After Going Crazy On The Scumbag

It was around 2 a.m. when the house started to shake.

I noticed Rob Kaufman getting out of bed to rummage through a drawer.

Outside, the noise of a panicked crowd echoed through the air.

"Earthquake! Run!" someone shouted.

As I was getting out of bed, Rob glanced at me and then bolted out the door without a second thought.

Only after he was gone did I realize that he had locked the door behind him.

In that moment of panic, I knew no one could save me.

We lived on the ninth floor. Jumping out the window would be certain death.

I quickly messaged my parents, telling them that Rob had locked me inside.

If I died, I wanted to make sure the police knew I was trapped.

I was convinced Rob was after the insurance money.

Six months ago, he had taken out a life insurance policy on me worth over a million dollars.

He was the beneficiary.

He had even assured me back then, "If anything happens to you, I'll take care of your parents."

Now it all made sense why he wanted me dead.

My parents called, saying they couldn't reach Rob. They told me to hide under a table while they rushed over.

I was more worried about their safety and begged them to stay outside in a safe area, but they refused.

Their apartment was only a twenty-minute walk from mine.

When I bought this place, they insisted I stay close by, even paying for the apartment in full in the neighboring complex.

The once-quiet city was now filled with chaos and bright lights.

I started to wonder why I had married someone like Rob.

Rob was the youngest in his family, with three older sisters. They all lived in a cramped 50-square-meter apartment.

His sisters had dropped out of school to work and support him through college.

My parents said that marrying him would bring me nothing but misery.

I didn't believe them, because once, in the middle of a stormy night, Rob had gone out to find my lost dog.

I thought, "Anyone who loves animals this much has to be a good person."

It wasn't until later that I found out Rob had orchestrated the whole thing.

The tremors slowly subsided.

The building didn't collapse like I had feared.

Rob texted me, asking how I was.

After considering for a moment, I replied, [The earthquake seems to have stopped. I'm okay.]

He texted back, [If it had been a bigger quake, I'd be cashing in on that insurance money.]

[Why would you say that?] I asked.

[I locked her in the apartment. She couldn't get out. She'd be as good as dead.]

I knew he was referring to me.

To gather more evidence, I asked, [You locked your wife, Angie Wiley, inside?]

He confirmed, [Yeah. Her parents tried calling, but I didn't pick up. A big earthquake right now would be perfect.]

Without hesitation, I took a screenshot of the conversation.

Before bed, I had noticed a strange username on Rob's phone.

He had deleted their chat history, but the profile picture was of a young woman.

I checked her social media and found that Rob had liked every single one of her selfies.

A woman's intuition was rarely wrong.

Just then, she messaged him, suggesting that staging a car accident to kill me would be less suspicious.

It was clear they'd spent a lot of time discussing how to kill me for the insurance money.

I played along, saying goodnight to her and then blocking her.

I changed my username to match hers and swapped in the same profile picture.

To cover my tracks, I also deleted the photos Rob had taken of me during our afternoon tea.

Thinking back, those beautifully arranged desserts were probably from the other girl's account.

Just as I returned his phone to its place, Rob came out of the bathroom, drying his hair.

He glanced at his phone, saw no new messages, and then put it down to come and hug me. "Babe, it's our second anniversary tomorrow. Where do you want to celebrate?"

I remembered how many times he had called that girl "Babe" and felt a wave of nausea.

But I kept my composure and gently pushed him away.

"How about that trendy dessert shop in Caford? I've been seeing it everywhere online, and I really want to try it," I replied.

Rob froze for a moment but quickly recovered. "Isn't that place a bit too low-end?"

I knew why he didn't want to go because he had plans to meet his lover there the next day.

I smiled, "Not at all. Eating desserts with you makes me happy."

Rob quickly adjusted his mood and nodded. "Alright, whatever you want."

As he turned away from me, his phone screen lit up, and I saw the message he sent.

[Let's reschedule our meeting. It's not convenient for me tomorrow.]

I immediately replied, [Okay.]

Satisfied, Rob smiled and then turned back to ask what gift I wanted.

I never would've guessed that my second-anniversary present would be getting locked inside during an earthquake by my husband.