I know she worries about me, and it comes from a good place. She’s a good woman. I’ve not met many like her before. I smile as she says goodbye and leaves me. All alone. In the house that held a corpse.
In the house where I’ll bury all my secrets and turn them to dust.
Part IV
The Scheme
24.
Accompanying Song: “What Have We Done To Each Other” by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Hyun
One week later
“Well, Miss Warr—I mean Song,” the notary says, almost choking on his words. “I’m glad to tell you that at least one positive thing came out of everything you’ve been through.” He grabs a few pieces of paper lying on the stack on his desk and holds them out to me. “It’s all yours.”
“What …?” I mutter, leaning over the papers, pretending I can’t believe my eyes.
“I’m happy to report that it is. Since Mr. Warren never signed the divorce papers, you were never actually divorced. Thus, you are now the rightful owner of his estate as well as his bank accounts.”
I lick my lips as I go over the words on the paper, again and again, my eyes lingering on my name written in bold under the official notification from the bank that says I am now the owner.
“Like I said … it’s all yours.”
“Mine. No one will take it away from me?” I ask him, looking him straight in the eyes.
“Well, a few expenses still need to be deducted, namely the costs of his funeral and—”
“Funeral?” I cringe.
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to …”
“I understand if you would not wish to attend, but we still need to bury him,” he explains. “As well as your parents, of course.”
“Oh … I see.”
He clears his throat. “I apologize, that was a little insensitive of me.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s okay.”
He gently smiles. “I will make arrangements to let the funeral commence without your presence.”
“Thank you,” I say. “I want nothing to do with it.”
He nods. “About the expenses … legal fees will also be deducted.”
“I understand,” I interrupt. “But after that …?”
He nods with a smile on his face. “All yours.”
I try not to laugh.
I honestly do.
But I still can’t stop the wicked grin from spreading on my lips.
***
Accompanying Song: “What Have We Done To Each Other” by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
A few days later
It’s raining cats and dogs as I stand above my parents’ grave, watching their caskets get covered with dirt. I don’t know what to feel. I just stand there, empty, staring at the soil.
When all is said and done, I place a final flower on top of the mound and nod as people ask me if I’m okay. We go into the building to drink coffee and eat cookies, which is, of course, the normal thing to do after you saw two dead bodies being lowered into the ground.
You eat cookies.
Even if you’re sick to your stomach, you must eat the damn cookies.
And it gives others the time to tell you how sorry they are for you like that’s useful in any way.
As I sit on a not-so-relaxing chair, eating that damn cookie, Annushka approaches me. I knew she was here, I saw her from the corner of my eye as my parents were buried, but I didn’t give it much thought as to why she was here.
“Hey,” she says, licking her lips like she doesn’t know what to say. “I’m … sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” I say, taking a deep breath.
She places a hand on my shoulder but quickly pulls it away again after she probably realizes it’s really weird. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what Greg did to you.”
I frown as it feels like knots form in my stomach. “You talked about me to your husband. He knew everything about me because of you. Where I lived. Who I was seeing.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” She makes a face and bites her lip. “I don’t know what to do to make it up to you.”
I look down at the table and sigh. “You don’t have to do anything,” I say.
She sighs out loud. “I feel so bad. He just …”
I look up at her. “Forced you to do it?”
She nods slowly. “After he found out I helped you escape Greg’s home, he forced me to give him all the details of our conversations, or else he’d make my life more miserable. I didn’t want to but …”
I grab her hand and squeeze. “I know how it feels.” She doesn’t have to say it out loud. I know what being threatened feels like, and it makes you do things you don’t want to, just to protect yourself.
I smile gently, and her mood seems to improve.
Funny. We’re at my parents’ funeral, and I’m the one comforting others. It’s a little ironic.
“Thank you,” she says as she pulls her hand back. She turns her head and looks at her husband, who taps his feet and seems pissed that he even has to wait for her. “Well, I’m gonna go now.”
“Thanks for coming,” I say.
“Don’t mention it. If you ever need someone to talk to … now that Greg is gone,” she says, chuckling. “I’m here.”
I nod and smile as she turns around and leaves. “Good luck, Annushka.”
She only briefly glances over her shoulder after my comment.
Nothing else needs to be said. She knows exactly why I told her good luck. It’s not easy living with a man like that. I know.
I grab my coffee and chug it down in one go then get up to leave.
“Leaving already?” my aunt asks.
“No, I’m just going to take a breather outside,” I reply.
“Oh. Of course,” she says, smiling as I walk past her and go outside.
The pouring rain hits my skin hard, but I welcome the cold. It’s refreshing. After a day like this, it feels cleansing.
I step farther out and walk through the cemetery, admiring the melancholic beauty of the stones surrounding me. My hair turns to sticky webs against my skin, but the cold touch is exactly what I need to cool down.
However, when I see a dark figure disappear behind a tree after looking my way, I know my cool down is about to come to an abrupt stop.
***
Accompanying Song: “Burning Desire” by Lana Del Rey
Drake
The moment I see her, I know I’ve been caught.
Our eyes connect, and I immediately turn around and hide behind the tree.
My heart is pounding, and I lick my lips from just the anticipation that I’ll finally see her again.
I know curiosity prevents her from walking away.
She always has to know why I’m here.
Always needs to be just that little step closer.
I swiftly walk behind a different tree and watch her approach the one I was behind. Her clothes are soaked from the rain, making her look even more appetizing than normal. I’m unable to stop myself from pouncing on her.
Exactly when she doesn’t see me coming.
From behind, I stalk up to her and push her against the tree. With my hand, I block her mouth, while my other holds her down.
“Don’t scream,” I whisper in her ear, my tongue darting out to have a quick taste.
She softly shakes her head, but her eyes are wild.
“What are you doing here?” she murmurs through my hand.
“Watching you …” I say, looking into her eyes to see her reaction.
My lips can’t stop themselves from pressing a kiss onto her skin, though. Her head leans back onto my shoulder, almost as if she wants me to kiss her.
My hand grips her waist and snakes its way up her wet shirt, curling it up so I can grasp her tit and squeeze. She moans when I twist her nipple.
“You knew I was here …” I whisper. �
�Say it.”
“I knew it,” she says with a hampered breath through my hand.
“And still, you came closer,” I murmur, planting another kiss below her ear.
“I needed to know …”
My hand now dives downward, pushing its way through the fabric of her pants to reach into her panties. Everything is soaked—even her pussy—and I grunt with excitement.
“You needed to know if I was really here?” I toy with her clit, twirling my finger around it, playing with her emotions and her arousal. I love the sight of her face as she loses control in my arms, unable to stop it.
Trapped between my arms against a tree in the soaking rain, she has nowhere to go, and I have dirty plans involving her. But does she still want me after everything that happened?
I remove my hand from her mouth, hoping she won’t make a sound.
“I killed your parents,” I murmur into her ear, ripping away the button of her jeans and unzipping her.
“I know,” she replies, still moaning as I rip down her panties.
“Are you scared of me?” I growl, thrusting my fingers up her pussy.
No words. Nothing except soft moans and eyes that roll into the back of her head.
I know exactly how to play her.
How to make her do exactly what I want her to do.
“I’m a killer, Hyun,” I growl into her ear, pinning her harder against the tree. “And I want to fuck your brains out.”
I rip down my zipper and pull my dick out without even taking the trouble of pulling down my jeans. I’m so damn hard right now, and I need to be inside her.
So I grab her wrists, pin them together, and push my cock against her entrance.
“We’re in a cemetery,” she mutters.
“I don’t fucking care. My cock fucking wants you, and it’s going to claim you now.”
I push deep, burying myself in her wet pussy. And god, does it feel good.
Like an animal, I fuck her from behind. Hard. Fast. Beastly. With no remorse or regret.
And I fucking love how wet she is for me. How, after all this, I can still fuck her because she’s mine and mine alone.
Her skin is so damn wet from the rain; my tongue dips out to lick the drops off her skin. She moans softly, and I take it as a sign to start rubbing her again.
It feels so wrong, fucking in a cemetery, but it’s hot too, in a kinky way. I pound into her, pumping all my pent-up rage into her. I can’t control myself anymore, and I wouldn’t even want to at this point. All I want is to watch her come. And when she does … it’s magnificent. So beautiful is that look of pure desperation washing over her, rain still splattering onto her skin.
I feel her muscles around my dick, squeezing, making me wanna come.
So I pull out and push her back down, forcing her to bend over. That’s when I blow my load all over her naked pussy and ass. Groaning, I keep coming, all over her, squirting myself empty over her holes.
And it’s the best fucking feeling in the world.
Panting, I push my dick back into my pants and pull up her panties. I press a kiss on her back, whispering, “Don’t move.”
She listens, staying put against the tree like a beautiful flower leaning against it.
The water mixes with my juices in an ultimate mix of deliciousness. I swear that if I had my camera with me right now, I’d take a snapshot.
But for now, my memory will have to suffice.
I grab her hands and lift them, pulling them over her eyes. “Close your eyes and count to twenty.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
She starts counting, her voice soft but still audible. When I’m sure she can’t see me, I smile and turn around, disappearing from the premises.
I know she’ll probably hate me for leaving her there, but there’s not much else I can do except leave. It’s a cemetery, after all … not a place to be found alive. Or fucking.
All I can do is wait … wait until she makes the decision.
***
Hyun
Days later
I waited until the media and reporters in front of my house were gone before I ever went out. It was too risky to try to leave, knowing they could follow me. So I staked out in that hellhole for a few more days, watching them from behind the curtains. Waiting until each and every one of them had left before I grabbed my things and stuffed it all into a big suitcase.
Now, it’s finally time for my freedom. For the first time in my life, I can decide what I want to do without anyone telling me that it’s wrong or that I should feel guilty.
But the first thing on my list isn’t something I enjoy. Still, it must be done, for the sake of keeping up appearances.
With a fresh bouquet of flowers, I march along the pebble path, admiring the beautiful tombstones laid out on the terrain. I think about death and about how close I came. Too close.
In the distance stands a stone angel with a crown of flowers around her head, her fingertips touching each other as she rises up into the sky. I decide, there and then, that once it is my time … my grave will carry that tombstone.
I continue my stroll with my suitcase behind me, the small wheels making a lot of noise skidding on the path. Clutching the flowers close to my heart, I walk until I meet the name I was searching for.
Here lie Mr. and Mrs. Song. May they rest in peace.
I look down and take a deep breath, blowing out a sigh as I place the flowers on top of the mound. Mentally, I say my goodbyes and make a cross on my chest.
Then I spit on their graves.
Twice.
“I had sex at your funeral,” I growl.
I turn and walk away, determined never to return.
When I get to the cemetery gate with my suitcase still in my hand, a car drives up the lane, and the window rolls down. A familiar face greets me.
“Get in.”
I quickly run to the other side and jump in, shutting the door … before grabbing Drake’s face and kissing him harder than I ever have before.
“And here I thought you were mad at me,” he says between my kisses, grinning stupidly.
“Are you crazy?” I muse. “I was the one who asked you to meet me here.”
“No, but I was a little worried, seeing you walk up there with a bunch of flowers. I almost started wondering if you had regrets.”
“Pfft …” I raise a brow. “No way. I don’t miss them. In fact, I’m glad they’re gone. Along with that slimy asshole.” A lopsided smile spreads on my lips as I throw my suitcase in the backseat and add, “Besides … I was the one who asked you to kill them, remember?”
He nods, smiling back at me like he’s impressed at my willpower. “And now …?”
I bite my lip and stare at him with half-mast eyes, teasing him with a kiss right under his lips. “Now, we go to the bank, skip town, and roll around in all the cash we could ever need.”
25.
Accompanying Song: “What Have We Done To Each Other” by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Hyun
8 months before
In the corner of the coffee shop sits a man behind a laptop.
He isn’t just a random, ordinary man with dark hair, wearing a thin, black coat and a red scarf.
This man comes here every day of the week.
More specifically, I’ve been told he’s been coming here ever since I started working.
From the corner of my eye, I stare at him while making a chocolate latté, wondering why he’s always so busy typing … It’s like he never does anything else. Type and drink coffee for hours on end. And then he disappears.
At times, I catch him staring at me, but I can never keep my eyes on him. I’m too embarrassed, too shy to even remotely acknowledge the fact that he may be here because of me.
It’s never occurred to me that anyone would go to that length just to see me.
I’m an ordinary girl, doing an
ordinary job.
And that man … he is something else entirely.
On only two occasions did he come in with a book instead of a laptop. Both of them were about writing subjects and how to improve your plotting and writing style. I know because I squinted hard enough to see the title.
I’m that obsessed with finding out more about him.
I wonder what he writes. If it’s something I could read one day. If it’s something I’ve already read and never knew. If he’s someone I should know.
“Why don’t you go talk with him?” my coworker Jasmin asks.
“Shhh.” I shove her with my elbow. “Not so loud.”
“Afraid he’ll hear you’re just as interested in him?” She sticks out her tongue coyly when I give her a look.
“I’m working!” I hiss between my teeth, trying not to let anyone hear.
“With half a brain, yeah.” Jasmin grins and chuckles a little when she sees the blush on my face. “Oh, c’mon. We all know you’re swooning.”
“What? He’s just … good looking. That’s all.”
“No, you like the silent types.” She winks. “The emotional, gooey, shy types.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s not like that.”
“Yes, he is. He never dares to talk to you even though you’re both waiting for it. You don’t want to admit it, but you two would be a perfect date.”
“Fine.” I squint at her to try to make her stay quiet, and she finally gets the message because she shrugs.
“Well, if you never take the leap, you’ll never find out what he’s all about.”
She walks away and serves the other customers their coffee. Meanwhile, I’m stuck at the cappuccino device, thinking about what she said. She’s right. Fantasizing never got me anywhere. It’s time I took some action.
Dirty Wife Games Page 15
