Brenda is baffled when her late son’s wife denies knowing her and stunned when she visits her son’s grave and sees her daughter-in-law’s headstone nearby. She seeks answers from her son’s best friend, but his suspicious behavior drives Brenda to unravel the mystery alone.Christopher was only 27 when he died in a tragic accident, leaving his mother, Brenda, to face an endless abyss of grief. Her world was shrouded in darkness following his death, and her health suffered. Now, after a year in a clinic, Brenda had traveled hundreds of miles to visit her son’s grave. Bearing the weight of grief that no words can express, she got off at the metro station in the city where Chris had lived, died, and was laid to rest. As Brenda headed to the station exit, she saw a familiar face in the crowd: her widowed daughter-in-law, Harper. Brenda had planned to meet Harper
after visiting the cemetery and now hurried after the young woman to surprise her. “Harper! Harper? Wait a second!” She patted the woman’s shoulder from behind. “I’m not Harper. You’ve got me wrong, lady!” The young woman arrogantly brushed away Brenda’s hand and rushed away. That’s strange! Brenda thought. My eyes couldn’t be deceiving me. She has the same eyes…same hair color…and voice. She is Harper!But the lady had vanished into the crowd. Brenda hailed a cab outside the station and headed to the cemetery. She was haunted by the encounter throughout her ride and couldn’t understand why Harper had acted so strangely. “Ma’am…we’ve arrived,” the cabbie said as he pulled over at the cemetery gate, jolting Brenda out of her thoughts. The silence was haunting as Brenda searched the row of graves for Christopher’s resting place.
A wave of emotions washed over her when she found it. She broke into tears as she brushed her trembling hands on Christopher’s tombstone. Disbelief surged through Brenda when her gaze shifted to the neighboring grave. The epitaph etched on the headstone horrified her. In Loving Memory of Harper. S. January 8, 1995 – December 3, 2020 Forever cherished, Forever missed. Rest in peace. “Oh my God…Harper passed away last week and nobody told me?” Brenda gasped, unable to believe her eyes. A haunting question immediately loomed in her mind: “If Harper is dead, then who was the girl at the subway?”Brenda snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone raking dry leaves. The cemetery’s groundskeeper was working nearby. Brenda approached him and asked if he could tell her about Harper’s funeral. The guy lit a cigarette and sighed, exhaling a puff of smoke into the air. “It took place last week. It was strange… There weren’t any mourners, just the funeral service employees. They brought the coffin, buried it, erected a simple headstone, and left.
It wasn’t even a proper funeral.” “Did anybody visit her grave after that?” Brenda frowned. “Not that I know of, Ma’am,” he replied. “I work here all day and live on the grounds. I keep watch over the cemetery all the time and haven’t seen anybody visit that woman’s grave.””Alright…thanks,” Brenda said and turned around. Nothing made sense to her. Curious to unravel the mystery surrounding her daughter-in-law and her demise, Brenda decided to meet Jake, her late son’s best friend and business partner.Jake was caught off guard at seeing his best friend’s mother unexpectedly standing on his doorstep, smiling at him. He invited Brenda in, but she could sense his uneasiness. When Brenda entered, she saw luggage in the living room, and she immediately asked Jake about his travel plans. “I’m leaving this state, Mrs. Sutton. Been a rough year since Chris passed,” Jake said, a strange disappointment and worry etched on his face. “The company is bankrupt so I decided to move somewhere far away from all the mess I’ve been dealing with.””How can the company be bankrupt, Jake?” Brenda raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on? I saw Harper’s tomb beside my son’s grave. Nobody even told me she passed away! Tell me…what happened to my daughter-in-law? How did she die?” “Mrs. Sutton, I… I didn’t want to disturb you. After Chris’s passing, you were so disturbed and heartbroken. When I learned you’d be spending a year in the hospital,
I was afraid your condition might worsen if you found out about the company’s financial crisis and what Harper did,” Jake said, haunting Brenda further. “What did Harper do, Jake?” Brenda asked. “I want to know everything.”Jake took a deep breath. “Well, Harper inherited the company after Chris’s death, but she declined to manage it because she didn’t know anything about the business. So, by mutual agreement, I stepped in to manage the company because I was already Chris’s business partner.” “Honestly, the business hit rock bottom after your son’s death. We were on the verge of declaring bankruptcy when Harper suggested finding investors and taking out loans to revive the company,” Jake explained. “But…you said Harper declined any say in the business,” Brenda said, her suspicions raised. “Yes, but we were all desperate to save the company. We agreed to Harper’s idea. But just a week ago, Harper withdrew the five million dollar loan money and fled. The police started looking for her.” “Oh, my God! Harper stole the loan money?” Brenda gasped in disbelief. It was too hard to accept that her late son’s wife had destroyed his hard work after his death.”We never expected her to backstab us like this, but she paid the price for her betrayal,” Jake added. “The cops discovered a burned car that had crashed into a cliff near the woods. It was Harper’s car. She met with a tragic accident and died immediately.” “What? Oh my God…” Brenda exclaimed. “The police recovered a woman’s completely burned body with Harper’s gold letter ‘H’ pendant. There were charred remains of hundred dollar bills.
Everything else was incinerated…the case was closed as accidental death.” “Jesus…Harper ruined everything,” Brenda said. “But wait…what about Christopher’s hard work? It doesn’t make sense that the company went bankrupt after he died.” “I understand your frustration, Mrs. Sutton,” Jake said. “But circumstances spiraled out of control. Harper paid a heavy price for her actions, but her funeral was dignified. Many guests attended and everyone grieved her tragic death…despite the wicked thing she did to all of us.” “Harper’s funeral??” Brenda grew suspicious. The cemetery groundskeeper had told her nobody attended Harper’s funeral. Something seemed incredibly fishy to Brenda. Jake’s anxiety and restlessness, coupled with his sudden decision to leave the city, fueled her doubts further.”Uh, when is your flight, Jake?” Brenda asked. “Early tomorrow morning…6 a.m.,” he said. “Do you mind if I stay here for the night?” Brenda asked, a plan brewing in her mind. “I’m wary about renting a hotel room all alone for tonight in a strange city.” Jake thought for a while but eventually agreed and showed Brenda to the guest room. Brenda put out the lights but never slept. Instead, she anxiously waited for Jake’s bedroom lights to go off so she could search for a clue to help her connect the dots. Once Jake was asleep, Brenda headed to the living room and rummaged through Jake’s luggage. Her hands trembled with a mix of anxiety and fear.
