Leaving the countryside for the city should’ve been good news. That was why I readily agreed to it in my past life, only asking casually, “Why are we suddenly moving?”
I remembered back then, Samantha said it was because Joseph’s death benefits had just come through. She said, “He may be gone, but he left us a parting gift. He would rest easy in the afterlife if we lived well.”
But I’d only realized the truth later on. The reason they were in a rush to move to somewhere where no one knew us was so Joshua and Lynda could be together openly without judgment.
Once they made it look like they were the married couple, I’d turned into the homewrecker that got in between them.
I had plans of my own, so I offered, “How about I go check out some houses, Sam? I happened to run into an old classmate on my way here. It turns out that their family is planning to sell their house.”
Samantha hesitated, but Joshua, annoyed by my presence at home, quickly convinced her to agree.
While I stalled for time by pretending to look for a house, I quietly went around the area spreading the real reason behind their sudden move.
Joshua, completely occupied by Lynda and her son, wasn’t aware that something was off. Samantha, on the other hand, was more sensitive and began to notice the strange looks people were giving her.
She came after me once she was back home. “Have you been running your mouth out there, Tiffany?”
I looked at her innocently. “Of course not! Someone probably saw Lynda and Josh together. You know how it is with the people in this village. They love to gossip.”
Samantha impatiently started urging me, “Did you find a house yet? If not, I’ll go look for one myself!”
I replied, “I have! I’ll talk to my former classmate again later to see if we can settle on a price.”
I was starting to feel the pressure. Samantha was running out of patience, yet the news I was waiting for still hadn’t arrived.
Fortunately, fate was on my side.
…
I went to the public phone booth and dialled the familiar number once again, expecting no one to pick up like before.
But to my surprise, before I could even say anything, a voice—both strange yet familiar—came through. The voice said, “Hello, this is Joseph Coleman. How can I help you?”
It turned out that Joseph wasn’t dead at all.
