THE SECOND WIFE (SasuSaku)

Some marriages begin with love.

Some begin with an arrangement.

And some begin with a funeral.

Sakura Haruno knew exactly what she was marrying into.

At least, she thought she did.

Sasuke Uchiha was wealthy, respected, painfully private-and already a widower.

His first wife had died five years ago.

Everyone knew that.

Everyone knew she had been beautiful. Everyone knew Sasuke had loved her. Everyone knew that, eventually, grief had given way to a second chance.

Sakura was supposed to be that second chance.

She never asked too many questions.

Not about the locked room at the end of the eastern corridor.

Not about the photograph that disappeared from the mantel whenever guests came over.

Not about why the servants went silent whenever his first wife's name was mentioned.

And certainly not about the wedding ring Sasuke still wore on a chain beneath his shirt.

Because Sakura loved him.

And because Sasuke loved her.

At least...

that's what she believed.

Until the letters began arriving.

No return address.

No signature.

Just a few lines written in familiar handwriting.

_Her_ handwriting.

The first one said:

"He doesn't love you."

The second said:

"He loved me too."

The third said:

"Ask him how I died."

Sakura stared at the words until the ink blurred beneath her tears.

Because there was one thing she knew for certain.

She had never seen that handwriting before.

And yet, somehow...

she knew exactly who had written it.

His first wife.

The woman who had supposedly been dead for three years.

And suddenly, Sakura began to wonder-

if Sasuke had married her because he loved her...

or because he needed someone to take her place.

Rankings:
#13 Itachi
#5 karin
#1 sakusaku