The Man I Married Died Five Years Ago

In that moment, Iris's expression was impossibly complex.

Surprise. Sympathy. And a flicker of something harder to name—excitement, almost.

She masked it quickly, but not quickly enough. I saw it all.

I didn't understand why she'd react that way, and the question left my lips before I could stop it.

"Do you know me?"

Iris didn't answer.

She lowered her head, stuffed the marriage certificate back into her bag, and grabbed the little boy's hand.

"Tommy, it's time to go."

The boy looked confused. "But Mommy, we haven't finished burning the paper for Grandma..."

"Next time," Iris said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

And just like that, she took the child and walked away without looking back.

Leaving me standing there alone.

From the way Iris had reacted, I was certain she knew who I was.

But why had hearing my name triggered that expression?

And Roy—how had he married me, legally, with a certificate, and then gone to another courthouse and done the same thing with someone else?

How had he fathered a four-year-old son when he'd had a permanent vasectomy?

How had he juggled two families for eleven years without a single crack in the facade?

How much had he been hiding from me?

What haunted me most was that last look on Iris's face.

What was she sympathizing with?

And what was she excited about?

Babe, come to The Grandview Hotel, private room 999. I need to talk to you.

The message from Roy arrived while my thoughts were still spiraling.

I stared at my phone for a beat, then typed back a quick Okay.

I drove there as fast as I could.

All I wanted was to look Roy in the eye and demand answers.

When I reached the private room, I pushed the door open.

Pop!

Confetti exploded in my face, and I flinched.

I looked up. The room was packed with people.

My parents. My friends. Roy's relatives.

The next second, Roy walked toward me carrying an enormous cake, candles flickering on top, his steps slow and deliberate.

"Happy birthday, babe!"

He smiled at me, his gaze soft, his voice dripping with affection.

The same look he'd worn for the past eleven years. As if I were the only woman in the world.

While I stood frozen, my mother came over and took my hand.

"Sweetheart, it's the twenty-eighth already—your birthday! Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Good thing Roy remembered. He's been planning this for a whole month."

My girlfriends chimed in. "Seriously, I'm so jealous. You married the perfect man."

"He called us a month in advance just to make sure we'd be here to celebrate with you."

"Look at all these flowers and balloons. He set up every single one himself."

Roy's relatives joined the chorus.

"Virginia, you really hit the jackpot. Men as faithful and devoted as Roy are rare these days."

"You'd better hold on tight to him."

Faithful and devoted.

Before I met Iris, I would have agreed without hesitation. I'd believed Roy was the best man alive.

But now, standing in this room full of streamers and smiling faces, all I felt was the sheer absurdity of it.

Especially from Roy's relatives.

They knew Iris.

They had seen that child.

Yet here they stood, looking me in the eye, praising Roy's devotion, telling me how lucky I was.

Watching their warm, earnest smiles, I couldn't tell anymore—were they incredible actors, or did they genuinely believe every word they were saying?

I looked at Roy. "You skipped visiting the cemetery today just so you could secretly plan a birthday party for me?"

Roy nodded. "Of course. What could possibly be more important than your birthday?"

He held out a wrapped box.

"Babe, I've been working on this gift for a long time."

"Go on, open it."

His eyes glimmered with anticipation.

Friends and family around the room chimed in with warm laughter:

"Open it! Roy put so much thought into this."

"Trust us, you're going to love it."

I looked at the box in front of me.

It was small, perfectly square, wrapped with care.

Every person in the room watched me, waiting to see my face light up with surprise and gratitude.

I took the box and slowly peeled back the wrapping.

When I saw what was inside, the air left my lungs.

Everything clicked into place.

So that's what this was.

That's what all of this was.

The realization hit me like a freight train, and I couldn't help it. I laughed.

The whole room laughed with me, assuming I was moved to tears.

But then I picked up the dinner knife from the table and drove it straight into Roy's chest.