My Dead Mistress Returned as My Wife's Bestie

My mistress tries to take Scarlett Astin's place as my wife, so I kill her, burn her body to ashes, and bury her in the middle of nowhere. Five years later, I become a general manager. Scarlett gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and we settle into a happy life together. I gradually forget about the past. Then, after Scarlett is discharged from the hospital, she suddenly says, "Don't forget to invite Madeline Brown to the twins' sip and see. She's an old friend of yours, right? She took such good care of me during my hospital stay." A chill ran through me, and the hair on my arms stood on end. Madeline Brown is the name of my dead mistress. Chapter 1 Five years ago, Madeline Brown gave me an ultimatum. She told me to divorce my wife and marry her, or she would expose our affair. I agreed. But then I poisoned her, burned her body, and buried her six feet under. She was an orphan, so nobody ever reported her missing. My wife, Scarlett Astin, knew nothing about any of it, so I couldn't understand why she had suddenly brought up Madeline. Had she found out something? Scarlett blinked at me, genuinely confused by the panic on my face. "Why are you reacting like that? Aren't you two close? She went out of her way to take care of me at the hospital because she was your friend. "Remember when I took that bad fall and almost lost the twins? She's the one who called a doctor in time and saved our babies." I searched Scarlett's face. There was no sign that she was testing me. She was simply recounting what had happened. I knew my wife. She wore her heart on her sleeve and couldn't fake a thing. So I was certain she knew nothing about my affair. She had only mentioned Madeline because Madeline had helped her so much. But… A chill ran down my spine. Madeline was dead. "Letty, are you sure?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay steady. "I don't know anyone named Madeline Brown. What does she do? And what does she look like?" "That's impossible," Scarlett insisted, frowning. "She told me that when she was on a business trip to Jhorna five years ago, you went above and beyond to help her. "She messed up a major project and got sick. Since you were from the same hometown, you felt sorry for her and paid her medical bills. You even helped her sort things out with the client." My hands clenched into tight fists, my palms cold with sweat. That was exactly what had happened between Madeline and me. I had met her on a business trip to Jhorna five years ago. She bore a striking resemblance to my first love. Seeing how badly she was struggling, I stepped in to help. One thing led to another, and we started seeing each other. I had told her from day one that I was married. I could support her financially and help her with her career, but nothing more. She had agreed back then but went back on her word later. She became greedy. She even wanted me to marry her and tried to blackmail me into it. I had no choice but to kill her. Afterward, I went through her phone to make sure she hadn't told anyone about our affair. Yet here was my wife, recounting those exact events. Even her deion of Madeline matched my memory perfectly. But I refused to believe that a dead woman could come back to life. Someone had to be behind this. "Letty, you said she works at the hospital, right?" I pretended that the name rang a bell. "Next time you go in for a checkup, could you ask her to meet me? I'd like to see her." Chapter 2 I had to find out who was pretending to be Madeline. The imposter clearly knew details about our past and had managed to get close to Scarlett, but she hadn't done anything out of line yet. That meant I could still negotiate with her. She was probably after money. I needed to shut her up before things spiraled. Everything I had came from Scarlett. If Scarlett ever found out I'd cheated, I'd lose it all. "Honey, you look so tense. It's just a routine postpartum checkup," Scarlett said from the passenger seat as I drove us to the hospital. I felt cold all over, but my palms were slick with sweat against the steering wheel. Scarlett noticed something was wrong and looked right at me. I forced a smile and brushed it off. "I'm fine. Just exhausted. Work's been crazy lately." Ever since I was promoted to general manager, I barely had a moment to breathe. I'd even been away on a business trip while Scarlett was in labor, so I never got to see her while she was admitted. This was my first time actually coming to this hospital. As I pulled into the parking lot, my blood ran cold. It was a newly built complex, standing on the very ground where I'd buried Madeline's body. "My dad really works you to the bone," Scarlett grumbled. "He treats you like a workhorse! I'll talk to him and get him to give you a few days off." "It's fine, Letty. I can handle it. I just don't have enough time to be with you." My mind was racing. "By the way, did you get in touch with Madeline? Since we're here today, maybe we could meet her." Scarlett shook her head. "No. I forgot to get her number. But she's a nurse here, so we can just find her." She smiled warmly at the mention of Madeline. "She's pretty and sweet, and she has great style! We clicked right away. I actually asked her to be the twins' godmother." She glanced at me. "You don't mind, right? She did save our babies, after all." I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, unsure how to respond. I couldn't understand why the imposter had gotten so close to Scarlett. If Madeline only wanted to extort money, all she needed to do was let me know she existed. Was she really planning to become our babies' godmother and hold this secret over my head for the rest of my life? I was even more desperate to meet her now. Once Scarlett was done with her checkup, we went straight to Ms. Clara Henderson, the head nurse, and asked about Madeline. Ms. Henderson looked confused. "Madeline Brown? We don't have anyone by that name." Scarlett's eyes widened. "What? That can't be! She was the nurse who took the best care of me here!" Scarlett came from a well-off family, and her father, Roger Astin, had connections with the hospital director. Eager to help, Ms. Henderson called over all the nurses who had cared for Scarlett. But none of them looked remotely like Madeline. Scarlett frowned and shook her head. "These are all day-shift nurses, right? Wait, I remember now. Madeline worked the night shift. She was an orphan, petite and slender, with a little baby fat and dimples." When Scarlett finished describing her, all the nurses shook their heads. None of them had ever seen anyone who matched that deion. In other words, there was no nurse named Madeline at the hospital at all. Chapter 3 Her identity was indeed fake. Even her job as a nurse was just a cover to get close to Scarlett. My unease deepened. Scarlett became even more determined to find Madeline. She was convinced that Madeline wouldn't lie to her and asked to check the records of every nurse in the hospital. Ms. Henderson was reluctant, but given Scarlett's family's influence, she obliged and pulled up the files. As expected, not a single record matched Madeline. "Ms. Astin, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Ms. Henderson asked carefully. "Could she have been a relative of another patient who was just being kind to you?" Scarlett shook her head vehemently. "Impossible! She was wearing a nurse's uniform and told me that she was a nurse here. How could I possibly have mistaken her?" She suddenly remembered something. "Wait! What about the time I fell? Madeline was the one who ran off to call the doctor. You must remember that! At the very least, the doctor who came to treat me must have seen her!" A strange look crossed Ms. Henderson's face. "Ms. Astin, the day you fell… no one called the doctor for you. Security saw what happened on the surveillance cameras. That's how we reached you in time and saved your babies." Ms. Henderson looked at Scarlett with genuine concern. "Why don't you get checked out? Postpartum conditions can sometimes trigger hallucinations." Scarlett froze. "Hallucinations?" Her voice dropped to a raspy whisper as she tried to piece it together. "Come to think of it… No one else ever saw Maddie. She always showed up at night. I'd never met her before, yet she seemed to know everything about me. Could she really have been just in my head?" There was no way it was a hallucination. How could Scarlett possibly invent a woman with the same name, appearance, and backstory as my dead mistress? Someone had definitely plotted this. "Hallucination? This is bullshit!" I snapped. "Scarlett is fine! Someone is definitely behind this!" My outburst startled everyone. Scarlett placed a hand over her heart, looking at me in shock. "Honey, why are you so worked up? Medical care is so advanced these days. Even if something really is wrong with me, I can be treated." I caught my reflection in the glass. My eyes were bloodshot, and I realized I'd lost my composure. But I couldn't calm down. "I'm just worried someone is approaching you with ulterior motives," I lied. "Ms. Henderson, please take us to the security office now. We need to see the surveillance footage." If the person pretending to be Madeline had really been there, she would have left some trace behind. In the security office, I had the guards pull up all surveillance footage involving Scarlett. But after going through it all, there wasn't a trace of Madeline. Scarlett had said that when she fell, Madeline found her, checked on her, and stayed with her for a while before going to get a doctor. But the footage just showed Scarlett talking to thin air. The hair on my arms stood on end. What exactly was it that Scarlett saw?