Dear Arthur, Please Love Me Again novel
Before dying, I struggled to call him, but he hung up on me.
Get lost, stop playing games! Don't tell me you're dying this time. If you must die, die far away! Don't pollute my eyes!
That night, he was called to the Criminal Investigation Department to crack a gruesome dismemberment case.
No case lasted more than three days in his hands.
Yet, a whole week passed, and he hadn't recognized that the victim of the dismemberment was his most despised wife.
After the murderer dismembered me and packed my remains into three bags, then the murderer dumped the bags in the garbage bin next to the police station.
The medical examiner, Jackson Mason, pieced together my body all night.
Only the left leg was missing.
Jackson looked on with pity.
"She was doused with concentrated sulfuric acid before death. There was not a single piece of flesh was intact..."
"It's too cruel..."
The young police officer, Louise Norris, stood behind Jackson and couldn't help but run outside to retch.
My husband, Arthur, also furrowed his brow.
He was the most outstanding captain of the Criminal Investigation Department.
There was no case he couldn't crack in three days.
Jackson handed over the organized files to them.
"The victim is a female, aged 23 or 24, died in pain. The head was struck multiple times with a blunt object, the skull shattered, and she was splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid before dying. Plus, there were wounds on her abdomen. She died in agonizing pain."
Chris cursed softly, "Monster!"
"To dare dump a body right in front of the police station, this is a blatant provocation!"
Arthur glanced at the incomplete body on the dissection table, his tone filled with regret.
"She was under 25, such a young age."
Yes, I was only 24, still very young, barely a third into my life.
Arthur's gloved hand touched the space where my left leg should have been.
"Her left leg?"
I was so nervous.
Could he discover this clue?
My left leg bone was deformed.
It was injured years ago while saving Arthur, causing me to limp ever since.
Jackson shook his head. "We haven't found the victim's left leg."
Just then, a police officer walked in carrying a plastic bag.
"This should be the victim's left leg! We just found it! It was in the trash bin downstairs at Arthur's place!"
Jackson attached the left leg to the body.
It was clear that the left and right legs were asymmetrical, with the left leg's bones angling abnormally.
Jackson exclaimed, "This is a clue! The victim had suffered an injury to this leg before, impairing their walking!"
Chris looked uneasy and cast a worried glance at Arthur.
"It was found in the trash bin beneath your apartment... and the leg had been injured. Maybe you should call Chloe?"
Arthur's face turned ashen.
"It couldn't be her. Chloe Kade called me late last night to vent, sounding very much alive and kicking!"
I couldn't help feeling disappointed. He had missed the clue again.
Indeed, I had called him at dawn.
But I hadn't spoken a word.
After all, by that time, I was in too much pain to speak.
Seeing Arthur mention me with undisguised disgust, I felt a sigh of relief.
He would probably be happy to know I was dead.
Chris hesitated repeatedly before finally speaking up.
"Arthur, why don't you head home and check in? It's mealtime already, and Chloe hasn't called you. Plus, the crime scene is so close to your house. Typically, we'd canvass the neighborhood.
"Just now, Louise and the others checked around your area. No one's missing except... they knocked on your door, and no one answered..."
Arthur didn't retort immediately as usual.
After a moment, he relaxed his furrowed brows and snorted lightly.
"She's made a scene before. She pretended to disappear to make me worry and only to come back obediently. Who knows where she's off gallivanting this time? She is cunning! Don't let her usual demeanor fool you!
"Enough, let's not bring up things unrelated to the case!"
His determination was evident.
Seeing this, Chris and the others held back their words, finally ceasing to mention me.
I was growing anxious.
But I was the victim.
How could they solve the case without mentioning me?
I watched as Arthur was consumed with the case, spinning his wheels with no progress for days.
All the nearby missing persons had been checked, yet none of the clues pointed to me.
Arthur looked exhausted.
Chris and the others brought me up again.
This time, Arthur didn't refuse.
He went home.
Upon entering, he seemed to have steeled himself before calling out my name.
The room was empty, and no one responded.
He glanced around the room with disdain.
"Enough, I'll count to three, and if you don't show up, don't expect to see me ever again!"
I desperately wanted to respond to him.
But he couldn't hear me.
Impatiently, he scoffed, "Fine, Chloe, you've really learned some tricks, playing hard to get now. Even if you die out there, I won't come back for you!"
With that, he stormed out.
I rushed forward to stop him, wanting to tell him that I really wasn't throwing a tantrum.
He walked right through me, his eyes cold.
I froze.
Arthur really hated me...
Even though I wasn't at home, he found even the places I'd been unbearable...
Just as he neared the door, he suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on a voice recorder on the entryway cabinet.
Excited, I floated in front of him.
Please, just play it!
Luckily, I used to have a habit.
Arthur didn't like checking messages I sent on WhatsApp. He was often not replying for days.
I worried he might come home and not find me.
So, I always left a voice recorder at the door explaining where I'd gone.
If only Arthur would listen, he'd surely realize I had vanished long ago!
Arthur frowned, picking up the recorder.
After a long pause, he tossed it aside with a mocking laugh.
"Are you still playing tricks with that recorder, Chloe? When it comes to scheming, no one beats you!"
I floated in front of the sofa, reaching for the recorder that had fallen underneath.
No, I didn't...
Please, Arthur, just listen to it!
Arthur didn't look back.
He returned to the police station.
Chris and the others crowded around him anxiously.
"How is it? Arthur, is Chloe alright?"
"Yeah, how is she? She must be okay, right?"
Arthur clenched his fist, his tone disdainful.
"What could be wrong with her? She still has the energy to go out and have fun, and she even left me a voice recorder to help me find her. Stop mentioning her. It makes me sick just thinking about her. Let's talk about the case.
"Jackson mentioned earlier that the victim had a previous injury to her left leg. Check the records at nearby hospitals to see if there have been any surgeries related to her left leg in recent years."
For several days, Arthur had been vetting candidates.
He rubbed his temples and set the documents aside.
Louise called him out...
Amanda had come to see him.
Arthur pulled her into his private lounge.
Watching Amanda walk confidently into the room and take a seat on the sofa, I felt a sudden daze.
I had never been here...
Every time I brought food to Arthur, he wouldn't even let me step inside the police station, much less his private space.
Yet Amanda quickly walked into places I had never reached.
She affectionately pulled Arthur to sit beside her and began gently massaging his temples.
"You haven't come to see me lately! Do you find me a burden?" she asked.
Arthur shook his head.
"How could I? I've promised to take care of you for life, and I won't go back on that," he reassured her.
"It's just that this case has been quite tricky."
Ignoring the prohibitions, Arthur erased the details of the case and started discussing it with Amanda.
Amanda gasped, trembling as she hugged him from behind.
"It's terrifying! How could someone do that? Have they caught him yet? What if he comes after me?"
Amanda's body pressed close to his.
They seemed like a pair made in heaven.
Arthur stiffened momentarily, his hand rising.
Arthur had a work habit. Whenever I hugged him from behind, he would push me away forcefully, sternly telling me not to touch him like that.
Just when I thought he would push Amanda away, he simply laid his hand on her shoulder, patting it soothingly.
So, it wasn't that he had a work habit...
He had made an exception for someone else.
"I will never let anyone hurt you! Next time you feel in danger, call me directly. I'll come to you no matter what, okay?"
Amanda nodded obediently.
The atmosphere was incredibly warm for a while.
It wasn't until Amanda brought up my name.
"I heard from Chris that she hadn't brought you food for a long time. Is she coming today? If she sees me here, she'll surely start another fuss...
"Maybe I should just go back..."
Arthur's expression visibly cooled.
Amanda spoke softly again.
"As long as she treats you well, a little hardship for me is nothing... I'm used to it by now. Just a few slaps. I don't want you to be unhappy, brother Arthur."
Seeing Amanda's self-blaming expression, Arthur's heart ached, and he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I won't give her any chance to trouble you anymore. If she touches you again, I'll divorce her straight away!"
A flicker of triumph passed through Amanda's eyes, though her face showed none of it.
Divorce...
I should have known.
This marriage meant nothing to Arthur. To him, I was nearly an enemy...
Luckily, I was dead now.
Finally, nothing would stop him from being with Amanda.
Suddenly, Chris' voice came from outside. "Arthur! Urgent news! We've got a lead!"
Arthur immediately stood up.
Even then, he didn't forget to ensure Amanda's safety.
He assigned a young police officer, stressing repeatedly to make sure Amanda was safely escorted home.
Chris looked grim, punching the wall fiercely.
"We found in the sewer, it's an infant's corpse, fully formed but less than three months old!"
"That day, Jackson mentioned the deceased had miscarried a child less than three months along. We all thought it was from before, never imagined it was because... she miscarried!"
Arthur staggered back, his face turning pale instantly.
He must have thought of something.
But then he shook his head. "Impossible, that was just Chloe's trick to keep me!"
Chris looked up and asked, "Arthur, what did you think of?"
Suddenly, the voice of the officer who went to the hospital to investigate the records came from outside, urgent and frantic.
"Arthur! Chloe's records... Chloe's records of her left leg injury and her pregnancy match the deceased exactly!"
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