In the small, tight-knit neighborhood of Ironridge Township, a tragic fire erupted during the annual Memorial Day barbecue, claiming numerous lives.
My beloved husband, Claude Hart, was a fierce attorney known for never losing a case. In a controversial move to defend his first crush, Kate Goodwin, accused of arson in self-defense, Claude convicted three individuals posthumously, unaware one of them was me, carrying his unborn child.
When he discovered the harrowing truth, he wept at my gravesite, his mind shattered by grief.
In court, my spirit hovered, watching Claude fiercely defend Kate with the eloquence and determination that made him the most feared attorney in Crestview Metropolis.
With every slide of the laser pointer over the gruesome images of the charred bodies, his disdain was palpable.
Claude didn't smile at his beloved Kate until he won the case. "Kate's action is self-defense. The criminals had started the fire. So, I submit to the judge that Kate is not guilty of murder and arson. The criminals set the fire and cause their deaths. They had it coming!" His victory won applause.
"Well said, Mr. Hart! Thanks for protecting a woman's right to self-defense."
"It is a triumph of justice."
But my spirit mocked their ignorance. No one knew one of those bodies was mine, wrongly accused by my husband.
Kate and I had been hiking that fateful day, both kidnapped, but people acknowledged her plight only. Blurred memories of my death haunted me. The monsters drowned me in acid, and my body was reduced to nothing before somehow being counted among the victims of the fire.
Upon leaving the courtroom, Claude
received a call from his mother, Gabrielle Hart. "Claude, you've been so wrapped up in the case, and I didn't want to bother you, but Claire hasn't been home for days, and her phone is off."
I was an orphan, adopted by the Hart family after my parents, who were their loyal bodyguards, died protecting Claude.
Seeing my plight, Gabrielle showed me kindness unlike any other in the Hart family.
"Ignore her. She's grown too headstrong. She knows her way home. She was hiking with Kate. If anything, her silence put Kate in dangen It's high time she learned
her lesson," Claude coldly dismissed Gabrielle's concerns.Nôdaisynovel.com content rights.
His indifference stung. That was the man my parents died for, who promised to care for me forever. But when Kate returned, my place in his heart and home crumbled to nothing. Clinging to Claude, Kate played the victim. "Does Mrs. Hart dislike me that much? Despite being the real victim here?"
Claude reassured her, blaming me for not coming forward sooner, painting me as a selfish and ungrateful woman. Listening to their conversation, all I could do was laugh bitterly at the cruel twist of fate.
"Claude, do you even realize one of those you condemned today was me? How unfair you are to only worry about Kate, never once considering my fate," I cried, unseen and unheard.
As my tears fell unseen, Claude walked through me, his final words a testament to his true feelings. "We never should have taken her in. Too cunning by far."
At last, my spirit lingered, a painful reminder of the heartbreak and injustice borne out of love and sacrifice.