Welcome To Hell, Dear Wife-Chapter 73: Witness

Chapter 73: Witness
Mira could no longer find the silence in the library peaceful. It was now thick with the ghost of the scream she’d heard.
She forced her eyes onto the marriage contract, but the words were just black squiggles on a page.
Her mind was screaming one word on a loop:
Run. Run run run run run...
But her legs felt like liquid.
If she stood, she would collapse. If she tried to walk, she would stumble right into him waiting outside the door.
Because what if he was out there right now? What if he was standing in the hallway, wiping that blood off his hands, waiting to see if she would be stupid enough to try and bump into him?
So she sat.
And she pretended to read.
She turned a page, while trying so hard to ignore the rustle in the quiet.
The paper crinkled under her shaking fingers and then she realized that she’d crumpled the corner without meaning to so she smoothed it out frantically, as if that mattered,
as if anything mattered when there was a dead body somewhere beneath her feet.
Minutes stretched into an eternity. Every creak she heard made her jump, every shift of a shadow had her heart leaping into her throat.
Was that a footstep?
She kept waiting for Aurelian to come back up, to walk past the library entrance and see her sitting there like an idiot, a witness to whatever he’d just done.
She counted her breaths, trying to steady them, but they came in short, ragged gasps.
"One, two, three—"
no, that wasn’t working. Her chest was too tight. Her ribs felt like they were squeezing her lungs.
"Four, five—"
God, she couldn’t do this.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t sit here in this place with a dead man beneath the floorboards.
Or maybe he wasn’t even dead yet. Maybe he was down there suffering, bleeding out slowly, crying for help that would never come. The thought made her stomach turn.
Adrenaline finally overrode whatever paralysis she was feeling and she shoved the folio close and stood. Her legs even buckled for a second before she caught herself on the chair.
She had to get to her room. It was the only place that felt like hers, even if it was a cage.
At least there she could lock the door. At least there she could be alone with her racing thoughts and figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now.
She pulled the library doors open just a crack and peered out into the dimly lit empty space. It was empty.
She slipped out, pulling the door shut as quietly as she could,
Then she waited and listened for a bit.
But there was nothing.
No footsteps. No voices.
She took just two steps and nearly collided with a figure standing directly in her path.
A small scream escaped her lips before she could stop it as her hands flew up instinctively before she stumbled backward.
"Lorena! There you are," Callis’s voice was light, "I was just coming to find you. It’s so late."
Mira couldn’t form words. She just stared at Callis while her chest heaved like she’d run a marathon. Her mouth opened and closed uselessly.
Help me
, she wanted to say.
Call the police. Get me out of here.
But all that came out was a strangled wheeze.
She pointed a trembling finger back toward the library door, her arm shaking so badly it looked like she was waving.
"In... in there..." she stammered. "There’s... there’s..."
Callis tilted her head as a small, concerned frown formed on her face. Her expression was nothing but gentle worry like a concerned friend. "There’s what, darling? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
"I think," Mira choked out. But no word was coming out. Her throat had closed up completely, her vocal cords were even refusing to cooperate too.
She swallowed hard, trying again. "I saw... Aurelian..."
The words sounded insane even to her own ears.
How could she explain what she’d seen? How could she make anyone understand her when she could barely understand what she even saw herself?
Callis’s expression softened into one of gentle understanding. She stepped forward and looped her arm through Mira’s.
"Oh, you poor thing. You’re shivering. Come on, let’s get you to your room. You must have had a long and stressful day."
She began to guide a dazed Mira down the paths and to the mansion.
Mira let herself be led, as her body moved on autopilot.
They soon reached her bedroom, and Callis guided her to sit on the edge of the bed before closing the door.
"Now," Callis said with her voice dropping to a confidential murmur as she sat beside her on the bed. "Tell me what you think you saw. You mentioned Uncle Aurelian?"
The dam broke. The words tumbled out of Mira in a rushed, terrified whisper. "In the library... Uncle Aurelian was there, and he... he opened this trapdoor in the floor. It was hidden under the rug. And he went down into a basement or something, and I heard some squeak, I don’t know."
Callis listened with calm attention. She didn’t interrupt neither did she gasp or look shocked.
And the moment Mira finished, she let out a soft, dismissive laugh.
"Oh, that?" Callis said while waving a hand like Mira had just told her about a minor household inconvenience. "Is that what has you so worked up? Lorena, that’s just Uncle Aurelian’s private study. He spends most of his time in there. It’s his sanctuary."
Mira stared at her. "A study? With a locked trapdoor?"
"Did he say something to scare you? I hope you don’t take it to heart. That’s just how he is. A bit gruff, but a total softie once you get to know him. He probably just didn’t expect anyone to see him heading down there. He’s very private about his work."
"His work?" Mira’s voice was rising, "Callis, there was—"
Before Mira could say more, a firm and sharp knock echoed through the room.
Mira flinched so hard that she nearly fell off the bed. Her entire body locked up like she was preparing to either fight or flee.
"Who is it?" Callis called out, her voice cheerful and completely unbothered.
The door opened without waiting for an answer and Aurelian stood there with his large frame filling the doorway and blocking out most of the light from the hallway behind him.
And this time, Mira was quick to notice that his hands were clean.
Perfectly, impeccably clean.
There was no trace of the blood that had stained them just minutes before.
His fingers were pale and unmarked. He could have been a banker or a lawyer coming home from a perfectly normal day at the office.
"Callis," he said as his eyes completely ignored Mira like she was just decor. "I thought I heard your voice in here. I missed my favorite goddaughter and needed to see your face before I turned in for the night."
Callis beamed as she jumped up and crossed the room to hug him. She threw her arms around his thick waist like he was her beloved grandfather. "Oh, Uncle! You’re such a teddy bear."
She hugged him tightly, then turned back to Mira, who was still frozen on the bed. "See? The way he dotes on me, and you’re over here acting like he’s some kind of monster. It’s honestly a little funny."
Aurelian’s gaze finally slid to Mira. His eyes were empty and dead like looking into the eyes of a shark.
He gave her a slow, deliberate smile that didn’t reach his eyes, "that is some people’s problem, they’re scared of everything because they’re monsters themselves."
He held her gaze, pinning her to the spot and making Mira feel like she was suffocating. Or like invisible hands were wrapped around her throat and squeezing it.
Suddenly, he raised his right hand and brought his index finger to his own lips as if saying,
Shhh.
The movement was intimate and terrifying. Mira couldn’t even look away like she wanted to, she couldn’t move either. It was as if she was a rabbit caught in the gaze of a wolf.
And that was not all because his hand moved again and this time he dragged the same finger slowly across the front of his own throat.
The gesture was almost casual. But the message was as clear as if he’d shouted it,
I will slit your throat.
The entire gesture took less than three seconds. It was hidden from Callis’s view because she was looking at something else in the room.
Callis, still smiling soon turned back to him. "Well, goodnight, you big softie. Don’t have too many nightmares."
She laughed at her own joke while Aurelian gave a final, chilling smile directly at Mira, then turned and left.
The room was silent. The only sound was the panicked sound of Mira trying to breathe. Her chest was heaving while her vision was swimming.
Callis turned back to her. "See? Nothing to worry about. Now, you should get some sleep. Everything will look better in the morning."
She patted Mira’s knee,
a patronizing gesture that felt like a brand
and then left too.
But Mira could only stare at the door as the sensation of a blade against her own throat made her skin crawl.
She raised a trembling hand to her neck, half-expecting to feel blood there. But there was nothing.
What the hell just happened? Have I just seen a murder? And did the murderer just say that I would be next if I ever spoke a word?
________
🔥
This Week’s Top Firekeepers 🔥
1️⃣
Tiane_16
— a brand-new flame already burning at the top.
2️⃣
Daoistimz4fO
— the ember that never dies, always returning.
3️⃣
Ayang_Cun
— a bright spark joining the blaze.
Welcome to the fire,
Tiane_16 and Ayang_Cun
— and thank you,
Daoistimz4fO
, for proving some flames never fade.
Every week, you all remind me why I write, because even in the chaos, you’re still here reading.
And to everyone else who read, unlocked, commented, or whispered support in silence; you are the reason this story still breathes.
Thank you for keeping the fire alive.
Let’s see whose fire burns brightest next week.