King of My Heart

13. "Mr. Woods, is this...is this your wife?"

(1080 words)

"Ethan, where are you headed?" Ahira questioned as I limply walked to the elevator, my mind clouded with fear and anxiety, every inch of my existence praying for that body to not be my Anastasia's.

"I—I..." I tried to put together a sentence but couldn't.

Sophia and Ariana appeared as well.

"The police found a dead body. They've asked me to identify it." I spoke, trying to keep my demeanour calm and composed.

No sooner had the words left my mouth, that Ariana dropped onto her knees on the floor, aghast. "Ari!" Ahira rushed to her side to hold her.

"I can not believe this..." Said Sophia quietly, a look of disbelief and astonishment on her face.

"No, no! I refuse to believe that anything has happened to her. That body can't be hers. It won't be hers!" Ahira gushed and I swallowed.

"I have to go." I said, pressing the button on the elevator and entering it as soon as the doors opened.

———

"Her face has been brutally burned along with the rest of her body. We discovered her body inside a garbage can in the remote and deserted area of sector 85." Officer David spoke as we walked to the morgue. My palms were sweating, every step was difficult to take. My emotions at that moment were difficult to describe.

"Here she is." He said and lifted the white cloth from the body once we were inside the morgue.

My insides twisted in shock and horror. How could someone be so cruel and heartless as to torment a girl like that?

This can't be my Anastasia. It can't. She can't be dead. Something so horrifying can't happen to her.

"I would suggest you take a look at the ring on her finger." Officer David spoke from behind me.

With trembling hands, I removed the cloth further to expose the badly burnt hands. My heart stopped in my chest and I felt sick.

My balance faltered and I dropped to the cold floor of the morgue. "Mr. Woods?"

"This can't be..." I mumbled.

"Mr. Woods, is this...is this your wife?"

A tear escaped my left eye. "Th-the ring on her finger...th-that's... I... it's her... engagement ring." I broke down crying. It couldn't be. How could it be her? How could I just lose her like that? How could she no longer be alive?

My Anastasia was really... dead?

There was a short pause before Officer David placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Mr. Woods, I understand how hard this is for you. I promise you we'll find the culprit." Surely, I wanted him to be punished. To bear a tormenting punishment. But that wouldn't bring the love of my life back. No words could bring me solace and comfort. She was my solace, my peace, the owner of my heart, my wife.

And now she wasn't there with me anymore.

———

My Anastasia was no more. She had left me. Left this world. All that were left were memories. We couldn't have our happy ending. Her...our baby... both were gone.

How much it must have hurt her when that awful man burned her. How painful and agonising must it have been... She must have been calling out to me in fear and agony, hoping I'd be her knight in shining armour and save her. She must've been terrified. How helpless and vulnerable was she at that moment?

I had let her down. I failed to be her saviour, her guardian. How could I let that sick excuse for a man get away with her? How could she die such a torturous and mortifying death?

Because of you, all because of you.

Why her? Why not me? I wanted with everything in me to take her place in that coffin she was buried in. That dead body should have been mine, not hers. At least she'd be alright. And if she was really gone, why was I still alive?

My heart still refused to believe that she was dead. But it was true. She couldn't lay with me on our bed anymore, looking at me with her beautiful, breathtaking eyes as her fingers played with my hair and traced my face. She now lay six feet beneath the ground.

How could I live without her? From the moment I first laid my eyes on her, I knew I wanted to be with her for a lifetime. How could I ever move on past the beautiful relation and moments we shared? How could I let go of the love we had that was like cool shade in the heat of the summer sun? Was it possible to forget that breathtaking smile that was synonymous to flowers blooming in spring? Or those soft lips that I was addicted to, that would make me forget the world around me? Or that just the sight of her would shed my worries away like the leaves shed in the fall? She could kill me with just her smile and then bring me back to life with just a kiss. Was it really worth or possible living without her pressed against my body, her warmth and the serenity her presence brought?

Since day one, I knew my life would be forever spring with her, and forever winter if she left.

She took everything with her...our baby, my happiness, my peace, my reason to live, my dreams of our family, our happy ending. It was all over.

And I was the reason of it all. Had I not been such a failure, I would have succeeded in saving her. She would still be alive. She would be laying right next to me, safe and sound.

If she wasn't there with me anymore, then I didn't deserve to live either.

I stood up, taking slow steps toward the kitchenette in our bedroom.

I, Ethan Woods, who thought he would never fall in love, was beguiled by Anastasia Ethan, my wife, my solace, the reason of my existence and the keeper of my heart, and wanted nothing to do with life without her.

She was my first and she'd be my last.

My eyes scanned the kitchenette. I could still see her standing there, making coffee and beaming at me.

I'm a living corpse now anyway.

My hands found their way into one of the drawers and wrapped around a knife.

Like we said in our vows, till death do us apart.