Tears fell in the silence of the afterlife, unseen and unheard.
Bonnie had guided Brandon to a nearby bench, sitting him down with a tenderness that made my stomach churn. To any passerby, they didn't look like people at a crime scene. They looked like college sweethearts revisiting their old campus, lost in their own world.
They chatted casually, ignoring the bloated, battered reality lying just yards away.
They were ignoring me.
Brandon spoke first, his voice laced with practiced vulnerability. "Bonnie, I can't take it anymore. I can't accept my child calling another man 'Dad.'"
He leaned in, eyes soft and pleading. "You've seen it yourself—Mandy has always been closer to me. I know I can be a good father to her. Bonnie... leave Justin. Be with me."
He grabbed her hand, his grip urgent.
Bonnie sat in silence for a long moment, her expression conflicted. It was a look I knew well—the burden of a woman trying to balance the world on her shoulders.
"Brandon, you don't understand," she finally said, voice strained. "My relationship with Justin... it's complicated."
"I know the person I love is you. My heart has always been yours. But I can't just divorce him." She looked away, staring at the ground. "Justin... he did me a favor. I owe him."
The shifting sunlight cast shadows across her face, but I didn't need to see her eyes to hear the grievance in her tone.
For years, I had been deceiving myself.
I thought that if I loved her enough, if I sacrificed enough, she would eventually forget Brandon. I thought I could love her into staying.
But the truth was brutal: no one can compete with a ghost from the past. I was just the lucky fool who occupied the title of "husband."
She was grateful to me for giving her a home when she was down, yes. But she also hated me. Hated that my existence prevented her from being with her true love. She needed my stability, so she couldn't divorce me—and she twisted her guilt toward Brandon into resentment toward me.
I thought of Mandy's cold, distant eyes.
I thought of Bonnie's perpetual exhaustion whenever she looked at me.
Suddenly, the tragedy of my life crashed down on me.
I had sacrificed everything for a home that was never mine. I had given my life for a woman who didn't love me.
The wind picked up, scattering dead leaves across the bleak pavement.
Bonnie's voice turned soft, almost desolate. She squeezed Brandon's hand, making a gentle promise that felt like a knife in my chest.
"Don't worry. I won't let you or the baby suffer."
"A car, a house... aside from the marriage certificate, I can give you everything you want," she vowed. "Brandon, you have to believe me. You are the only man I will ever love."
Brandon smiled. Warm on the surface, but I saw the malice lurking in the corners of his mouth.
"Aren't you afraid Justin will find out about Mandy?" he asked, dripping with false concern.
Bonnie froze for a split second, then gently shook her head.
"You don't know him."
"Justin is obsessed with me. He can't live without me," she said with terrifying confidence. "Even if he learns the truth, he won't have the heart to blame me."
She took a breath, outlining her master plan. "I've already thought it through. It's his birthday next month. I'll bring Mandy back home then."
"With his daughter back by his side, he'll be so happy he won't have the energy to care about us," she reasoned. "He'll be distracted. And then, I can properly be with you..."
Maybe there was a shred of guilt left in her heart. Or maybe she was just calculating the path of least resistance.
Bonnie had finally remembered me. She had finally remembered my birthday.
But it was too late.
Everything was too late.
Bonnie, I thought, staring at her from the void. I can't wait for you to come back. And I certainly can't wait for your confession.
At that exact moment, the call connected.
A ringtone—one that hadn't been heard in days—pierced the air.
It didn't come from a pocket or a bag. It came from the ruined corpse lying in the mud.
