My Husband Made MeChapter 1

My husband and his identical twin brother were in an accident out of town.

One dead, one injured. When the news reached us, my sister-in-law was already red-eyed from crying. When I saw my husband walk through the door, alive, the knot of terror in my chest finally loosened.

I started toward him, but he stopped and handed me the urn he was carrying.

"Ava, I'm so sorry. The hospital... they got it wrong. It was Michael who died."

Beside me, my sister-in-law’s sobs hitched to a stop.

I pressed my lips together, suppressed a smile, and dutifully clutched the urn to my chest and began to wail.

* * *

Michael had come home prepared for my questions, my disbelief.

He never expected me to accept his death so easily.

After all, the initial report had said that Matthew, his twin brother, was the one who hadn't made it.

Now, hearing me cry out his name with such heart-wrenching grief, Michael looked visibly unnerved. He made a show of steadying me, and I seized the opportunity, my fingers digging into his arm.

A thick bandage was wrapped around his forearm.

He'd really gone through the trouble. To get rid of the prominent birthmark that so clearly distinguished him from Matthew, he'd carved away his own flesh.

My nails sank into the muscle beneath the bandage. Michael flinched in pain, but when he met my tear-filled eyes, he didn't dare pull away.

He just offered a dry, hollow comfort. "Ava, please, try to be strong. Michael… Michael wouldn't want to see you this devastated."

I wiped away a tear. "You're right. I need to pull myself together."

After all, from this day forward, I, Ava, was a widow.

My in-laws passed away years ago, and my husband was "newly deceased."

That meant if I wanted to get rid of the baby in my belly, I didn't need to tell a single soul.