After the Crash, I Let My Cheating Husband Die

My husband, Gavin Hale, died in a car crash and left me a fortune. Could any husband have been more considerate? Since he'd been so thoughtful, I decided to return the favor. I called the luxury retirement community where his parents were vacationing. Their attending physician was then told to give them every expensive screening and supplement available. Losing a son was serious. What if the shock was too much for the elderly couple? I had to build up their health in advance. Then there was his mistress, Tessa Reed. While Gavin was alive, I'd turned a blind eye. Now that he was dead, it was time to settle every score. I marched into his little girlfriend's apartment with a moving crew and gave the order. "Take it all." She wasn't home, which made things easier. We tagged everything, packed it whole, and hauled it away. By the time we left, the only thing remaining besides her personal effects was the bed. I didn't want it. It was filthy. Tessa's ultrasound photos were stuck to the refrigerator beside a note from Gavin. I left the photos alone and slapped a red tag on the coffee maker beneath them—the one I'd paid for. I had a spreadsheet linking every item to its receipt, payment account, and photograph. It had taken Gavin 11 years to decide I didn't deserve his loyalty. But it took me only one night to account for everything he'd ever bought his mistress. My phone buzzed in my pocket. The resident services manager at Seaview Gardens told me Gavin's parents, Margaret and Victor Hale, were in the middle of a premium rehabilitation assessment. They wanted to know if I wanted to leave them an encouraging message. "Their son had an accident. They ought to know," I said. "Tell them Gavin is dead." Silence held for two seconds. Then Margaret came on the line and shattered it. "Claire, what did you say?" "Gavin was in a car crash yesterday morning." I checked the movers' inventory. "The hospital stopped futile treatment. The funeral is over too." "You didn't even let us see him one last time?" Margaret's voice shot up. "How could you be so vicious? He was your husband!" Victor roared in the background, "She always hated Gavin! All he wanted was to end a failed marriage!" "A failed marriage?" I laughed. "Gavin slept with Tessa for three years, and both of you knew from the first year. When she cost me my baby and my career, you protected her then too. Now you suddenly remember I was Gavin's wife?" I gave them no chance to ask questions. Tessa's living room wasn't the place to discuss older sins. It was for moving out, not repentance. "By the way, would you like to keep your private suite, physical therapist, and executive health assessments?" Margaret was so furious she could barely breathe, but she didn't forget to answer. "Of course! Gavin arranged those for us!" "Great. Remember to pay the bill." I hung up. The moving foreman pointed behind a storage cabinet. "Ms. Morgan, there's a built-in safe here." "Remove the cabinet with it." Gavin had started shifting assets six months earlier. Cash had passed through several shell companies before becoming a collection of things with no names attached. I didn't know what the safe held, but I knew Gavin hadn't hidden a vault full of love letters for Tessa. He wasn't that romantic. He was simply rich. The foreman asked whether the safe needed its own high-value transport form. "Of course. Weigh it, photograph it, and get a signature from everyone who handles it." He glanced at my spreadsheet and finally understood why I'd hired a moving company that offered both inventory services and documented chain of custody. I wasn't here to vent. Venting left loopholes. I signed the final inventory sheet. Just as the elevator doors closed, two police officers stepped out of the other elevator. "Claire Morgan?" one asked. "Tessa Reed reported that you're emptying her home." I checked my watch. My husband had been dead for less than 24 hours, and his mistress had already accused me of theft. Ironically, the apartment she lived in had been bought with our marital assets.