Chapter 3

3

The argument from behind her door was loud.

Now that he heard that I declared him officially deceased, Mark was starting to lose his mind.

But I wasn't going to let him find me.

If he could disappear for three months, I could certainly be gone for a few days.

I grabbed a packed bag and asked Sarah to book a hotel room for me using her name and ID.

I've been hiding out at the hotel for the past few days, buying funeral supplies and that's it.

Sarah showed up looking smug.

“I hear some dude is tearing up the city looking for you. Dude's flipped out. They're all over the news."

I watched the news, seeing a missing person poster with Mark’s face and smiled. “He can look all he wants. I won’t let him find me. When he said he wanted to make me sweat and then come back, why is he sweating now?”

“He deserves it, the jerk. Why does the world have such awful men in it?”

She was getting worked up, and I had to cut her off, "Hey, it's my husband's funeral today, I'm supposed to be sad, remember?"

I got out my makeup bag, and turned myself into a hollow, sad, wreck.

Once Sarah was certain I looked miserable enough, we left for the funeral.

On the way, I gave her a USB drive with all the videos of Mark and Jamie, and told her to play it when I gave the signal.

Only then did I send out the funeral address.

First to arrive was Ben. He stepped out of his black car and took a white flower from me, pinning it to his lapel. "My condolences."

Next came the clueless relatives.

Their grief was genuine, and it made my heart ache.

Mark, you fake your own death, and you hurt the people who actually care about you.

Today, you’ll pay for it.

Finally, his “bros” arrived.

They all looked pale and sick, and their hands trembled when they took their flowers.

One of them dragged me to the side.

“Hey, honey, you need to stop this! Mark is not dead! He’s going insane looking for you! Have you seen the missing person posters?”

I blinked, and let out two tears.

“Don’t try to cheer me up, those missing posters were Jamie’s idea.”

"A dead man cannot return to life. I’ve given up hope that he will."

He tried to say something but I nodded to Sarah, who grabbed his arm and sat him down.

Once everyone had arrived, I got up on stage, and adjusted the mic.

“Thank you all for coming to the memorial service for my late husband...”

A scream cut me off.

“Chloe! What the hell are you doing? I said Mark isn’t dead!”

Jamie was standing at the entrance, glaring at me.

“Are you even his wife? How can you have a funeral when he’s been missing for three months? I won’t let you!”

I looked behind her. Mark wasn’t there.

So, even now Mark still wasn’t going to show his face.

I glared back at Jamie, “You won’t let me? Who are you to tell me what to do? You just said it yourself, I’m his wife.”

Jamie stared at me, tears filling her eyes. “How can you be so cruel? Mark loves you so much. How can you just declare him dead like that?”

“What if he isn’t?”

My eyes went to her marked neck and I smiled. "Even if he isn’t, I don’t want to waste my time on a cheater.”

I had Jamie dragged off to a side and continued with the service.

I was about to say something when a disheveled looking man appeared at the door.

“Honey, I’m not dead! I’m back!”