d why I hadn’t been told sooner.

“It all happened so fast,” he explained. “And you’ve been dealing with too much.” I nodded.

That was true, so I went to see Amanda, glad that my late wife’s twin sister looked much chipper than usual.

She had a strong spirit. How are you holding up, Peter?” she asked, holding my hand.

After a brief recounting of my depressing new routine, I told her what happened after encountering Carmen, including the phone call and my visit to the country house.

Amanda suggested their neighbor might have checked on the house, but that didn’t explain the unkempt garden or the fresh signs of someone’s recent presence. I tried to say more, but she looked too tired to keep discussing things.

As I got up to leave, something caught my eye.

Next to Amanda’s bed lay a pair of house slippers. Why would she need those if she can’t walk? I wondered silently.

I felt a pang of curiosity but chose not to voice it.

I left her room and headed towards the front door. As I bent down to put on my shoes, something else struck me.

There on the floor were shoe prints, identical to the ones I had seen at the country house. My heart raced.

This was more than a coincidence. It was a clue. I stepped out of the house quietly, my mind racing with questions and suspicions.

As I got into my car, my phone rang.

It was the detective working on Kate’s case. He wanted me to go to the police station because new evidence had surfaced.

Once I got there, Detective Johnson revealed that Kate’s car had been tampered with, meaning her accident might have been staged.

I was stunned to learn I was a suspect, and even more so when Johnson mentioned a life insurance policy changed to Amanda’s benefit shortly before Kate’s death.

Confused and burdened with this new information, I left the police station, troubled by even more questions. My life was turning upside down again.

Back home, I felt drawn to Kate’s room, a place still echoing with her presence.

Stepping in, her familiar scent wrapped around me as I considered what the detective said. Compelled, I began searching through her belongings for any clue that might explain the secrets now surfacing.

Among her items, I found a notebook with an odd email address and a password scribbled in the corner. Logging into the account on my laptop, I discovered an email with attachments that sent shockwaves through me.

Photos of me and Amanda, Kate’s sister, in compromising situations.

I hung my head as I considered my actions.

A year ago, Amanda and I had succumbed to a momentary but carnal lapse in judgment, a mistake we regretted and chose to bury.

These images were sent to Kate just before her accident, meaning she knew of the affair. But if Kate knew, why did she change her insurance policy to have Amanda as beneficiary?

Was that connected? Who had sent these photos?

Why now? Somehow, I felt like Amanda had to know more than she was telling me. Unless…the woman I had seen today wasn’t my sister-in-law at all.

Closing the laptop, I vowed to find the answers, to understand the full scope of the tragedy that had altered my life.

As dawn approached, I made a decisive move.

I secured my gun for safety and headed to Amanda and Kyle’s house, driven by a need to confront the reality of my suspicions. Upon arrival, I found their house deserted.

Using my key, I entered, calling out with no response. My phone rang – it was Detective Johnson again, but I ignored the call.

My focus was on finding answers. First, I contacted the insurance company, inquiring about the payout process.

The manager confirmed it was scheduled soon. After pressing him some more and begging for his sympathy, I learned the bank’s name and branch where the payout was directed.

I rushed to my car, the morning sun casting long shadows on the road.

I drove to the bank as doubts plagued me. Was this all just a product of my grief? The thought chilled me.

Yet, I had to know.

But my heart started beating a mile a minute when a police car appeared behind me, signaling to pull over. Panic surged. I couldn’t stop; not now.

In a desperate move, I accelerated, dodging them until I lost them in the traffic.

I entered the bank, feeling the sweat on my forehead as I scanned the crowd. There, I spotted Amanda in her wheelchair, talking to the bank manager.

Or was that Kate pretending to be Amanda? Without a second thought, I grabbed a nearby customer’s coffee and approached them.

In a bold, almost reckless act, I poured the coffee on her leg.

She jumped up, screaming at the pain, and the truth became quite clear. She wasn’t paralyzed.

This was Kate, not Amanda. “How are you, Kate?” I asked, feeling both glad and dismayed that my suspicions were real.

But before I could say more, the bank erupted into chaos as police led by Detective Johnson burst in.

I believe he had figured out what I had, too, because his gun pointed at Kate immediately, and he signaled for his officers to detain her.

I watched as they pulled her away, and the police also grabbed Kyle, who had been waiting in the car this entire time.

The detective joined me, placing a hand on my shoulder, as he spoke softly, filling me in on the details of their entire scheme.

After Kate discovered my affair with Amanda, she told Kyle and devised a plan to get rid of her sister, take the life insurance payout, and frame me for her death.

They poisoned Amanda, and then, they made it appear as if Kate had died in a car crash, with Amanda’s body in the wreckage to make their plan work. That was why Kate had changed the beneficiary to Amanda recently.

“I sent a squad car after you because I was worried you might do something stupid,” the detective cleared up. I nodded.

That was entirely possible, but I’m glad I kept my gun safely tucked in my pants.

As I processed everything that happened, I knew that life would never be the same.

I could acknowledge my errors, but nothing justified Kate and Kyle’s actions. Now, I had even more to mourn.