Chapter 3

"Three years ago," Julian said, "I stumbled across this post online."

He swiped down on the screen.

"The poster used your name, and the photo attached was your face. But back then, I didn't even know you existed."

I stared at the photo on the screen.

The face was undoubtedly mine.

But the eyes were different.

The woman in the photo had cold eyes. Cold as a frozen lake in the dead of winter.

"I was shocked," Julian said. "Because every single detail in this post was absolutely true."

He scrolled down to the comments section.

*[Is the husband the tech mogul from Seattle? I think I saw his late wife's obituary in the news.]*

*[Six wives are dead? That’s too much of a coincidence.]*

*[OP, you need to run! Are you waiting to become number seven?]*

*[I looked it up. There are indeed five public obituaries. The sixth one hasn't been made public yet.]*

*[Is OP okay? Can someone update us?]*

The very last comment was from the original poster herself:

*[I managed to escape. But he is hunting me. If anything happens to me, please send this thread to the police.]*

The reply was timestamped three years ago, on a cold winter night.

After that, the account never logged in again.

Julian slid his phone back into his pocket and looked at me.

"Do you understand now?"

I didn't. I didn't understand at all.

"The woman who wrote that post," he said, "looked exactly like you. She went by the name Hazel. She was my sixth wife."

The sixth one.

Fiona.

But the name on the spreadsheet was Fiona.

"Wasn't her name Fiona?" I whispered.

"That was the alias she used after she ran away," Julian explained. "She was terrified I would find her."

My brain was spinning out of control.

"Then where is she now...?"

"She's dead," Julian said quietly. "Three years ago, she died in a car accident in your hometown."

A car accident.

But the cause of death listed for the sixth wife was an accidental fall.

Not a car accident.

"I know what you're thinking," he said. "You're wondering if I'm lying. You're wondering if someone else killed her."

I remained silent.

He stared at me, his gaze incredibly complex.

"Hazel, have you ever wondered why you look exactly like her?"

I froze.

"Have you ever wondered why your parents died when you were just a toddler?"

"What are you trying to say?"

He was quiet for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his words made my entire body go numb.

"Hazel isn't your real name. You aren't who you think you are. You are someone else entirely."

***

*(Paywall Cliffhanger)*