The Substitute Bride

Felix was met with a gust of cool wind as soon as he stepped out the door. He looked around only to find darkness surrounding him. He was still trembling with fear. He couldn't get Lillian's face off his mind—her face was distorted with pain. He couldn't ever forget that.

This horrible image would haunt him forever. The feeling of Lillian's ghost following him never left him. He dragged his feet to his car, got in, and closed the door shut. He broke down, crying.

Soon, the engine whirred and the car sped away.

When he got home, he was like a walking zombie. He couldn't even remember how he got home. He sat on the sofa knowing for sure that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

As foresight, Felix grabbed some sleeping pills from his medicine kit. He downed them in one gulp because he didn't want to have a sleepless night. He had lots of work lined up for the next day, and he didn't want to wallow in what just happened that night.

The next morning, Sheryl and Charles had already called the police. Soon, the tranquility of the community where Lillian lived was broken by the wail of the police sirens.

The police knew where Lillian lived. They figured it out the night before so when morning came, the first thing they did was head to her home in an attempt to arrest her for the attempted murder.

The neighbors gathered around to discuss what was happening as they heard the sirens.

"Is there a criminal living among us?" a middle-aged woman exclaimed, tightly hugging her chest.

"Probably! The police seldom show up here, and there are so many police cars here. Must be something big!" someone chimed in.

It was an old community so there wasn't much going on around here. Only a few minor offenses, if anything. They'd never seen so many police swarming the area before.

There were some who even had the guts to ask the police about what was happening. "Officer, what's happening? Should we be concerned as a community?"

None of the police officers answered their questions. They just wanted to do their job which was arrest Lillian. They didn't even so much as look at the crowd surrounding them as they entered Lillian's

itted suicide. It must be someone else. She must have been murdered," Sheryl said.

The police had already considered that possibility. However, they didn't want to postpone closing the case. They wanted to finish the case right away. Lillian's suicide was the best explanation for her death and Sheryl's case. It solved everything. The letter Lillian left was written in her handwriting so there was no reason to believe otherwise. Moreover, Sheryl didn't have any proof that Lillian didn't commit suicide and was instead murdered.

She was only speculating. So, the police had no choice but to conclude that the suspect had indeed committed suicide.

Sheryl's claims were baseless so they couldn't act on it. Lillian didn't have any family or other friends so no one backed Sheryl up on further investigation. The case had been closed.

The hospital released a public statement of apology directed towards Sheryl and her family. The director himself visited Charles and Sheryl to apologize privately. He also provided compensation for the stress and damage it caused them. After all, Lillian was only able to do what she did because of the hospital's poor management. Sheryl and Charles weren't exactly welcoming at first. They hesitated before finally decided to accept the hospital's apology and offer of compensation when they realized that there was nothing else they could do.

The crisis was over, and they all decided to move on.