The Truth Behind the Car Crash

Everyone in New York society knew my son and I were the darlings of Seraphina Keerys world.
If I wanted stars, shed arrange a private meteor shower. When Leo loved a carousel, she built an amusement park named Leos Land.
After our car crash, she flew in a world-class medical teambut only for me. Barely conscious, I begged her to save Leo first.
She tearfully claimed hed bled out on the way to the hospital.
But waking later, I overheard her outside my door. A doctor asked, Your son couldve been saved. Why let him die?
Seraphina replied coldly, Leo existed to save my son, Max. Ive been good to Ethan all these years. It was his turn to repay me.
All her love was just the price for my sons heart.
The tragedy was her design from the start.
If thats what she wantedfine. Id give her exactly what she deserved.

01
From behind the closed door of the recovery room, I heard Seraphina laugh softly.
"To protect his son, my husband suffered catastrophic injuries to his lower body. We had to sacrifice his ability to have more children to save his life."
The doctor sounded horrified. "Ms. Keery, you mean"
"Mr. Cole has already lost one child. You're making it so he can never be a father again. Don't you think that's too cruel?"
Seraphina's tone remained flat. "I will only ever have one child in my life, and that's Max. As for compensation, Ethan Cole will remain my husband forever. Get the surgery done as soon as possible. I need to go see Max. He and Julian need me right now." She paused. "Oh, and be careful during the procedure. My husband is afraid of pain."
Her footsteps faded down the hallway as my consciousness drifted. My hands, clenched at my sides, were raw and bleeding, but I couldn't feel them over the silent tears streaming down my face.
The perfect wife, the perfect mother I had been so proud ofit was all a lie.
Her love was a lie.
The only truth was the six-year deception she had masterminded, culminating in a perfectly staged "accident" to steal my son's heart.
As the anesthesia seeped into my veins, my vision blurred. I felt the cold, indifferent touch of surgical instruments inside me, a chill that sent me spiraling into one nightmare after another.
In my dreams, there was only darkness. Leo stood in the void, a gaping hole where his heart should be. He reached out to me, his small voice crying, "Daddy, it hurts so much, Daddy"
"Leo!"
I woke with a start, my eyes meeting Seraphinas, which were filled with concern.
"Darling, you're finally awake," she breathed, pulling me into a trembling embrace. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was? These past two days, I thought I was going to lose you."
She clung to me tightly. "I've already lost our son. I can't lose you, too."
My ear was pressed against her chest. The frantic beat of her heart almost made her words believable.
"Ethan," she continued, her voice soft, "the doctors said the accident it damaged you. We might not be able to have any more children. But it doesn't matter. As long as I have you, that's all I need."
She spoke with such conviction. Before, I would have felt like the luckiest man alive to have married such a woman. But now, with my body scarred and broken, her flawless performance only filled me with disgust.
I subtly pushed her away. "Where is Leo? I want to see him."
Seraphina froze for a second. She stroked the back of my hand, her voice dropping. "I'm so sorry, darling. I was afraid seeing him seeing his body would be too much for you. I had him cremated yesterday."
She wasn't afraid of my grief. She was afraid I'd see the empty, butchered cavity in my son's chest.
I fought back the hatred burning in my eyes and glanced at her wrist. She was wearing the crooked little red bracelet Leo had made for her.
Before the accident, Seraphina had been struggling with insomnia. Leo, worried about her, learned how to braid bracelets from his art teacher. He wove red string and calming lavender together and gave it to her.
I remember the look on her face thenshocked, speechless. She stared at the imperfect little gift for a long time. It wasn't until Leo called out "Mommy" again that she finally took it, carefully fastening it around her wrist.
She hugged him and said, "Thank you, Leo. Mommy loves it."
Looking back now, I realize that while my son was worried about her sleepless nights, she was lying awake planning the car crash that would kill him.
My gaze made her notice the bracelet. A complex emotion flickered in her eyes, and she quickly pulled her sleeve down to cover it.
"Ethan, I promise you," she said, "I will spend the rest of my life honoring Leo's memory, just like you."
I lowered my eyes, saying nothing more.
If there was any solace, it was that my son died believing his mother loved him.
But that didn't change the fact that she was his murderer.
Leo, Daddy will get justice for you. And I will leave the monster who did this to us.

02
I hated the sterile smell of the hospital, so the next day, Seraphina brought me home.
If you didn't know the demon lurking beneath the surface, she was the perfect wife. She cooked for me, remembering every little thing I disliked. Worried that I was still haunted by the crash, she would give me foot soaks and massages every night.
It wasn't until the third day home that she finally made an excuse about work and left early in the morning.
As she rushed out, I caught a glimpse of her phone screen. A message from Julian Hayes.
[Seraphina, Max won't stop crying for his mommy. I can't calm him down.]
Julian's child needed his mother, so she dropped everything and ran to his side.
My son died on his way to see his.
I watched her leave in silence, then made my way to the third floor and stood before her study. For the five years we'd been married, shed kept it locked with a passcode, insisting that even married couples needed their private space.
I typed in the birthdays of Julian and their son, Max. The door clicked open.
The large study was a shrine to them. The walls were covered with photos of her, Julian, and Maxa happy family of three. Her pregnancy, Max's birth, his first tooth, his first steps Seraphina had documented it all.
But in the four years of my sons life, from birth to death, there weren't enough pictures of him to fill a single small album.
I opened the journal on her desk.
[May 20th. I told Julian I had a surprise for him. I expected him to be thrilled, but when he held me, shaking with joy, I couldn't stop the tears from falling.]
[January 23rd. I'm a mother. I named him Max.]
[He's so tiny. The moment I held him, I wanted to give him and his father everything I own. But then the doctor told me Max inherited Julian's condition. He was born with a congenital heart defect.]
[September 30th. For Max's sake, I got married today. The groom wasn't Julian.]
[Julian, I promise I will be a good wife and a good mother.]
The last sentence was pressed so hard into the page it almost tore through, as if she was forcing herself to make a solemn vow.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
So, marrying me was a great sacrifice for her.
No wonder. Five years ago, when I showed her the positive pregnancy test, bursting with joy, she just stared at it in silence for a long time. Then, as if completing a task, she simply said, "Thank you."
When Leo was born, she never even held him.
The first time she saw him, she just calmly instructed the doctor to take him for a full physical exam.
Especially his heart.
On our wedding night, the room was dark. I could only see her face by the moonlight filtering through the window.
I used to think she was just shy.
Now I know it was because the man she wanted to marry wasn't me. The face she wanted to see in the dark wasn't mine.
The journal was filled with entries, all of them about Julian and Max.
The most recent one was from a week ago.
[Maybe the lavender really does help with sleep.]
[I slept so well. I even dreamed about]
She never finished the sentence, and I had no desire to read any more.
I photographed the pages and sent them to the private investigator Id hired, then placed the journal back exactly where I found it.
As I was leaving the study, Seraphina returned.
She saw me coming from the third floor, and a flicker of panic crossed her otherwise calm face.
"What were you doing upstairs? Your injuries haven't healed. You should be resting in bed."
I sidestepped her attempt to help me. "I got tired of lying down."
She studied my face, and seeing nothing amiss, seemed to relax.
She held up a box. "Darling, I got you those pastries you love from the Eastwood Bakery."
It was true, I did love their pastries.
But five minutes ago, Julian had posted a picture of the exact same box on his social media.
The caption read: Max says he wants some, and a certain someone drives two hours just to get them.
He used to post vague things like that all the time.
Back then, I never would have imagined the "certain someone" was my wife.
Where Seraphina couldn't see, I liked Julians post.
I just needed to wait, I thought.
Just a little longer. Once I have enough proof, this charade between Seraphina and me will finally be over.

03
Just after I paid the private investigator's final invoice, Julian contacted me.
He wanted to meet at a villa on the outskirts of the city.
The house was decorated in warm, inviting colors, nothing like the home I shared with Seraphina. She always said she preferred simplicity, so our house was a cold landscape of black, white, and gray.
Julian sat on the sofa, leisurely sipping a cup of expensive tea. "So, you finally know about Seraphina and me."
Now that he had what he wantedLeo's hearthe wasn't even pretending anymore.
"Seraphina promised me. She's going to bring Max and me home and tell everyone that he is her son."
I stared at him, my expression flat. "Is that all you brought me here to say?"
My cold indifference wiped the smug look off his face. He shot up from the sofa. "Ethan Cole, who do you think you are talking to me like that? Seraphina's husband? Don't kid yourself! You think she actually loves you? She only married you for me and Max!"
He caught himself before he could say more, but he couldn't swallow his pride.
"In love, the one who isn't loved is the third wheel! And so is their child! My Max will be Seraphina's only son! Everything she has will be his! As for your dead kid, you can light a candle for him when you're feeling sentimental!"
The mention of Leo ignited a fire in my chest.
I wanted to smash my fist into his face, but my body was still weak. Julian easily grabbed my wrist, pinning me.
He leaned in close, his voice a venomous whisper. "And you deserve this, for not being able to protect your own child."
Humiliation and fury surged through me, my eyes turning red. I used every ounce of strength I had to shove him away. But then he did something I never expected. He pulled my hand forward and punched himself in the face with it.
He crumpled to the floor, looking up at me with wide, innocent eyes. "Ethan, I'm heartbroken about Leo too, but what did I ever do to you? Why are you treating me like this?"
Before I could even process what was happening, a powerful force slammed into me from behind. My head cracked against the corner of the coffee table, and blood instantly started to flow.
Seraphina didn't even seem to notice. She rushed to Julian's side, her voice laced with panic. "Julian, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He shook his head, but tears streamed down his face. "Seraphina, my head hurts so much."
Her brow furrowed, and she turned to me with a vicious glare. "Ethan, your son is dead, so you come here to take it out on him? What is wrong with you! Apologize to Julian, now!"
I was so full of rage and hurt that I couldn't hold back the tears.
"Seraphina, get it through your head. My child was your son, too. He called you 'Mommy' for four years!"
She flinched, her eyes darting to the bracelet on her wrist. In that instant, it seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. Her arm began to tremble, and she couldn't meet my gaze. She turned away, her heart feeling like it was being crushed by an invisible hand, the pain making it hard to breathe.
It was Julian's soft whimper that seemed to snap her out of it, like a lifeline.
She helped him up. "Julian, I'm taking you to the hospital."
She led him away, her steps quick and desperate. But as she passed me, she hesitated, her stride becoming heavy, as if she were wading through mud.
The vast living room was empty again, leaving me alone.
On my phone, I had the audio recording of the entire exchange, along with the complete file of evidence from the P.I.
One of the files was a video. It showed Leo, lying in a pool of his own blood, reaching his small hand out toward Seraphina.
"Mommy, save me it hurts so much, Mommy"
But the woman just stood there, her face a cold mask, watching as his small hand slowly, so slowly, fell to the ground.
I stared at Leos face on the screen, at the hope in his eyes turning to confusion, and then to utter despair.
So, my son knew. Before he died, he knew his mother didn't love him.
What was he thinking in that final moment?
Did I do something wrong? Why is Mommy doing this to me?
Or maybe Daddy, run
Pain, hatred, a storm of emotions made my entire body tremble.
I heard footsteps behind me again.
A boy, maybe five or six years old, stood in the bedroom doorway, his face pale. He was clutching a model airplane.
He asked me, "Mister, who are you? Why are you in my house?"
His face was so familiar. His heartbeat that was familiar, too.
I stared at his chest. Beneath his shirt, the heart that was beating belonged to my son.
If it weren't for Max, my Leo would still be alive.
So why should Max be alive when Leo was dead?
My expression turned to ice. As Max watched me with a puzzled look, I slowly knelt down.
"Hey, Max," I said softly.
"Come home with me, kiddo. I've got lots of candy for you."
...
On the drive to the hospital, Seraphina couldn't stop frowning. The image of my tear-streaked face, my accusing words, played over and over in her mind. With each replay, another stone dropped into her heart, heavy and unsettling.
Suddenly, her phone rang, shattering the tense silence in the car.
On the other end, my voice was as calm and detached as a machine.
"Seraphina, I have Max."
The car screeched to a halt at the side of the road. Seraphinas hands clamped down on the steering wheel, her knuckles white.
A terrible thought took root in her mind, growing with terrifying speed.
Could it be that he knows the truth?

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