My Husband Wants Me Dead novel (Esther and Bradley)

Bradley stared out at the distant sea and asked casually, “Kevin, whenever I think of her, my heart aches. Is this love?”

Kevin shook his head, uncertain. “I don’t know.”

With closed eyes and an emotionless voice, Bradley continued. “Whenever I close my eyes, she’s right before me, but when I open them, she disappears.

“I often hear her calling me, but no matter how hard I search, I can’t find her.

“Is this love?”

Kevin gazed at Bradley with deep sympathy and replied, “If… If all of this isn’t love, then what is?”

Bradley’s legs suddenly gave way, and he reached out to steady himself against the railing at the road’s edge. His voice turned hoarse as he questioned, “Is this what love is?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know.”

Bradley looked at his hands, which seemed to be stained with crimson blood. Drop by drop, the blood fell from his fingertips to the ground, staining the green area below. The couples taking wedding photos on the path seemed to transform into eerie, bloody figures.

in a frenzy toward a bride taking

It wasn’t her.

continued his frenzied search, checking every bride’s face as if he hoped to

it wasn’t her. None of them were

watching him approach pedestrians and ask

“Do you recognize Esther?”

“No!”

behavior with bewilderment, but Bradley paid no attention to their puzzled expressions.

“Do you know Esther?

“Do you recognize Esther?”

and looked into his reddened eyes, speaking seriously. “Why don’t you ask me if I know

I know Esther! I’ve met

“She’s dead!

the hands of the man she once loved