Chapter 3

03

When the layoff list went up in the company group chat, it caused an uproar, of course. The main reason for the uproar was Nelson.

That was why my partner, Jean Whitney, came looking for me.

"Evelyn, I know you just lost Wilfred and you're upset, but you can't take it out on an innocent employee."

"He tried to bribe me." I stuck to that reason without lifting my head.

I didn't want to spend even one more look on Jean right now, never mind that she used to be my best friend and we'd built the e-commerce company together.

"Evelyn, Nelson made top monthly sales in only three months here. He's the future of the sales team, you can't—"

"You said it yourself. Wilfred just died and I'm not in a good mood. This is the only thing that makes me feel a little better."

I raised my eyes to Jean. Her face had gone dark and flushed, the way it did when she was angry past the point of holding it in.

After I said that, she opened her mouth and only got out one line. "Fine. Do whatever you want."

Then she left my office.

I didn't feel guilty about it. I thought it was exactly what I should be doing.

I'd assumed Nelson would be the one most likely to come find me after the list went out, but he never showed up.

That did surprise me a little.

There was nothing else for me to handle at the office, so once I'd signed off on the layoff list, I went home.

Wilfred's funeral had been taken care of, but there was still a string of paperwork to deal with.

I planned to take the household register today and go cancel his records. On my way out of the company, I ran into Jean again.

Face to face with her now, I felt there was nothing left to say.

She, though, walked over to greet me as if nothing were wrong. "Evelyn, if you're not feeling up to it, you don't have to come in to work—"

"I'll still come in. But right now I have something to take care of."

"What is it?" Jean pressed at once.

"Something to do with Wilfred."

Jean frowned. "What about Wilfred? Weren't his funeral arrangements all finished?"

Seeing how anxiously she pressed, I only tugged at my lips. "Something very important to Wilfred."

I said it a little heavily, on purpose, and panic swept over Jean's face.

Jean's reaction was no surprise at all, because she worried about Wilfred more than I did, and I was his wife.

Jean and I were college classmates. Back then we shared the same interests, and when we graduated we chose to start a business together. That was how Clearskies E-Commerce came to be.

Wilfred and I were high school classmates. We reconnected in my sophomore year and started dating.

I did three things at once, starting the company, graduating, and getting married. After marrying at twenty-four, I stayed buried in work and never rushed to have a child.

Wilfred and I had a decent relationship. Even when his parents wanted to split up the family assets after his death, my feelings for him were still there.

Until that day, after Norma and Angela left, Angela's phone dialed me by accident.

I thought they needed something, so I answered, and once it connected I heard Norma's angry voice.

"Just handing my brother's house over to her like that, I really can't stand it. At least the company's still in Jean's hands, and since Jean's going to marry my brother anyway, the company's basically his."

"That's enough, don't talk about this here. We can only relax once your brother and Jean have the company in hand. Hurry home. Your brother still hasn't even had anything to eat."

After that came the sound of them getting in the car and driving off. I gripped the phone tight and never hung up.

From their conversation I picked out two things. One, Wilfred and Jean were having an affair. Two, Wilfred wasn't dead.

Fine. Since they went to all this trouble weaving a story like this, I'd have to play along with them properly.