The first thing Scarlett did after being diagnosed with cancer was to ask me for a divorce. “Matteus, liver cancer is terminal. I don’t care what happens to me, but I can’t hold you back for the rest of your life.” I paused, saying nothing, and quietly left the house. Sure enough, the next second, her cheerful voice echoed through the home security system. “This ‘cancer’ plan is brilliant! He’s definitely gone out to raise money now.” “Who cares how he gets the money? Once we have it, you just tell him I need to go overseas for treatment.” “With how much he loves me, he’ll definitely agree to the divorce to give me what I want.” “I want the money, and he can shoulder the debts. Think of it as compensation for my wasted youth.” Watching Scarlett’s face, full of anticipation, on the monitor. I clutched the pancreatic cancer diagnosis report in my hand even tighter. My dearest wife, I hope you’re still as optimistic when you find out you really have cancer. Listening to Scarlett, I felt much calmer than I expected. Truth be told, I’d already suspected she had a lover on the side. And I’d guessed she was plotting to divorce me. I just never thought she’d choose *this* method. She wasted years of my life, lived off me since we got married, and I never complained once. Honestly, I’d been good enough to Scarlett. But she still chose to betray me, and before leaving, she planned to fake an illness to scam me out of my assets. If I hadn’t realized she had a lover beforehand, I might have actually done as she said, foolishly raising a large sum of money for her ‘treatment.’ My friends had warned me before, saying Scarlett didn’t seem to love me, but rather my money, and that I wouldn’t be happy with her. But I didn’t listen, lost in our so-called love, insistent on marrying her. What was the point of marrying someone who didn’t love me? This marriage had brought me nothing but betrayal and lies. I didn’t turn off the monitor, so Scarlett and her lover’s flirtatious voices clearly reached my ears. I listened as they discussed how they’d spend my money, where they’d travel, and how many luxury items they’d buy. Their future plans sounded so wonderful. Too bad Scarlett wouldn’t get a chance to reach that point with her lover. Scarlett’s ‘liver cancer’ was fake, but the report in my hand? That was real. A while ago, we had a routine medical check-up together. She never showed me her report. Perhaps that’s when she started preparing to deceive me. But she didn’t expect that, out of concern for her health, I’d specifically asked her doctor. The doctor said her report showed nothing serious. She used a clean bill of health to concoct her liver cancer lie. Yet, a few days ago, I got a call from the hospital. They said there were too many patients that day, and they’d accidentally mixed up Scarlett’s report with someone else who had the same name. That healthy report belonged to another “Scarlett,” and the Stage II pancreatic cancer report in my hand? That was hers. I’d left work early today, planning to tell her the news and urge her to get treatment. But instead, the moment I walked in, before I even took off my shoes, I heard her impatiently plotting her divorce from me. Since that’s the case, then of course, I could only grant her wish.
After Scarlett’s declaration, there was no way I’d raise any money for her. We’d been married, and I initially thought we could part ways amicably. She was clearly trying to screw me over, but I’d also been suspicious of her for a while. Besides, she was already a goner. What was the point of squabbling over every little thing? I hired a lawyer to handle the asset division. She wouldn’t get a penny more than what was legally hers, but I wouldn’t shortchange her on what she deserved either. My lawyer and I were discussing the divorce agreement, but for some reason, Scarlett found out I’d hired legal counsel. One day, I suddenly had a knot of dread, so I decided to check the monitor to see what Scarlett was up to. The moment I turned it on, I heard her and her lover’s conspiracy. “What now? I heard he hired a lawyer! Shouldn’t he be desperately gathering money for me right now? If a lawyer gets involved, I won’t get much!” Scarlett snapped. “That doesn’t make sense. You said he loved you to death! Knowing you’re ‘dying from a serious illness,’ how could he be so calm?” her lover said from the other end of the line. “Tell me, do you think he knows something? That you’re faking, or about us?” For them, knowing either of those things would be catastrophic. They had no idea I already knew their entire scheme. On the monitor, Scarlett’s face instantly went pale at the thought. My once gentle and considerate wife transformed into someone I didn’t recognize at all. Her face darkened, and the look in her eyes wasn’t fear of me knowing. It was icy cold and full of malice. Seeing her gaze through the screen, I couldn’t help but shiver. I finally understood where my bad feeling had come from. My gut screamed at me: in that instant, Scarlett genuinely wanted me dead! Sure enough, the next second, I heard her say: “What now? I have to get that money. I’m not going to just settle for this divorce.” “If he won’t give it to me willingly, then he’ll have to face the consequences.” “After all, there’s more than one way for us to ‘separate.’” “Dead men don’t take money.” Her lover was clearly shocked by her idea, remaining silent for a long moment before saying, a hint of excitement in his voice: “You’re right! Why didn’t we think of such a brilliant plan before?” “If he ‘accidentally’ dies, and you two don’t have kids, and he has no other immediate family, then all his money would be ours!” Scarlett’s eyes unconsciously drifted to our wedding photo, then she smirked. “I didn’t want to go this far, but he was the one who was ‘ruthless’ first, so it’s not our fault.” At that moment, my heart ached. All my past kindness to her, every concession I made while drafting the divorce agreement, felt like a blade turning back on me. My blood ran cold. I sat there, listening to them plan my ‘murder.’ They discussed tampering with the brakes of my everyday car, staging an ‘accident’ so I’d be left in pieces. What a despicable plan. Those two conniving snakes, they didn’t just want my money, they wanted me gone for good. Since that was the case, I didn’t need to be polite to them either. My garage had security cameras, and Scarlett knew about them. So, when she suddenly messaged me, saying the circuit breaker tripped and the power went out at home, I knew they were making their move. Scarlett didn’t pay attention to the house’s systems. She didn’t know my cameras were all battery-powered. Even with the power off, they’d keep recording. I smirked, watching her post on SnapChat about how scared and helpless she was, while the monitor showed her using a flashlight to let a man in. This must have been her lover. The man leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him. Scarlett muttered something about ‘business first’ and then led him to the garage. Scarlett didn’t go in herself; she stayed in the living room and called me. I continued to take her call, giving her vague answers, while watching the man tamper with my car. The ridiculous part was, even at a moment like this, Scarlett was still spewing words of love to me. All lies.
I’d recorded Louis tampering with my car. They had sabotaged my vehicle, yet I had to pretend I knew nothing, because they were already out for blood. If I suddenly stopped driving the car I used for my daily commute, it would raise their suspicions. Right now, they only suspected I knew something and wanted me dead. I absolutely couldn’t let them see anything was off. They had many ways to kill me, and I couldn’t always avoid them. Even knowing the car was compromised, I had to tough it out. I didn’t drive that car to work. Instead, I pretended to go on a business trip, heading towards a road with an emergency runaway ramp. Brake failure was inevitable. I just had to ‘discover’ it before reaching the ramp and steer the car onto it in time; that was my only chance of surviving the crash. I’d called a friend beforehand, making an excuse that I wanted to clear my head near that area, and asked him to come along. His car would be behind mine, which would provide an extra layer of safety. When Scarlett heard I was driving far away, her eyes lit up. Then, as if realizing her reaction was inappropriate, she quickly softened her gaze, looking at me with a sad, reluctant expression. “Let’s talk about the divorce when I get back. Take care of yourself.” I said. She wanted to put on an act, and I was happy to play along. Scarlett agreed readily. She couldn’t see it, but I clearly saw the blatant malice in her eyes. Her gaze seemed to say: “You’re not coming back.” I forced a smile, then turned and left. Getting into the car, starting the engine, the moment I backed out of the garage, I was drenched in cold sweat. But at this point, there was no turning back. My hands were sweating so much I almost couldn’t grip the steering wheel. I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down, then drove in my pre-planned direction. About twenty minutes later, I suddenly noticed a car seemed to be following me. As it got closer, through the rearview mirror, I saw a familiar face. It was Scarlett’s lover, Louis! He was right behind me, speeding up, clearly about to ram my car. He kept tailing me, forcing me to accelerate, otherwise, he’d rear-end me. I quickly realized, he was doing this on purpose! This was probably part of their plan. If he kept following me, forcing me to speed up, my chances of crashing with faulty brakes would increase exponentially. He was absolutely doing this intentionally. I gripped the steering wheel, repeatedly telling myself to stay calm, not to fall into their trap. The runaway ramp wasn’t far ahead. If I could just make it there, I’d save my life. I followed the map, driving towards the ramp, when suddenly, my phone rang. It was Scarlett. I was in a state of high tension, and the phone ringing startled me so badly I almost lost my grip on the steering wheel, veering slightly to the left. Precisely at that moment, the man spotted the runaway ramp! His expression hardened. He sped up, pulling parallel to my car, blocking me and forcing me further left. If I veered left, I wouldn’t make it onto the ramp. There was no time to hesitate! I gritted my teeth and floored the accelerator. The man clearly hadn’t expected my sudden acceleration. After realizing what was happening, he desperately tried to squeeze me further left. If I’d been a second slower, I wouldn’t have made it onto the ramp. I would have been crushed between that man and the highway barrier by the high-speed impact. But I made it! In that critical moment, the man crashed into my car’s rear, but because of my speed, he only grazed it. I managed to stop within the runaway ramp, while he, due to the force of the impact, spun several times before smashing into the barrier. The ramp’s barrier blocked my driver’s side door. My car’s front end had also crashed too far into the end barrier, almost completely caving in. Fortunately, aside from some scrapes, I was mostly unharmed. Just as I was about to climb out of the car, I suddenly saw in the rearview mirror that the man was actually climbing out of his own car. And he was carrying a can of liquid, walking straight towards me. “You’re still alive after all that? You’ve got nine lives, don’t you?” The man sneered, looking at me, still sitting stunned in the driver’s seat. “Too bad. Your survival is getting in our way.” “You’re just unlucky to cross me. Today, I’m sending you off.” He said, twisting open the can, ready to pour the liquid over my car. He was much bigger and stronger than me. Fighting him hand-to-hand, I had virtually no chance. But if I stayed in the car, I’d die here too! Just as he grinned menacingly and the liquid began to pour out, A shout came from nearby. “Hey! What are you doing! Stop right there!” It was my friend, Mark, and the other guys. The moment I heard their voices, I almost burst into tears. They had driven together. Three or four big men charged out of their car. Louis’s expression stiffened. There was no time to pour the rest of the liquid. He tossed the can aside, then struck a match. It was then that I smelled a strange odor. A feeling of utter despair washed over me again. It was gasoline. As the flames ignited, and my consciousness faded, I realized. The liquid he’d poured was gasoline.
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