ManyWriters

During spring cleaning, I lost the bone bracelet that my wife Annalise always clutched in her hand.
She flew into a rage over this, pushing me down the stairs and breaking my leg.
Only then did I realize that the bracelet was made from the bones of Dean, her deceased first love.
Despite her severe germaphobia, that night she rummaged through every trash can downstairs.
While I was hospitalized, she never showed up, yet her social media was flooded with memories of her and Dean.
[If you didn't have a slight resemblance to him, Liam, I wouldn't have given you a second glance in the first place...]
I closed my eyes and dialed that long-buried number.
"It's me, Julian. I'm back."
If the beginning was a mistake, might as well end it sooner.

The Bone Charmer

After that day, she became like a persistent fly that I couldn't swat away, constantly buzzing around me.


She somehow got hold of my number and started bombarding me with messages and calls.


I'd block one number, and she'd switch to another.


Not only that, but she also started waiting outside my office every day after work.


To avoid her, I deliberately started working overtime.


But no matter how long I stayed, she'd wait just as long.


No matter how harsh my words were, Annalise acted as if she hadn't heard a thing.


The next day, she'd be back, rain or shine.


At this point, I finally understood why my brother said that Annalise had completely disrupted his life back then.


Faced with my headache, my brother empathized deeply.


"Why don't you fake your own death too?"


"Can I hide forever? I don't want her to add another string of bones to her collection."


After hearing me out, my brother made a gagging gesture.


Chapter 9