Love Made Its Case

My wife's first love broke into our home and killed me.

Yet my wife, one of the world's top defense attorneys, stood in court to secure his acquittal. She insisted that the entire incident was nothing more than an act I had staged myself—a desperate attempt to win her attention.

She even appeared at my funeral. Pointing at my coffin with open disgust, she sneered, "You'd stoop this low just to get my sympathy? Stop pretending and come out right now to apologize to Marvin."

I felt super uncomfortable, like my whole body was itchy and twitchy, and my soul was just floating in the air.

Our house, which used to be so cozy and nice, was left in shambles after the robbery. The housekeeper had tried to clean up, but it just was not the same anymore.

Soon, I heard keys jingling and the door opening. It was my wife, Evelyn Charlton.

I wanted to run over and say hi. However, I quickly remembered I could not. Evelyn was helping a man walk in. It was Marvin Douglas, someone she used to really like.

Marvin had a big cast on his hand, and Evelyn was carrying a bunch of bags. They must have gone shopping together.

Evelyn got Marvin settled and then went to the kitchen, where she rolled up her sleeves and put on an apron. She had told the housekeeper to take the day off because she wanted to make dinner for Marvin herself.

I never got that kind of special treatment from her, not in all the years we were married.

To me, Evelyn was like a superstar. She did great at her job, and I was happy to help her out any way I could. However, no matter what I did, it did not seem to make her love me more.

Evelyn always said she was too busy to go shopping with me or cook for me. It was like I was just wasting her time.

This was the first time I saw her being so caring and wifely.

Watching her busy herself in the kitchen made me feel really small.

"Are you really not going to check on Colton?" Marvin asked quietly, leaning on the kitchen door.

When Evelyn heard my name, she chopped the vegetables even harder. "Why should I go see him? If Colton hadn't tricked you into coming over, you wouldn't be hurt," she said.

"A few days back, his mom and dad told me Colton was gone. Who'd believe them? They're known for telling tales!"

None of that was true, so why did Evelyn make me out to be the bad guy?

I tried to get her attention by waving my arms right in front of her, hoping she would see I was innocent.

However, the truth is, I was gone.

Evelyn hardly noticed me when I was alive. Now that I was gone, there was no chance she would see me.

Marvin got the answer he wanted and looked pretty pleased with himself. "Colton did it for you. He wanted me to come over, to talk things out. I just never thought he'd get so jealous of us that he'd actually try to hurt me..."

As he spoke, Marvin seemed to get lost in dark thoughts, and he even started to shake a little.

Evelyn saw that and felt so bad for him. She stopped what she was doing and gave him a gentle hug, but her eyes were fierce. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Colton pays for this! He'll get what's coming for him, legally speaking!"

However, in my heart, I knew Marvin was the one who did it.

Seven years of marriage, and this was how it ended. This was the woman I had loved for all those years.

She was one of the best lawyers around, someone who should care a lot about evidence. However, she believed Marvin's few words over anything else.

I guess I should have seen it coming. To Evelyn, choosing between me and Marvin was like picking an answer on a test. Marvin was always her first choice.