay in her hospital bed waiting for money to save her life, Gavin was using it to buy imported equipment.

And while I was stabbed and bleeding out in that alley, Wynona was accompanying Gavin to a medical conference.

Now she was using a dead man's name to threaten another person who was long gone.