My Husband Planned A Romantic Anniversary Trip To The Blue Mountains. Then I Overheard Him At 3:10 Am Planning My “accidental” Death. How Do I Survive This Drive?

The Man Who Was Declared Dead

On the way back, Liam did not stop making calls. He called my mother-in-law, but no one answered. He called my father-in-law, but the phone was off. He called his personal driver, but the number was unavailable. He even called the other woman, but only heard the message that the phone was off or out of coverage.

Each unanswered call was like a dagger deepening the anxiety in his eyes. I remained silent beside him, my mind in a turmoil. A series of questions assailed me: who had killed Liam on paper? Where did this crashed car come from? Who was the dead person?

And most importantly, if Liam had been declared dead, was his plan to kill me in the mountains still on, or was I now also part of a much larger trap?

As we approached the hospital, the traffic of people and ambulances was much denser. From a distance, I saw the figure of Eleanor sitting on a plastic chair in front of the emergency entrance, her hair disheveled, her hands on her head. Beside her, Arthur, with a pale face and slumped shoulders as if carrying a heavy burden.

Liam stopped short, opened the door, and ran out of the car.

“Dad! Mom!” he shouted.

Eleanor suddenly looked up. The moment she saw Liam standing in front of her, she froze as if struck by lightning. Her eyes widened, her lips trembled.

“Liam, my God!” she said.

She staggered to her feet and ran to embrace her son, crying and hitting his back.

“Are you really alive? Then who? Who is in there?” she asked.

Arthur also approached, his usually stern eyes now red. He put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, his voice low.

“If you are here, it means the one in there is not you,” he said.

Liam nodded, his face tense.

“Nothing happened to me, Dad. But it’s clear someone used my car to cause an accident,” he said.

I stayed a little further back, watching the parents embrace their son in tears. I felt no warmth, only a coldness that intensified. I understood that at that moment, for them, Liam’s life was everything. I was still a stranger, an outsider daughter-in-law.

The attending doctor from before came out, looked at Liam, and then at his report with an astonished expression.

“Are you Liam?” the doctor asked.

Liam nodded. The doctor let out a long sigh.

“Then the person in the ER is not you. But all the car’s documentation, the driver’s license—everything is in your name. It’s possible they are fake documents or that someone deliberately set the scene,” the doctor said.

Eleanor collapsed again, her voice broken.

“Then, then does someone want to harm my son?” she asked.

The doctor did not answer directly, only saying that the matter required police intervention. Hearing the word “police,” I saw Liam flinch slightly. A shadow of unease crossed his gaze, but he quickly regained his composure. However, I had seen it. I understood that if there was a thorough investigation, not only would the fake accident come to light, but sooner or later, someone would discover his plan in the mountains.

The police did not take long to arrive. They cordoned off the area of the burned car, took pictures, and collected statements. They invited Liam into a private room for questioning. Before he went, he turned and looked at me. His gaze was no longer the kind one from the morning, nor the bewildered one from when he received the news. In his eyes, I saw a cold calculation beginning to re-emerge.

Suddenly, I understood: for him, this game of life and death had just begun. While Liam was giving his statement to the police, I stayed with his parents in the hallway. Eleanor still had not fully recovered and was gripping my hand tightly, her voice choked.

“Dear, you saw everything. We almost, we almost lost my son,” she said.

I looked at her trembling hand, feeling a deep irony. Last night, the same son she now held had planned every step to lead me to my death. But I said nothing, only replied softly.

“Yes, Mom. Everything will be cleared up,” I said.

At the end of the hallway, the emergency room door opened and a gurney covered with a white sheet was wheeled out. Under that sheet was the person who had died in Liam’s place. I followed the gurney with my eyes, feeling a paralyzing cold. Who was that person? Why did they have to die like that?

And was their death directly related to the woman on the phone? At that moment, I had a certainty: since Liam was declared dead, the fate of all of us had taken a different turn. And that trip to the mountains left halfway had not only not ended, but would trigger a series of much more terrible events.

I looked at the door of the room where Liam was with the police and thought to myself,

“You wanted me to die in a ravine, but now you are the one at a crossroads of life and death,” I thought.

Liam was in the room with the police for almost an hour before he came out. When the door opened, I looked up and met his gaze. The initial confusion had vanished, replaced by a forced calm—that of someone trying to regain control. My father-in-law jumped to his feet.

“What happened, son? What did the police say?” he asked.

Liam shook his head, his voice steady.

“They just took the initial statement, Dad. The car is in my name, the documents too, so they need to verify everything very carefully. They haven’t reached any conclusions yet,” he said.

My mother-in-law gripped his hand tightly.

“So who is the dead person, son?” she asked.

Liam lowered his head in silence for a few seconds before answering.

“We don’t know, Mom. The body is almost unrecognizable from the fire. We have to wait for the DNA test,” he said.

Hearing that, I saw Eleanor collapse into her chair, her face as pale as if all the blood had been drained from it. I went over to support her. The moment my hand touched hers, I felt a strange compassion—compassion for a mother on the verge of losing her son, without knowing that same son had planned to take her daughter-in-law’s life.

The police suggested that Liam not leave the city temporarily to cooperate with the investigation. The trip to the mountains was officially cancelled. Liam drove back home. The car was slower than on the way there, and the atmosphere inside was heavy. No one said a word.

When we arrived, the spacious house felt strangely cold. As soon as the door closed, my mother-in-law sank onto the sofa, pressing a hand to her forehead and murmuring,

“Oh my god, what is happening? What is all this?” she asked.

My father-in-law, leaning on the back of the sofa, told Liam in a grave voice,

“Go upstairs and rest, son. Your mother is very upset. We’ll talk about whatever it is tomorrow,” he said.

Liam nodded and turned to me.

“Emily, you go up and rest too. You must be exhausted,” he said.