I Personally Cremated My Husband Chapter 02
I turned back to Lawrence. “Sir, I have one last request. According to protocol, a deceased soldier’s remains can be released to the family. Since he’s been declared brain dead, I want to take Galen home today.”
Lawrence agreed without hesitation and assigned a detail to help me. I took one last look at the handsome face resting on the hospital bed, keeping my own expression completely blank.
I scoffed inwardly, “So, you wanted to fake your own death? Fine. I’ll give you a full military funeral and bury you and your little scheme in the official record for good.”
My payback was only just getting started.
Just as I figured, my in-laws had gotten a heads-up from Rosalia. By the time I pulled up to the house, the shouting and crying were already in full swing.
My mother-in-law, Petra Hickson, slapped her thighs and wailed. “My son! My poor son! Open your eyes! Your cold-hearted wife doesn’t want you to live! She’s trying to kill you!”
My father-in-law, Marco Hickson, pointed a trembling finger right in my face. “Why is my son being punished with such a vicious wife? The doctor said they could keep his body going, but you had to take him off life support! This is murder! You killed my son!”
In my past life, these kinds of unhinged accusations would have destroyed me. Now, I felt absolutely calm.
I pulled out the hospital’s official death certificate, raising my voice to cut through the noise. “Petra, Marco. This is the death certificate. It’s right here in black and white.
“You keep calling me cruel, but I have to ask—does loving Galen really mean keeping his body hooked up to machines, forcing him to lie there in some unnatural, vegetative state?”
I pointed straight at the framed photo on the wall of Galen in his uniform. “Your son was a soldier. He was an exceptionally brave man. He shouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed as a vegetable, tearing you apart and burdening the military.
“The way you’re acting right now disrespects his sacrifice and insults his dignity as a soldier!”
Having the moral high ground instantly shut Petra and Marco up.
Petra’s lips trembled before she snapped. “Fine! Even if you’re right, we still can’t just cremate him! I’m taking my son home and putting him in a refrigerated casket. What if there’s a miracle? Maybe one day medical science will be advanced enough to save him!”
“Exactly,” Marco chimed in. “We need to preserve him. We can’t just give up on our son like this!”
I almost laughed out loud. Preserve the body? It was nothing but a stalling tactic orchestrated by Rosalia and Galen to buy themselves time.
In my second life, I’d put in for a job transfer just to dodge Galen’s attempt on my life. I never expected him to simply run me down with his car and kill me anyway.
Right before I died, he’d bragged about his entire plan. His accomplice, Rosalia, wasn’t the only one in on it—his parents, Petra and Marco, were involved too.
Their frantic outbursts right now were just a ploy to buy time for Galen to wake from his coma. Once he did, I’d be staring down a third carefully orchestrated murder disguised as a tragic accident.
I couldn’t afford to drag this out.
I took a deep breath, keeping my voice perfectly level. “Petra, Marco, there’s no need to argue about this anymore. Galen has to be cremated immediately.”
Their faces darkened, and they geared up to scream at me again. Moving slowly, I pulled a handwritten letter from my purse. It was the suicide note Galen had written after briefly waking up in the hospital—a prop crafted purely to convince the world he was a fiercely devoted husband.
Faking a choked-back sob, I read it aloud. “If life ultimately becomes a burden, I would rather end it with dignity than become a hindrance to the people I love. Please let me go quietly and respectfully.”
I tucked the letter away and looked at them. The color had totally drained from their faces.
“This is Galen’s dying wish,” I said. “Cremating him immediately and letting him pass with dignity is the only real way to honor him. Are you fighting this just to satisfy your own reluctance to let go, or do you genuinely not care what Galen wanted?”
Petra and Marco opened their mouths, but nothing came out.
What could they say? Could they really deny their own son’s final request?
Seeing the sheer panic in their eyes, I felt a flash of cold amusement. “Galen,” I thought, “every word you wrote to build up your image as a loving husband has just become the exact reason you’re going to die.”
There was no escaping the crematorium now.
Powerless to stop me, they had no choice but to sign off on the funeral arrangements.
Eyes red and puffy, Petra insisted on following their hometown tradition of a three-day vigil at the funeral home. She obviously just wanted to stall. I knew exactly what she was up to, but I played along and agreed.
Late that night, the viewing room at the funeral home was somber and dead quiet, the soft lighting casting a pale glow over the casket. Petra and Marco pretended to keep me company. Petra even held my hand, wiping away crocodile tears. “Delia, you’re still so young,” she murmured. “Once we’ve laid Galen to rest, you should find a good man and remarry. Marco and I will support you.”
Watching her squeeze out those fake tears, a wave of absolute disgust washed over me.
In my first life, when I was pushed down the stairs and killed, they were the first ones to step forward. They wept and told everyone I’d accidentally tripped because I was so disoriented and overwhelmed by grief.
And now, they were actually advising me to remarry?
“I’m not feeling well,” I said. “I’m going to go rest for a minute.” I pulled my hand out of Petra’s, entirely done faking warmth with such a toxic woman.
I turned and walked out of the hall, but I didn’t go far. I just slipped into the shadows right outside the doorway.
Exactly as I expected, the second I was gone, Petra leaned in close to the casket and dropped her voice. “Galen, wake up,” she whispered. “Wake up soon. As soon as you’re awake, we’ll find a chance to kill that woman. Her inheritance and her father’s money will be all ours!”
“She’s right. Wake up soon, we can’t wait much longer,” Marco agreed, his voice tight with anxiety.
Standing out in the dark hallway, I dug my fingernails so deeply into my palms that the sharp pain kept me laser-focused.
I thought to myself, “You want me dead, and you want my inheritance?
“Fine. I’ll just kill your precious son right now.”