Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

Abner had already made the call; his ride would be swinging by to pick him up shortly.

He had just finished a cigarette, a furrow creasing his brow. He didn't mind the cheap nicotine kick, but it always left a bitter

aftertaste in his mouth.

The sound of panicked voices drifted over to him, followed by the thudding footsteps of someone running in a frenzy.

"Queena, you gotta check this out, Phoebe just keeled over. She's in a bad way."

Pretending she was just hearing the news, Queena immediately dropped the axe she was holding.

Without giving Abner another glance, she bolted towards the commotion.

Abner kept his spot, puffing away. In his other hand, he fumbled with a match he'd nicked from the stove.

He sauntered toward the scene of the incident, only to find the cook who had given him the cigarette sobbing over a woman's

lifeless body.

The faces of the onlookers were grim; Queena had delivered the bleak news with a blunt, "She's a goner."

In just a short span, another life had slipped away—the gossipy Phoebe, of all people.

Murder wasn't a thought that crossed their minds; they simply couldn't fathom it. They chalked it up to a sudden, inexplicable

death.

sigh, urging

deceased woman. Her robust

type to just drop

was no doctor; he could only cast a suspicious glance towards Queena, who continued to

after their

Fabian, and now this family

people would be here soon and in three days'

betrayed him. None of this

gaze swept the area,

was the age to crave excitement, yet he was

his cane, Abner decided

there, he spotted Tobias,

was ghost-white, obviously scared out of

"Tobias?"

made Tobias drop to the

for Tobias to scramble back to

we heading back

onto his face; the boy's lips were bitten raw, a clear sign of

the dead

"No, no, I just..."

didn't know who to tell. In a moment of mischief, he'd hidden away and accidentally witnessed Queena

followed by Phoebe

expression had been so cold and detached, nothing like her

he had stayed hidden, not making

and thought Phoebe might have