The Half-Year Murder Scheme

It was the day my husband, Addison Wright, was promoted to Full Professor.
For a man who considered our own wedding to be a simple matter of signing a certificate, he insisted on hosting a grand dinner party at our home to celebrate.
During the meal, he brought out a bouquet of flowers given to him by a female student, and was about to place them in a vase.
Without warning, I slapped the flowers from his hand. They scattered across the floor as I knocked the vase over. Amidst the stunned silence of our entire family, I spoke calmly.
"Let's get a divorce."
Addison stared at me for a long moment, his shock curdling into rage. "Evelyn, what the hell is wrong with you? All I did was put some flowers in a vase. Are you serious?"
His mother chimed in, her voice shrill. "Addison just made Full Professor! It's a day of celebration! What's wrong with a student bringing him flowers? Is your jealousy that pathological?"
I glanced at the fallen petals on the floor and said, enunciating every word, "Yes. It's because of these flowers that I want a divorce."

1.
The atmosphere at the table went cold.
My father-in-laws face darkened. My mother-in-laws hand, holding her chopsticks, froze mid-air. My own parents were the most shocked, staring at me with utter confusion.
My mother was the first to react, grabbing my hand. "Evelyn, stop this. This is Addison's big day."
Addison's expression shifted from disbelief to pure fury. The fire in his eyes could have burned me to ash. "Say that again."
I repeated myself. My voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear. "I said, I want a divorce."
Clatter. My mother-in-law slammed her utensils on the table. She pointed a finger at my nose, spittle flying. "Evelyn Reed, are you insane? Do you have any idea what day this is?"
"This is a momentous occasion for our family! And you're here causing trouble, trying to ruin everything. What are your intentions?"
"My son works himself to the bone with his research to earn this promotion, and he can't even accept a simple bouquet of flowers?"
I didn't look at her. My eyes were locked on Addison.
His handsome face was a mask of indignant anger. "Over a bouquet of flowers?"
"Evelyn, has your jealousy twisted you this much? All I did was put them in a vase. Do you have to be so dramatic?"
My father slammed his hand on the table, his gaze firm on Addison. "Watch your tone."
Addison glanced at my father, took a deep breath, and swiftly wiped the anger from his face, replacing it with an expression of pained disappointment. He first patted his mother's hand soothingly, then turned to my parents and bowed.
"Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry."
"Evelyn must be under a lot of stress at work lately. She's not herself. Please don't blame her."
"I'll have a good talk with her."
He tried to reach for my hand, but I sidestepped his touch.
Addison's face was a picture of earnest apology. "I'm sorry, Evelyn. I've been so focused on the promotion review lately, I've neglected you. That's my fault."
"But this is just a normal bouquet of roses. Don't you think you're overreacting? She's just an innocent student."
Addison's older brother, Leo, couldn't stand it anymore and tried to smooth things over. "Evelyn, are you sure you're not misunderstanding something? Addison didn't mean any harm. It was a gift from a student, he couldn't just throw it away in front of her, could he?"
"That's right, Evelyn," his wife, Laura, added. "I've met that girl, Chloe. She's sweet and sensible. She wouldn't do anything intentionally. Don't overthink it. Just apologize to Addison, and we can all move on."
My gaze swept over everyone at the table.
My father and father-in-law were frowning, silent. My mother's expression had shifted from confusion to dawning comprehension, and now she looked at me with reproach.
Addison. Truly a professor. With just a few words, he had transformed my demand into a childish tantrum.
I ignored his hypocritical performance and pointed to the roses on the floor, their fragrance growing stronger by the second.
"You're saying these are just ordinary flowers, right?"
I stared into his eyes.
"Then I dare you to close every door and window in this living room."
"And then stay in here with me, right here, with these flowers, for one hour."

2.
At my words, the color drained from Addison's face.
He took an instinctive half-step back, his left thumb unconsciously rubbing against his index finger. It was his tell, the thing he always did when he was hiding something.
His voice held a barely perceptible tremble, his eyes darting around the room. "What What nonsense are you talking about? What's the point of that?"
I smiled, bent down, picked up a single petal, and held it out to him.
"You said they were just ordinary roses, didn't you?"
Addison turned his head away, his lips pressed into a thin, hard line.
Seeing his discomfort, his mother shot up from her chair and grabbed a broom to clean up the mess. "This is bad luck! Such bad luck! Ruining the peace in our home. I'll sweep it all up, then maybe certain people won't have a reason to be so jealous and critical."
My own mother, shaking with anger at the insult, shot back, "What is that supposed to mean?"
I patted my mom's back reassuringly, then snapped at my mother-in-law, "Don't touch them!"
She flinched, startled by my sharp tone. I snatched the broom from her hand and threw it aside. Then I stepped forward, cornering Addison between myself and the floral wreckage.
"What's wrong? Feeling guilty?"
"You said there was nothing wrong with the flowers. So what are you afraid of?"
My questions made his eyes shift away, completely unable to meet my gaze.
My father-in-law threw down his chopsticks, his face a mottled canvas of red and white. He slammed his fist on the table. "Enough! All of you! What is this nonsense? This was supposed to be a celebration! Look at what you've turned it into!"
"Now sit down and eat. Anyone who causes more trouble can get out!"
He shot a meaningful look in my direction. I knew that last part was meant for me.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Addison practically lunged for the door, his haste looking almost desperate.
He yanked it open.
Standing on the doorstep was the very student he had just described as innocent and sensible: Chloe Bennett.
She was wearing a white sundress and carrying a box of expensive tea and supplements, gifts for my in-laws. When she saw the scene inside, her face went pale, her eyes instantly welling with tears. Her voice caught in a sob.
"Professor Wright Mrs. Wright What's happened?"
"Is it Is it because of the flowers I sent? Did I upset you?"
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sent roses. I didn't mean to cause a misunderstanding. The florist just said this bouquet was a bestseller and recommended it."
"I'm so sorry to intrude. I'll just go."
With that, she stepped into the living room, placed the gifts on the coffee table, and turned to leave. It was a sequence of actions that should have taken three seconds, but she managed to stretch it into a three-minute performance.
"Wait." My mother-in-law couldn't hold back any longer. She rushed forward, shooting Addison a blaming look. She grabbed Chloe's hand, sat her down on the sofa, then shot me a venomous glare. "You sweet child, this has nothing to do with you! It's just that some people are petty and can't stand to see others happy!"
In the brief moment her back was turned, I saw it clearly: Chloe shot me a look that was a potent cocktail of provocation and triumph.
I ignored her and said calmly to the room at large, "Get out."
My words made Addison stare at me in disbelief. His fists clenched, veins popping on the back of his hands. "Evelyn, that's enough!" he ground out. "What did she do wrong?"
"She already apologized for the misunderstanding! She's just a twenty-year-old kid, she's naive! The florist recommended them! Why are you taking it out on her?"
"I'm warning you, don't project your own filthy thoughts onto an innocent child."
His mother stood protectively in front of Chloe. "I'd like to see anyone try to make you leave!" She turned on me like a cannon. "Evelyn Reed, you've been married into our family for five years and haven't even given us a child, and now you treat our guest like this?"
"All you do is lock yourself in that lab of yours, making yourself less and less like a woman! You can't even perform the most basic function of a wife! Marrying you was the worst luck our family has ever had!"
"I said it from the beginning! A barren woman like you has a black heart! Since you can't be a mother yourself, you can't stand to see a young, vibrant girl!"

3.
"Who are you calling barren?" My father finally snapped. He shot up from his chair and stood in front of me, glaring at my mother-in-law. "It was your son who got on his knees and begged me for my daughter's hand in marriage. Is this how your family treats her now?"
My father-in-law slowly set down his teacup. "Now, now, let's not get excited. What she said was harsh, but she's just angry. This is women's business. We men shouldn't get involved."
With one sentence, he dismissed his wife's vicious tirade as "women's business." My father was so enraged he was gasping for air.
I put a hand on his arm and looked at Chloe. "You're the one who sent the flowers. Are you telling me you don't know what's in them?"
She stared back with wide, innocent eyes, the picture of a wounded doe. "Mrs. Wright, what are you talking about? I bought them from a flower shop. If you think there's a problem, I can call the shop right now and ask."
She made a show of pulling out her phone.
I watched her performance with cold eyes. With one move, she had absolved herself of all responsibility, implied I was paranoid and jealous, and reinforced her own innocence. A true master.
As expected, Addison stopped her. He shot me a dirty look. "She's the one being paranoid. You don't need to prove anything."
He strode over to me, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me hard. "Evelyn, have you had enough? You've completely humiliated our family!"
"Humiliated?" I shoved his hands off. "And you staying up all night with your female student to 'edit her thesis,' that wasn't humiliating?"
"That was work!" he roared, utterly self-righteous.
Just as we were facing off, my mother slapped me hard across the face.
Her eyes were red and filled with disappointment. "Evelyn, is this how I raised you? Have you no shame? Apologize to Chloe right now!"
My cheek stung, but a chill spread through my entire body. My own mother, without even asking for an explanation, had believed a stranger over me and struck me.
Through a blur of tears, I saw the triumphant smirk on Addison's face. He even gave me a slight, mocking arch of his eyebrow. Behind him, Chloe, still sheltered by his mother, covered her mouth with her hand, her "innocent" eyes wide. But deep within them, there was no mistaking the glint of victory and scorn.
He thought he had won. In his perfect plan, I was isolated, defeated, abandoned by everyone.
Addison stood before me, a cold sneer on his lips. "See? You know you're wrong now." He gestured towards Chloe. "Get on your knees and apologize to her. Admit that you're mentally unstable and paranoid. Do that, and I'll pretend this whole thing never happened."
"Who dares make her kneel!" my father roared, pulling me behind him once more.
But my mother clung to his arm, crying, "Isn't this chaotic enough for you? What's wrong with her just apologizing? Do you want her to get a divorce over something so stupid and make our whole family a laughingstock?"
I looked at my father, his eyes red with the effort of defending me. I looked at that smug, victorious pair.
I gently moved my father's hand away, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Fine."
I paused, then gave them the words they wanted to hear. "I'll kneel. I'll apologize."
The living room fell into a dead silence. Addison's expression froze, as if he hadn't expected me to cave so easily. He softened his tone, coaxing me. "Evelyn, let's stop this. Let's just go back to how things were, okay?"

4.
"No." I looked at him, my face blank.
I pulled out my phone and waved it, looking at Addison and Chloe with pure derision. "Apologize? Sure. But before I do, I think we're all entitled to know what, exactly, is in this bouquet."
Addison's patience snapped. "They're just flowers! How long are you going to keep this up?"
"Is that so?" I found the number for my lab and dialed. "Hello? This is Evelyn Reed. Halt all ongoing tests. I need you to run an analysis on a bouquet of flowers for me. I'm bringing the materials over right now."
I hung up and stared directly at the suddenly constricted pupils of Addison and Chloe.
"If the results prove that these are just ordinary flowers and that I'm insane," I announced, "I will not only get on my knees and beg for Miss Bennett's forgiveness, but I will also sign over my 30% stake in my pharmaceutical company, along with all my properties and savings, to you, Addison."
"I will walk away with nothing."
An undisguised, manic joy erupted in my mother-in-law's eyes. She shoved Addison forward, her voice high and strained. "Addison, she said it herself! Did you hear her?"
"Everyone heard her! She's the one who said it!"
The last vestiges of reason in Addison's eyes were consumed by greed. Fearing I would back out, he made the decision, announcing loudly to everyone, "Fine! We'll go right now! Evelyn Reed, you'd better keep your word!"
"Dad, Mom, Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, let's all go and witness just how she has slandered an innocent person!"
My mother's face was a mask of regret and panic. She tried to stop me, but my father held her back. He looked at me, and in his eyes, there was more trust than worry.
On the way to the lab, my mother cried the entire time. "Evelyn, how could you be so foolish... How could you gamble your entire life away out of spite..."
My father said nothing, but he kept looking at me in the rearview mirror. Addison, in the driver's seat, would occasionally meet my gaze in the mirror as well. His eyes were filled with contempt, mockery, and a hungry anticipation for the massive fortune he was about to acquire.
The lab technicians I had called ahead were already waiting for us at the entrance, dressed in white coats.
"Dr. Reed, what do you need analyzed?" The lab director, Dr. Marcus Thorne, greeted me.
I held out my arm. "First, a sample of my blood."

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