The Wife I Buried Was Still Alive

My wife, an airline captain, was eight months pregnant when her plane crashed.

In the middle of the disaster, she carried out an emergency landing.

I searched through the wreckage for any sign of my wife, Candice Jenkins, only to be told that not even her remains could be found.

Other than me, the only survivors were my wife’s younger sister and her brother-in-law, Austin Ryles.

I searched frantically for my wife’s whereabouts, but five months later, I accidentally overheard my sister-in-law arguing with a friend while drunk.

"Austin suddenly lost his wife, and his arm was injured in the crash. How could I just leave him alone?

"Back then, Jon Cole’s mother drugged me and forced me to marry him. After all these years, it’s impossible for me not to feel some resentment. I might as well use this chance to make up for my regrets. Once Austin’s arm recovers, everything can go back to normal."

Only then did I realize that the 'sister-in-law' standing before me was actually my missing wife, Candice Jenkins.

My heart turned cold. I threw her memorial portrait into the trash and called my parents.

"Stop looking for Candice. Just erase her records.

"I’m remarrying."

"Even if Candice Jenkins is really dead, there should at least be a body. There's nothing at all. Are you really going to stop looking for her?"

I clenched my phone so tightly my fingers hurt, but for a long time, I said nothing.

At the same time, angry voices drifted out from the private room behind the door.

"Faking your own death is one thing, but you could've at least left your sister's body behind. At least then Jon Cole would've given up."

"He's practically gone insane searching for her everywhere. It's honestly pitiful to watch."

Candice lounged lazily against the sofa, her expression unreadable.

"I was afraid Austin Ryles would be too upset, so I had my sister's body cremated right away. If Jon wants to keep searching, let him."

"After what his family did to force me into submission back then, this is the least they deserve. Think of it as payback."

Bitterness flashed through her eyes.

She had never forgiven my mother for drugging her in a moment of desperation, unable to bear watching me suffer through my hopeless one-sided love. That single impulsive act had trapped Candice beside me for five whole years.

Who would have thought that the wife who had always seemed so gentle and caring toward me had secretly hated me this deeply all along?

After a bitter laugh at myself, tears finally spilled from my eyes, cold against my skin.

On the day of the plane crash, all of Candice's coworkers from the airline came to comfort me. They told me to accept reality and move on.

But everything had happened too suddenly. I could not accept it.

I knelt outside the airline company for three days and three nights, begging for an explanation.

Why was there no trace of