Your Worthless Love Killed Me Twice

It was the eighth year of Kevin Henson's affair with his "gal pal," Cassandra Delgado.

I died on her husband's knife.

He stabbed me eighteen times.

The baby in my womb, five months along, didn't survive.

When it was done, he lifted my lifeless hand and pressed my finger to the phone's lock screen. Then he typed a message to Kevin, in my voice.

"Hey babe, whenever you and Cassie finish up today, come home early."

"I've got a big surprise for you two!"

——

Kevin Henson received the text at the worst possible moment.

Cassandra Delgado had him pinned beneath her, clinging to him like she'd never let go.

My soul hovered above his body. I watched, helpless, as he smacked Cassandra on the curve of her hip. She yelped, and only then did she reluctantly give him a moment to breathe.

He glanced at my message and broke into a warm, sweet smile. He held down the voice button and replied.

"Okay, sweetheart."

"Your hubby can't wait to see this surprise."

Cassandra leaned back against the hotel pillows, gave him a playful kick, and laughed.

"You two have been married for years. Is all that really necessary?"

"Just wait till we're done and text her back then. What's the worst that could happen?"

Kevin shot her a look and lit a cigarette with practiced ease.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Miriam is the mother of my daughter. She's carrying my son."

"If I can't even manage this much basic decency, what kind of husband am I?"

Cassandra plucked a cigarette of her own and leaned in, pressing the tip to the ember of his. She took a long drag and exhaled, her laughter bright and careless through the haze of smoke.

"Well, well. Who would've guessed? After all these years, the great Kevin Henson is still so devoted to his wife?"

"But if you love Miriam Swanson so much, why are you in bed with me?"

Kevin gripped her chin, his voice low and teasing. "You and I are friends with benefits. Always have been. We both get what we need."

"I like the way you move. You like the way I handle you. It's physical, nothing more."

"Don't you dare compare yourself to my wife. She's the only woman who's ever mattered to me."

"The only reason I come to you is because I can't bring myself to be that rough with her. So don't go catching feelings."

Kevin's love for me.

Even Cassandra's husband, Marlin James, believed it without question.

Forty minutes earlier, Marlin had burst through my front door.

The first stab went straight into the gentle swell of my pregnant belly.

And as he kept plunging the blade in, he spoke.

"You're the woman Kevin Henson loves most. Your husband seduced my wife."

"Killing you is the only way to give him the deepest, cruelest punishment he deserves."

Back at the hotel.

Kevin and Cassandra had moved to the shower. Through the steam, they'd already started another round, tangled together under the hot water.

Shortly after sending the text, Marlin James took his position by the entryway of my home, the knife clenched tight in his fist.

Like a mantis lying in wait.

Kevin and Cassandra checked out of the hotel. In the car on the way home, they kissed like they couldn't stand to be apart.

Minutes crawled by. Finally, the smart lock on the front door beeped to life.

Three short tones. The door swung open.

Marlin raised the knife high.

But the person who walked in wasn't Kevin or Cassandra.

It was my five-year-old daughter, Lily Abbott, home from kindergarten.

The instant she stepped through that door, my soul convulsed.

Only then, too late, did my sluggish mind remember. Before I died, I'd been gathering my things to leave the house.

I'd been on my way to pick her up from school.

I threw my translucent body in front of her.

"Lily, run! Don't look inside! RUN!"