The Man Who Buries His Brides

Chapter Nine: Ashes Of Lillian Smart

"Just listen to my story, I mean Ivy's story. As I knew Lillian Jackson, she was always cheerful, friendly, and intelligent. Her parents are not the wealthy type but they tried their very best to send her to a reputable college. I was in a higher course than her and believe me I had a crush on her but didn't get the chance to tell her as I went into the world of acting."

"And Ivy?"' Richard asked as he narrowed his eyes. .

"I heard nothing from her until after we graduated. Then, I went to California to shoot a movie after two years and I saw her at a shopping mall. Obviously, she didn't look happy like she was in college. I can remember that day, she was clad in a cap, coat, and baggy trousers. Her hair was disheveled and her skin was.......Gosh, she looked as if someone had been torturing her, Richard. I could not bear seeing her in that state so I asked her about her residence and her life."

Richard observed as he looked away.

"What was her response?"

"She told me that she had become Lillian Smart and had no career, she was a full housewife. She told me she got married to Henry Smart because her father was dying of cancer and they needed money but it was too late,her father had died and she got married against her will. I asked after her husband and she told me that he's doing fine."

"So?"

"Ivy has suffered very much,I am her best friend and there is nothing I can do to help her, I........I am just helpless whenever it comes to her situation." He said, his tone laced with dismal.

Richard noticed David cleaning his eyes with the back of his hands. He knew how to feel capable but still not be able to have the capacity to help. He has had an even worse experience than that of Ivy who cried times without number having no one to rest his head on except his best pal, Jared.

"One day, I found her address and decided to surprise her. I went to her house and found her devastated, her lips bruised, her nose was bleeding and her hair looking too rough. She smiled as she saw me and put on a determined face but I frustrated her and she finally let the cat out of the bag. Her husband, as she told me, was an aggressive and adulterous man. I then realized her husband was truly a beast,he sleeps with different women but doesn't have time for his wife. He beats Ivy times without a number whenever she questions his whereabouts and never touches her."

Richard stared at him thoughtfully.

"Never touched her? How?"

"He never made love to her and they have been married for more than two years. I introduced Ivy to modelling as she is a beautiful woman with a determined spirit but she declined saying her husband would kill her if she dared to join."David replied.

"On September 6th,2020. I took her to my hotel room in California and I touched Ivy wrongly as I was drunk but she stopped me. Then she got a call from an unknown contact that her husband needs her urgently. Ivy left my place that evening........

" Wait, was there an event going on in a famous hall that evening?" Richard asked, wanting to confirm if it was truly that day Ivy kissed him.

"Is it a piano hall?" David questioned.

" Yes, piano hall."He answered back.

"Yes, she rushed from my place to her house since it was an emergency."

Richard felt relieved as he confirmed the fact that Ivy kissed him on that same day and that was why she didn't give him an explanation for kissing him,she wanted to go home! But what was the reason for kissing him in the first place?

"What happened after that?"

"A murder was committed. A horrible one. I woke up the next morning feeling tipsy and I had missed several calls from Ivy. I called her back but her phone was switched off. I went to her house and found that it had become a crime scene. A woman directed me to the hospital and that was where I found Ivy on the bed." David's face paled.

"What happened to her?"

"She....she went into a coma, Richard. I could not bear the sight because she looked as if she were in a fight. When I came out, a cop explained to me that her husband was murdered, his eyes and private parts were mutilated. He said Ivy was on the floor, lying unconscious with a blood-stained knife in her hand when they arrived at the horrible scene." David explained then clasped his two hands together.

"But she didn't kill him, did she?' Richard asked calmly.

"No Richard, she didn't. Ivy is far too innocent and harmless to kill a person. Even the doctor said it was the shock of seeing her husband that made her fall into a coma and the scars on her body were the result of the fight she got into with the killer." David replied in a low tone.

"What about her parents?"

"Her poor woman could not bear seeing her daughter in such a terrible condition,she had a heart attack and died instantly...her dad also lost his life while he slept." He answered back, his tone laced with despair. "The matter was taken to court by Henry's sister and the judge as a woman understood Ivy's condition. Every evidence pointed to Ivy even though it was false but her condition spoke for her and gradually the case was closed. Ivy stayed in a coma for ten months........

"That is almost a year."Richard cut in, raising his brows.

"Yes, Richard. I was always by her side until she opened her eyes one day and asked about Henry but as she remembered the last time she saw him, she fell into depression and I did absolutely everything to cheer her up. Eventually, I forced her into modelling, changed her name from Lillian Smart to Ashby Ivy and she became famous. She got busy and little by little forgot her horrible past ... .until now."David concluded as he rubbed his two hands together.