The day he proposed, I was in Westhaven State for an academic conference.
A serial killer was prowling the area—one who only targeted women traveling alone.
The third murder happened right after the seminar let out—the body found in the alley behind the venue.
Curt thought it was me. He came tearing through the crowd like something inside him had snapped loose.
We locked eyes across the police tape, and his went red in an instant.
"Millie... if you died, I wouldn't go on living."
"Let's get married."
I nodded through my tears.
So foolish then. Still believing love could last forever.
I stared at the new wedding ring on Curt's hand, turning it over and over in my mind, unable to understand.
How the moon could hang so bright and full, yet never shine for me alone.
After the wedding, Curt was appointed as a special-hire professor at Seabrook University.
Of his first batch of students, Bernice Barnes stood out from the start.
Her parents were divorced, her family had nothing, and she had nowhere to go during breaks. I felt sorry for her and let her stay with us.
As the days wore on, I began to realize something was wrong with her.
Expensive jewelry kept vanishing from the dressing room.
We had a housekeeper, but Bernice acted as though the woman didn't exist. She took pleasure in ordering me around instead.
If I refused, she'd throw a screaming fit:
"I have depression! You hear me? If anyone upsets me, I'll kill myself!"
"And when I do, it's on you—you and Professor Baxter both. That's blood on your hands. Is that how a teacher treats her students?"
Her gaze drifted past me and settled on Curt's face.
Not pleading. Triumphant.
A thief's eyes—someone who'd already claimed my home and was sizing up my husband.
After that, the "accidents" started.
She swapped the potted plants in the guest room for fresh-cut flowers.
The allergic reaction nearly killed her. She ended up in the hospital, missed her thesis defense entirely—then told everyone I'd done it on purpose to sabotage her graduation.
Walking down the stairs, she would suddenly collapse.
And she'd let everyone blame me for pushing her, for being cruel and vicious.
To help her finish her degree, I invited her to assist in the lab so she could earn extra credits.
She turned around and upended an entire bottle of sulfuric acid over me.
I screamed, thrashing across the floor as my body seized, and felt my baby leave me right there on the tile.