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?

Liam’s face turned livid. His hands clenched so tightly that the veins stood out. I continued, my voice trembling but clear.

“The person who died in your place was Ryan, this gentleman’s nephew,” I said.

I told them everything I knew, from the message to meet at the coffee shop, the conversation with Ryan’s uncle, to the recording of the agreement between Liam and him. With every word, Liam’s face grew paler. Finally, he let out a bitter laugh.

“And you believe all that over your own husband?” he asked.

I looked at him for a long time. In that instant, the image of the man I once loved vanished like smoke.

“I trusted you until I heard you with my own ears, planning my death,” I said.

The room fell silent. An officer addressed Liam.

“Mr. Liam, with this evidence, you can no longer deny it. We ask you to cooperate,” the officer said.

Liam lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. When he looked up, there was no anger in his eyes, only the desperation of someone who is cornered. I stood up, my legs shaking.

“Liam, I didn’t want you to die, but I couldn’t die in your place as you had planned either,” I said.

He looked at me and in his eyes I saw a hint of something like regret, but it was too late. I left the room, my heart pounding. In the hallway, the midday light streamed through the window, so bright it was dazzling. I stood there for a long time, feeling as if I had just amputated a part of my life.

I did not know what fate awaited Liam behind that door. I only knew that the moment I placed that USB on the table, I had officially buried my marriage in exchange for the right to live. I left the police station as dusk was falling. The sunlight stretched over the trees, casting long shadows on the gray asphalt.

I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as if I had to learn how to breathe again after ending a part of my life. Behind that door, Liam was still giving his statement. The man who was my husband, my support, was now a suspect in his own plot. The phone vibrated in my pocket. A message from the unknown number.

“Thank you. My nephew will finally rest in peace,” it read.

I looked at the message for a long time and replied.

“I’m sorry it all came so late,” I wrote.

Fragments of a Shattered Memory

There was no further response. I took a taxi home. Throughout the journey, my mind was blank. Through the window, the familiar streets passed by like frames from my life. The route I took with Liam every morning to go to work. The small hill where I once sat on his motorcycle as newlyweds. The bakery where he bought me the first cake to celebrate my arrival in the family.

It all seemed so close, yet it already belonged to someone else. The door of the house opened. My mother-in-law was waiting for me in the living room. As soon as I entered, she jumped to her feet, her voice agitated.

“You’re back, dear! Why did you take so long? And Liam, where is he?” she asked.

I froze. I had thought about this moment all the way, but facing it, I felt my heart tighten.

“Liam is at the police station, Mom,” I said.

Eleanor paused for a moment, then gripped my hand tightly again.

“They took him this morning. Why hasn’t he come back?” she asked.

I lowered my head. I could not keep lying.

“Because, because the police have new evidence. Liam is in preventive custody for further investigation,” I said.

The words “preventive custody” were like a lightning bolt. My mother-in-law took a staggering step back and had to grab the sofa to keep from falling.

“What are you saying?” she asked.

My father-in-law came in from the garden and hearing the last words, stopped in his tracks.

“Preventive custody? What does that mean?” he asked.

The air in the room became unbreathable. I knew that whatever I said would be like a knife to this family, but the truth would eventually come out. Slowly, I told them everything, from hearing the call that night, the recording, Ryan’s death in Liam’s place, and the investigation for attempted murder. With each sentence, my father-in-law’s face darkened and my mother-in-law’s grew paler. When I finished, a deathly silence filled the room.

My father-in-law sank onto the sofa, his trembling hands clasped together. After a long time, he managed to say in a hoarse voice,

“So he wanted to kill you?” he asked.

I nodded, tears falling without me realizing.

“Yes. If it weren’t for Ryan’s death, the person on that gurney today could have been me,” I said.

My mother-in-law broke down crying inconsolably. She no longer beat her chest or called out to the heavens as she had at the hospital. She collapsed onto the table, crying like someone who had lost everything.

“My god! He’s insane! How could he do that to his own wife?” she asked.

My father-in-law looked up and met my eyes with an expression of pain and sorrow.