The whole place felt like it was going to come back at any moment, and that was unbearable.
I lay down, closed my eyes, and watched him hit the ground again.
And again, and again.
I got up before dawn, packed a backpack, and left.
I had no plans. I only knew I couldn't stay in that house for another hour. I went to the station and bought a bus ticket to a place I'd never been, because distance seemed to be the only thing I could still control.
I got up before dawn, packed a backpack, and left.
When the bus started moving, I rested my head against the window and watched the city fade into the gray morning. For the first time all week, I could breathe without feeling like I was swallowing glass.
At the next stop, the doors opened. People got on.
One of them slid into the empty seat next to me, and I caught a whiff of something I knew so well it made my stomach churn.
Karl's cologne.
I turned my head.
I smelled something I knew so well that it made my stomach churn.
It was Karl.
Not someone who looked like him, not a trick of pain, but Karl. Alive, pale, tired, but very real.
Before I could scream, he leaned towards me and said, “Don’t scream. You need to know the whole truth.”
My voice came out weak and raspy. “You died at our wedding.”
“I had to do it. I did it for us.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I buried you.”
“You died at our wedding.”
A couple across the hall glanced over.
Karl lowered his voice. “Please. Listen. My parents disinherited me years ago because I refused to join the family business. I wanted my own life. They said I was throwing away everything they had built.”
I stared at him. “When they found out I was getting married, they offered me the chance to 'make amends'.”
“What offer?”
“They said… they said they would give me back access to the family money if I came back. If I came back to the fold with my wife.”
“My parents disinherited me years ago because I refused to join the family business.”
I blinked. “What does this have to do with you faking your death at our wedding?”
He looked around the bus and then back at me. “I agreed.”
"That?".
“They transferred the money to me a few days before the wedding. A lot of money. Enough so that we wouldn't have to worry again. I transferred it right away.”
I stared at him. “So what now? Have you come back from the grave to tell me we’re rich?”
“I agreed.”
“I’ve come back to find you. So we can disappear.”
“Why would we disappear?”
“You don’t understand.” She let out a harsh sigh. “I lied to you. I never intended to go back to my parents, to let them control our lives.”
I slumped in my seat. “Is that why you faked your death? To rob your parents?”
“It’s freedom,” he said, leaning closer to me. “Don’t you see? If I had kept my promise, they would have controlled everything. Our lives, our future, our children. This way, we have the money and none of the ties.”
"Is that why you faked your death? To rob your parents?"
I covered my mouth with one hand.
Karl continued, almost anxious now. “We can go anywhere in the world and start over. I’ll give you the life you deserve.”
I looked at his face and saw no real shame or guilt.
Karl didn't understand what he had put me through.
“You let me plan your funeral,” I told him.
She shuddered. “I know it was hard.”
“I will give you the life you deserve.”
“Difficult?” I raised my voice. “I saw them taking you out while I was still wearing my wedding dress.”
A man two rows up turned completely around to look at us.
Karl lowered his voice. “I said I was sorry. I knew you’d understand when I explained it. I did this for us… You can see that, right?”
That hit harder than anything else.
“No. You did it for the money, Karl.”
“I did it for us… You realize that, right?”
“That’s not fair.” He leaned closer, irritated now. “You have no idea what kind of opportunity this is. I didn’t want to burden you with the decision, love.”
“Get rid of me? No… You didn’t want me to say no.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking at him then, seeing how he struggled to understand why I wasn't taking the opportunity to run away with him, made me realize what I had to do next.
“That’s not fair.”
I reached into my bag, found my phone by touch, and turned on the screen. I didn't take it out. I simply left the bag open on my lap with the microphone facing up.
“How did you do?” I asked. “Everything. The paramedics, the doctor…”
He hesitated. Finally, he murmured, “Daniel helped. The paramedics were actors. They thought it was for some kind of filmed event. And the doctor owed me a favor.”
By then, the people around us were openly listening to us.
“Daniel helped. The paramedics were actors.”
An elderly woman across the aisle leaned forward. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to intrude, but did this man fake his own death at his wedding?”
Karl's face darkened. "This is private."
“It stopped being private when you started confessing on public transport,” she said.
A younger boy behind us grimaced. “Okay, but his parents seem crazy.”
The woman retorted: “And so does he.”
“This is private.”
A middle-aged man, near the rear, said: “Ma’am, you’re trying to run away from a rich, controlling family. That’s nothing.”
Now the whole bus seemed charged, as if a spark was about to make it explode.
Karl looked at me, desperate and furious at the same time. “Ignore them. Listen to me. It’s done. There’s no going back, but we can still have a good life.”
For more information, continue to the next page
read more in next page
