The Sniper Wife Chapter 2

I went to the morgue alone.

Lifting the thin white sheet, I looked at my mother-in-law's face, now an unrecognizable ruin from the fall. The tears I had been holding back finally broke free, streaming down my face.

After my own parents, she was the kindest person to me in the world. When Seraphina was away on long training assignments, she would come over to keep me company and help tidy the apartment. She remembered all my favorite dishes and would cook them for me, always trying new recipes.

Just last week, she had held my hand, chattering away.

"Liam, after Sera's next mission is over and she has some time off, I'm going to knit you two a matching set of sweaters."

Her voice, her smile, they were still so vivid in my mind.

Now, she was just a cold body on a steel table.

The morgue door swung open. Seraphina walked in, with Hunter in tow.

Her voice was glacial.

"Liam, if you're done looking, let's go. Staring won't bring your mother back to life."

Hunter offered me a tissue with a theatrical sniffle, his voice thick with fake emotion.

"Liam, I'm so sorry for your loss. It's my fault for being so eager… If it wasn't for me, your mom wouldn't have…"

My hand flew up, and with all my strength, I struck him. The sound of the slap echoed crisply in the cold room.

SMACK!

Hunter staggered back, clutching his cheek, a look of disbelief on his face.

Seraphina exploded. She shoved me hard, shielding Hunter with her body.

"Liam, are you insane?! Hunter feels guilty enough as it is! What more do you want?!"

The push sent me stumbling backward. My head slammed against the cold, tiled wall. A sharp pain lanced through my skull, followed by the warm trickle of liquid.

I touched the back of my head and my fingers came away sticky with blood. I pointed a trembling finger at the shrouded gurney.

"Seraphina, are you even human?!" I screamed, my voice raw.

"That woman raised you! She gave you everything for decades!"

Seraphina's protective stance wavered for a fraction of a second. But a small cough from Hunter snapped her back to attention.

"What are you talking about? It was your mother who died. She raised you. What does that have to do with me? You're so desperate to frame Hunter that you'd curse my own mother to death? You're being completely irrational."

My heart turned to ash. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

"Fine, Seraphina. If I'm so irrational, then there's no reason for us to be together anymore. Let's get a divorce."