Chapter 2

My mother-in-law's eyes were red and swollen. I could tell that slap really stung. Her lips trembled as she tried to explain. "But... David's really gone!"

Without hesitation, I slapped her hard across the face, once with each hand. "How dare you curse my husband! Keep your jinxed mouth shut."

My father-in-law, fuming, came at me and tried to push me. But he couldn't budge me. Years of wrangling kids and doing housework had made me way stronger than I looked.

He roared, "Your man is really dead. Got flattened by a truck, stone-cold dead. You idiot!"

I didn't hesitate. I landed two solid slaps right across his face. Those slaps sent his dentures flying, and he dropped to his knees, frantically crawling around to find them.

My in-laws started bawling for real this time. They were honestly feeling wronged. They just sat there on the floor, wailing and smacking their thighs, totally lost.

"Our son is really gone! We only came to let our daughter-in-law know," they cried out. "And look at her. She just hit us without even hearing us out. Isn't this just cruel?"

The way they were bawling and making a scene made some old folks passing by stop and stare. "What a nasty woman, hitting your in-laws like that. Why don't you just join your husband?" one of them spat.

"Kids these days don't know how to respect their elders," another grumbled.

Seeing all this, I stood my ground, totally unfazed. "You say my husband's dead? Then show me the body. Got a death certificate? If you've got nothing, you're just jinxing me, aren't you?"

My mother-in-law clutched her chest, her voice choked with emotion. "He was crushed by a truck. It was just so awful. My son died such a horrible death.

"The coroner said he was in bad shape. There was no point in trying to put him in a coffin. We were afraid you'd be heartbroken if you saw him, so we took him straight to the crematorium. His ashes are at the funeral home."

As she spoke, she pulled up a few photos on her phone, super blurry and covered in blood. I could make out David's favorite belt and watch in those pictures.

Honestly, my mother-in-law could really put on a show. Last time around, I totally fell for her dramatic sobbing, and with those bloody pics, I didn't even hesitate to believe her.

But now? I wanna laugh. I barely kept from laughing and did my best to look totally shocked. I let out a raspy, hoarse cry. "No way! He was perfectly fine yesterday, chowing down on the soup I made. How could he just disappear overnight?"

Tears slid down my cheeks, silent and endless, and I looked like my soul had just up and left my body. My face was as pale as a ghost. I wobbled where I stood, looking like I could pass out any second.

My in-laws looked relieved for a split second.

But in the next instant, I went ballistic. I grabbed my mother-in-law's phone, hurled it to the floor, and stomped on it like I'd lost my mind.

"A couple of crappy photos? That proves nothing. You're just trying to scam me!" I snapped.

"If he's really gone, then how did it happen? Where's his body? Why didn't the cops call me?

"He's such a great guy. How could something like this happen to him? He promised he'd stay with me forever. I refuse to believe he's dead!" I cried out.

I wiped away my tears, forcing a brave but broken smile, pretending to hold it together.

My in-laws started to say something, but I yelled over them, cutting them off.

"Yeah, he's definitely not dead. He's totally lying to me. For all I know, he probably ran off with some cheap little side chick. What a scumbag. I'll never forgive him!" I shouted.

When I said "cheap little side chick," I made sure to lock eyes with my mother-in-law, staring her down.

Her eyes darted away, guilty as hell, and she backed off, didn't even try to stop me.

To the onlookers, I looked like I'd lost my mind from heartbreak. They watched me walk away, their eyes wide with pity and disbelief, like I was some kind of tragic spectacle.

I raced home, slammed the door, and immediately started hammering away on my phone, maxing out dozens of online loan apps. After cobbling together every last cent, I finally managed to scrape up 3 million dollars.

That was the ceiling for online loans, not the ceiling for what I could pull off myself. When there was absolutely nothing left to borrow, I finally set my phone aside.

Finally, I reached out to my old friend from the orphanage, sending a desperate message for help. [Can you help me get a new identity?]