My reunion with my ex-boyfriend of three years happened during a high-profile SWAT raid. He was the youngest, most promising detective captain in the department. I was a serial killer fleeing across state lines. The moment our eyes met, Ethan Carter froze. “Chloe… how is it you…?” I seized the second of his distraction, spun around, and tried to sprint for the window. But one of his deputies fired. A bullet tore through my calf, and I collapsed onto the cold floor. In the interrogation room, Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot. He slammed his fists on the table, roaring at me: “Four lives, Chloe! Four human beings! How could you do this?!” “Tell me it’s a mistake! Tell me! Please, just say it!” Looking at the agonizing pain in his eyes, I suddenly laughed. “You’re right. It is a mistake.” “It’s not four.” I leaned forward, my voice a chilling whisper. “It’s five.” “You care so much about your wife, my former best friend Lily Harrison, don’t you? How have you not noticed that she’s been missing?”
Ethan’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. His hands shook violently as he pulled out his phone. The lock screen, which used to be a picture of me, had been replaced by his wedding photo with Lily. He pressed the call button. A second later, a sweet, upbeat ringtone echoed from my jacket pocket. With a mocking smile, I slid out Lily’s blood-stained phone and answered the call. “Hey, darling.” “Why didn’t you come to save me? I’m so scared…” Ethan lunged across the table, grabbing my collar with terrifying force. “What did you do to Lily?!” Just as I was about to suffocate, the deputy captain rushed in and pulled him off me. “Captain, calm down! This is a public transparency livestream!” Ethan gritted his teeth, his chest heaving. “Where is Lily?” I held up my hands. My handcuffs rattled loudly. “I don’t know.” “Since you were smart enough to catch me, I’m sure you’re smart enough to find her.” “Chloe Miller!” Ethan’s eyes were so red they looked ready to bleed. “Lily treated you like her own sister! When you were bullied in high school, she was the one who stood up for you!” “When your mother was dying in the hospital, Lily was the one who pulled strings to get her into the private ICU. She took care of her every single day, doing more than you ever did!” “She even emptied her own savings account to pay for your mom’s chemotherapy when you couldn’t afford it!” “Is this how you repay her?!” On the large screen broadcasting the live feed, the comment section was exploding. [Wait, is she talking about Dr. Lily from Lincoln General Hospital?] [I know her! She’s literally an angel. My dad was broke when he was sick, and Dr. Lily quietly paid for his meds out of her own pocket.] [Good people always die young. This sick murderer needs to fry in the electric chair!] Facing the digital onslaught of accusations, I let out a cold laugh and turned my head away, refusing to look. My indifference pushed Ethan over the edge. He ripped a silver crucifix pendant off Lily’s phone and slammed it onto the table in front of me. “Three years ago, just because Lily talked to me a few times to discuss your mother’s treatment, you got paranoid. You accused her of trying to steal me, and you stabbed her in the stomach with a knife!” “I had to lock you up. But Lily was too kind-hearted. She signed a waiver to drop the charges so you wouldn’t go to prison! And what did you do? You ran away, vanished without a trace, leaving her worried sick!” “She bought this crucifix for you. She prayed for your safety every single day. And you repaid her by murdering four people, and now her?!” Ethan’s voice cracked with pure hatred. “Do you have any idea that while you were in custody, your mother passed away?” “Lily dragged her injured body, fresh from surgery, to try and save your mother. She stood at the operating table for twelve hours straight without a single drop of water. When your mother didn’t make it, Lily collapsed crying, and she paid for the entire funeral out of her own pocket!” “She blamed herself! She took time off work every single year on the anniversary of your mother’s death to visit her grave. She did everything for you, Chloe! And you slaughtered her!” At the mention of my mother, my eyes finally welled up with uncontrollable tears. Seeing my emotional crack, Ethan relaxed his fists. The hand that had once knelt before me to slip a promise ring onto my finger now gently touched my shoulder. “Chloe, where did you hide Lily?” “If you show remorse and cooperate, I can talk to the DA. I can get you a plea deal.” I looked up at him, my tears turning into a bitter, mocking laugh. “A plea deal?” “Ethan, you are a cheating piece of trash. Who gave you the right to offer me mercy?”
Ethan’s face turned bright red with embarrassment and anger. The deputy captain, who had been taking notes, couldn’t hold back anymore. He stood up and yelled: “That’s complete bullshit!” “After you stabbed Dr. Lily, Captain Carter felt so guilty that he only took care of her out of obligation! He was terrified she would sue you and ruin your life!” “After you vanished, Captain Carter used all his vacation days just to look for you across the country. Even when Dr. Lily came to the station, it was only to share leads about where you might be!” “You were gone for three years. Captain Carter’s father was on his deathbed, and his last wish was to see his son get married. Dr. Lily felt sorry for the old man, so she suggested a fake wedding just to make a dying man happy!” Ethan let out a long sigh and turned his back to me. The deputy captain pointed a shaking finger at my face. “Because we couldn’t find you, and Dr. Lily was single, we all begged Captain Carter to just legally register the marriage to give her some security. She sacrificed her reputation for him!” “And now you frame him as a cheater? Chloe, you are utterly delusional!” Ethan turned around, his face a portrait of profound grief. “Chloe, do you want to know the real reason why Lily and I had that wedding?” He walked over and threw a diamond ring onto the table. “Lily said you hated her because of a misunderstanding. She wanted to use the wedding to lure you out so we could explain everything to you.” “Every single detail of that wedding was designed based on your favorite things. The dress you always wanted, the ring you picked out—they were all waiting in the dressing room for you.” “As for Lily, she wore a cheap, rented dress and a plastic prop ring just to get through the ceremony. When you didn’t show up, she posted the wedding video on TikTok, hoping you’d see it and come home.” The live chat flooded the screen again. [Oh my god, I remember that TikTok! People were mocking her in the comments because her dress looked so cheap and the ring was way too big.] [I was one of those trolls… I thought her husband didn’t love her. I feel sick. I’m so sorry!] [This is heartbreaking. Dr. Lily was a saint.] Looking at the ring on the table, my mind drifted back to three years ago. Ethan had just proposed to me. I had just graduated with my master’s degree and accepted a dream job offer. My mom’s condition was stabilizing, and she was about to be discharged. I was so happy, so full of hope for the future. I had called Lily immediately. “Lily! Ethan proposed! You have to be my maid of honor! I want you to be there to watch me walk down the aisle!” Lily had laughed and agreed over the phone. The moment I hung up, the first thing I searched for wasn’t my wedding dress, but her maid of honor gown. If only I hadn’t seen what I saw. If only I hadn’t walked into that room. The ring that was supposed to be on my finger had been replaced by cold, heavy handcuffs. The man who once held me and whispered that I was his entire world was now standing on the opposite side of the glass. He was demanding that I reveal the location of the monster who destroyed everything. “Chloe, if you have even a shred of humanity left, tell me where Lily is.” I closed my eyes tightly, a single tear slipping down my cheek. “The cemetery columbarium. Section A, Row 3, Niche 2. What you’re looking for is right there.”
The police moved fast, cordoning off the cemetery within minutes. But when they forced the locker open, there were no ashes. Only a thin, lightweight manila envelope. Ethan slammed the envelope in front of me. “Chloe, are you playing games with us to buy time?” The deputy captain urged him, “Captain, let me take over the interrogation. Dr. Lily might still be alive! You and the team need to go search the area. Every second we waste here could cost her her life!” As Ethan hesitated, I tilted my chin toward the envelope. “Did you actually look at the files inside?” Ethan pulled on his gloves and ripped the envelope open. Inside was a signed organ donor consent form. The edges of the paper were stained with dried, dark red blood, but nothing was more painful to look at than my mother’s shaky signature at the bottom. Ethan frowned. “What is this supposed to mean, Chloe?” “Do you think your mother was forced to sign this by Lily? I was there! It wasn’t like that at all!” “Lily didn’t even bring the paper. A nurse on duty mentioned the organ shortage program, and your mother volunteered to sign it herself!” I finally lost my composure. I screamed, my voice cracking: “Volunteered?! Ethan, did you throw your five years of detective training into the trash?!” For the first time, the live chat started to turn. [Wait… is it possible the doctor manipulated the mom into signing the donor card, and then let her die on purpose?] [This is giving me chills. If that’s true, I totally understand why Chloe went on a killing spree. Who wouldn’t?] [She killed four other people, right? Weren’t those victims all connected to the hospital’s transplant unit? Oh my god, we are getting close to the truth.] [I’m crying for Chloe. Her best friend murdered her mother for profit, her detective boyfriend married the killer, and now he’s interrogating her. This is sick.] Ethan noticed the shift in the comments. His face turned incredibly ugly. Just as he was about to argue, the interrogation room door was kicked open. “Captain! We have a major lead!” “Chloe Miller has been operating in South America for the past three years. According to international intelligence, she is a key player in an underground human organ trafficking ring!” The announcement hit the room like a bomb. Ethan stared at me, his jaw clenching so hard I thought his teeth would shatter. “Chloe, your acting is superb. I almost fell for it.” “You were the one who brainwashed your mother into signing that form, weren’t you?” “You traffic organs! And to frame Lily, you didn’t even spare your own mother! Are you even human?!” The live chat went wild. [What the hell! Chloe is the boss of an organ ring?!] [So she forced her mom to sign, let her die, framed the doctors, and then murdered everyone who knew the truth to silence them?!] [Holy shit. This is the plot twist of the century. She is a literal demon.] Looking at the comments, I laughed so hard that tears of blood felt like they were streaming down my face. Ethan could barely stand straight. “Chloe, do you have anything to say for yourself?” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. “What’s left to explain? You’ve already written my sentence.” The deputy captain stood up. “Take her back to the holding cell. All units, mobilize! Find Dr. Lily!” Ethan didn’t move. As the guards dragged me past him, he reached out his hand, hesitating. But in the end, he said nothing. After forty-eight hours of intense search, the police found what was left of Lily Harrison. She was buried in the plot right next to my mother’s grave. Her body was twisted and broken, all her limbs and her spine snapped and shattered. When the forensics team laid her out, they realized she had been buried alive, forced into a desperate kneeling posture of penance and begging. The deputy captain’s eyes turned red. “Chloe is a monster…” Ethan fainted on the spot. The medical examiner’s report concluded: “Every single one of the victim’s viable organs had been surgically harvested.” I hadn’t lied when I said I didn’t know where she was. Because every piece of Lily Harrison was in a different zip code.
When the trial began, Ethan sat in the gallery dressed in black. He sat among the weeping families of the other victims. I kept my eyes down as the prosecutor read the charges. “…The defendant, Chloe Miller, did willfully and with premeditation commit five counts of first-degree murder, resulting in immediate death.” “Furthermore, the defendant has been linked to over 480 counts of international organ trafficking over the past three years, causing catastrophic societal harm.” “Defendant, you may now present your defense.” I remained silent. The gallery erupted into furious screams. “What defense?! She’s a parasite!” “My son studied for twelve years to become a surgeon! She slaughtered him and tried to ruin his reputation by calling him a smuggler!” “She killed five doctors! Hang her! Give her the chair!” They held up framed photos of the deceased, their faces twisted in grief. Dozens of camera flashes blinded me. I opened my mouth, but my throat felt like it was clogged with rusted iron. It was my old trauma. Whenever my emotions peaked, my selective mutism would paralyze my vocal cords. Lily knew this. Ethan knew this too. That was why, when we were kids, Lily always had to speak up for me when I was bullied. I looked toward Ethan in the crowd. But he was swallowed by the angry mob. Suddenly, raw eggs and small rocks flew over the security barrier, pelted against my forehead. Blood trickled down into my eyes, turning my vision a blurry scarlet. I could only look at the judge and shake my head. When the judge handed down the verdict—death by lethal injection—the courtroom erupted into cheers. The families sobbed and hugged one another. The judge asked one last time, “Defendant, do you understand your right to appeal?” I still couldn’t speak. I nodded, then shook my head. The gavel slammed down. It was over. I closed my eyes. Lily, you won. … As the guards led Chloe away, Ethan instinctively took a step forward. But he was instantly swamped by the cheering families dragging him out of the courtroom. Reporters shoved microphones into his face the second he stepped outside. “Captain Carter! You caught the monster who killed your wife! How do you feel about the death penalty verdict?” “We heard the killer was your college sweetheart. How do you process such a betrayal?” Ethan felt a suffocating pressure in his chest. He couldn’t squeeze out a single word. Suddenly, a memory flashed in his mind. Three years ago, when Chloe supposedly stabbed Lily… she hadn’t said a single word in her defense then, either. The more desperate Chloe was to explain, the more silent she became. Ethan’s face went pale. “Back to the precinct!” he yelled, turning to the deputy. “Pull the evidence from three years ago—the knife Chloe used to stab Lily, and Lily’s original medical report! Now!” The deputy was confused, but seeing the sheer panic in Ethan’s eyes, he didn’t dare hesitate. When the medical files were delivered, Ethan read every single syllable. When he finished, his eyes were bloodshot. He screamed: “File an emergency stay of execution! Chloe’s case is a setup!”
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