I Died The Day My Husband’s Girlfriend Did A Magic Trick. Chapter 04
The person standing outside wasn’t me.
It was my mother.
She was carrying a thermos of freshly stewed chicken soup, her face etched with confusion.
“Caius, what are you talking about?”
“Where is Meredith? I brought her some soup.”
“I’ve been calling her, but she hasn’t picked up. Where did she go?”
With that, she walked into the living room.
Caius stood frozen in the doorway, his voice stiff.
“She didn’t go to your place?”
My mother’s face changed instantly. She set the thermos on the table.
“No. I haven’t been able to reach her for days. I came to see what was wrong.”
“She didn’t come home?”
Before Caius could answer, footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Josephine came down wearing Caius’s white shirt, her hair messy, as if she’d just woken up.
The first thing she said was, “Caius, what’s for breakfast?”
Only after she spoke did she see my mother. She immediately lifted a hand to cover her mouth in a parody of shock.
My mother stared at her, her expression turning to ice.
“Caius, who is she?”
“Why is she wearing your clothes and coming out of your and Meredith’s bedroom?”
“Have you been cheating on my daughter?”
Before Caius could speak, Leo ran down from upstairs and shoved my mother hard.
“Josephine isn’t a bad person!”
“Grandma is bad, and Mom is bad, too! I hate you!”
My mother stumbled back a step.
She looked at Leo, then at Caius, trembling with anger.
“Caius, is this how you raise your child?”
“Meredith stays home taking care of you, and you bring another woman into this house and let your son speak to his grandmother this way?”
Caius frowned, his voice laced with displeasure.
“You came in here yelling. Josephine only stayed to keep Leo company. What exactly are you trying to do?”
Josephine’s eyes reddened as she moved to stand beside Caius.
“Mrs. Hawthorne, I know you’re her mother, but you can’t just come in and say things like that about me.”
“I suppose Meredith sent you, didn’t she?”
“Yesterday, at the performance, she pretended to be dead and deliberately ruined my act.”
“Now she refuses to apologize, so she sent you to fight her battles for her. Is that it?”
As soon as she said that, Caius seemed to find his footing.
The unease on his face vanished, replaced by anger.
“I knew it.”
“Meredith actually dragged you into her little drama. She’s a terrible influence on Leo.”
My mother froze. The anger in her eyes turned to sheer terror.
“What did you say?”
She grabbed Caius’s arm.
“What do you mean, pretended to be dead? What act?”
“Where is Meredith? What did you do to her?”
Caius shook her hand off.
“Stop pretending. Meredith must have put you up to this.”
The moment he finished speaking, my mother suddenly clutched her chest and began gasping for breath.
Panic seized me.
I knew she had a heart condition.
“No, Mom is having an attack!”
I rushed over to help her, but my hands still passed right through her.
Josephine stood nearby, her voice soft but cold.
“Isn’t this trick a little old? It was bad enough when Meredith tried it. Are you really copying her?”
Caius watched my mother’s growing distress without a trace of concern.
“Stop pretending. Meredith taught you this, too, didn’t she?”
Leo stood to the side, unmoving.
“Grandma, stop acting. No one’s going to believe you.”
I screamed at them.
“Caius, find her medicine!”
“Leo, call 911! Hurry!”
But they couldn’t hear me.
I could only watch helplessly as my mother braced herself against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.
Just then, the doorbell rang again.
Caius walked over impatiently and swung the door open.
Two police officers stood on the porch.
“Are you Mr. Caius Walker?”
“We need you to come with us to assist in a homicide investigation.”