The Sniper Wife

My mother-in-law was dangling from the rooftop of a 28-story building. My wife, Seraphina, the best sharpshooter on the force, had a hundred percent chance of taking out the kidnapper with a single shot.
But the new intern, Hunter, looked at her with pleading eyes. He said it was his first time facing a life-or-death situation and he wanted to find the courage to take the shot.
Seraphina handed him her rifle.
The shot rang out. The bullet went wide.
The rope snapped. My mother-in-law's body plummeted, hitting the pavement with a sickening, final thud.
Seraphina wrapped her arms around Hunter, comforting him softly.
"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have let you."
She didn't even glance down at the street below. Only after she had calmed Hunter down did she finally walk over to me.
"Liam, honey, I'm so sorry. I couldn't save your mom."
I froze.
My mom?
But my mom was at home right now, cooking my favorite soup, waiting for me to come home.

1.
Behind the police tape, I stared at the crimson stain on the asphalt, my mind a complete blank.
Only after she had thoroughly soothed Hunter did Seraphina finally remember I was there.
"Liam, honey, I'm so sorry. I couldn't save your mom."
There was no grief in her voice, no pain in her eyes. Only a hollow sense of duty, and a palpable wave of relief.
I remained rooted to the spot.
My mom?
My mom should be at home right now, wearing her apron, simmering the fish-head and tofu soup I loved, waiting for me to get back from work. That warm, comforting image clashed with the cold, bloody scene before me in the most grotesque way imaginable.
Hunter peeked out from Seraphina's embrace, looking at me with timid eyes.
"Liam… don't blame the Captain. It's all my fault… I was just so desperate to prove myself…"
Before he could finish, Seraphina pulled him back, her voice sharp.
"This has nothing to do with you! It was my decision!"
She turned to me, her tone hardening into something cold and brittle.
"The kidnapper was a maniac. Even if Hunter hadn't hit the rope, your mother was probably a goner anyway. She's gone. Can you please not make a scene?"
I finally understood.
She thought the person who had died was my mother. And she naturally assumed I would throw a fit, that I would take my anger out on her precious intern.
An arctic chill shot up from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head. I looked at this woman I had loved for five years, the woman I shared a bed with.
"Seraphina, that was your mother! She was the closest person you had in the world!"
I thought I had made myself perfectly clear, but she obviously didn't grasp the meaning of my words. Her colleagues around us cast sympathetic glances my way. Clearly, they all thought the same thing she did.
Seraphina’s brow furrowed in annoyance.
"Liam, stop with the spoiled tantrums. I told you, this is not Hunter's fault."
She reached out to take my hand. The same hand that had held a sniper rifle steady on a hundred training fields, the same hand that had gently straightened my tie.
Right now, it just felt filthy.
With every ounce of strength I had, I wrenched my hand away.

2.
I went to the morgue alone.
Lifting the thin white sheet, I looked at my mother-in-law's face, now an unrecognizable ruin from the fall. The tears I had been holding back finally broke free, streaming down my face.
After my own parents, she was the kindest person to me in the world. When Seraphina was away on long training assignments, she would come over to keep me company and help tidy the apartment. She remembered all my favorite dishes and would cook them for me, always trying new recipes.
Just last week, she had held my hand, chattering away.
"Liam, after Sera's next mission is over and she has some time off, I'm going to knit you two a matching set of sweaters."
Her voice, her smile, they were still so vivid in my mind.
Now, she was just a cold body on a steel table.
The morgue door swung open. Seraphina walked in, with Hunter in tow.
Her voice was glacial.
"Liam, if you're done looking, let's go. Staring won't bring your mother back to life."
Hunter offered me a tissue with a theatrical sniffle, his voice thick with fake emotion.
"Liam, I'm so sorry for your loss. It's my fault for being so eager… If it wasn't for me, your mom wouldn't have…"
My hand flew up, and with all my strength, I struck him. The sound of the slap echoed crisply in the cold room.
SMACK!
Hunter staggered back, clutching his cheek, a look of disbelief on his face.
Seraphina exploded. She shoved me hard, shielding Hunter with her body.
"Liam, are you insane?! Hunter feels guilty enough as it is! What more do you want?!"
The push sent me stumbling backward. My head slammed against the cold, tiled wall. A sharp pain lanced through my skull, followed by the warm trickle of liquid.
I touched the back of my head and my fingers came away sticky with blood. I pointed a trembling finger at the shrouded gurney.
"Seraphina, are you even human?!" I screamed, my voice raw.
"That woman raised you! She gave you everything for decades!"
Seraphina's protective stance wavered for a fraction of a second. But a small cough from Hunter snapped her back to attention.
"What are you talking about? It was your mother who died. She raised you. What does that have to do with me? You're so desperate to frame Hunter that you'd curse my own mother to death? You're being completely irrational."
My heart turned to ash. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
"Fine, Seraphina. If I'm so irrational, then there's no reason for us to be together anymore. Let's get a divorce."

3.
Hunter burst into tears, his whole body trembling.
"Liam, I know you hate me! But you can't use divorce to force the Captain to punish me! Sob… I really didn't mean to hit the rope!"
Seraphina's chest heaved with fury. She looked at me as if I were a vile criminal. She pulled Hunter into her arms, gently wiping away his tears. When she looked back at me, her face was a mask of impatience and disgust.
"Liam, how long are you going to keep this up?"
"Hunter is just a rookie. Even if he made a mistake, it's understandable. Are you threatening me with divorce just to ruin his career?"
"Your mother is dead. I understand you're grieving. But you can't drag everyone down into your hell with you!"
"You know my mother adored you, always treated you like her own son. You're making this scene because you know she'll tear into me to defend you, right? To get your revenge?"
Watching her so righteously defend another man, I suddenly felt like I was watching a bizarre, tragic play. The girl who once beat up a street punk for shoving me was gone forever.
From behind her, Hunter's face emerged. A flicker of triumph flashed in his red-rimmed eyes before he resumed his innocent, wounded expression.
"Captain, don't blame Liam. It's all my fault… Why don't you just send me to a disciplinary hearing? As long as it makes Liam feel better, I don't mind suffering…"
He sobbed as if he were the most wronged person on earth.
Seraphina patted his back comfortingly. When she turned back to me, her face held nothing but icy contempt.
"That's enough. Get out of here, Liam. If you harass Hunter again, don't blame me for what happens next."
With that, she took Hunter's hand and walked out without a backward glance.

4.
The next day, Seraphina tossed a thick stack of cash onto the table in front of me.
"Liam, you've been making a fuss for this long, isn't this what you wanted? Some compensation from Hunter? I've already taken care of your mother's body."
I stared at the money, not moving.
Seraphina thought I was unhappy with the amount. She frowned, explaining in a tone dripping with condescension.
"I pulled some strings and sold her body on the black market. To a wealthy man who just died, for a… pairing. Fifty thousand. It was the best price I could get."
"At least this way, your mother can enjoy some luxury in the afterlife. Consider it your final act of filial piety."
I lifted my head and stared at her. "Seraphina, what did you say? You sold Mom?"
My steady gaze made her uncomfortable. Her voice rose.
"What else was I supposed to do? Leaving her in the morgue costs money every day. She was just a retired teacher, never made much in her life. Now her death has earned you fifty thousand dollars. At least she didn't die for nothing."
Hunter chimed in at the perfect moment.
"He's right, Liam. The Captain did it for your own good. Besides, a arrangement like this is a fine final resting place. It's better than her being all alone down there."
A metallic taste filled my mouth. I nearly choked on my own rage.
My mother-in-law was a celebrated professor at a major university. Her students were everywhere. She was a kind soul who never troubled anyone and loved me like her own son.
To think that after her death, her own daughter would sell her body into such a grotesque arrangement.
I pushed the stack of money back towards her. "I have no use for this."
Seraphina still thought I was holding out for more.
"Liam, your mother was just a teacher. Fifty grand for her life is a good deal. You should be grateful!"
I shook my head, speaking each word with chilling clarity.
"You're mistaken, Seraphina. What I mean is, this is the money from selling your mother. You should be the one to collect it."
Seraphina's face darkened instantly. She grabbed my wrist, her grip like iron.
"Liam, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you so desperate for more money that you'd wish my own mother dead?"
Hunter's eyes welled up again as he rushed to intervene.
"Liam, please don't be like this. The Captain is just trying to help. You can't say things like that about her mom…"
I tore my arm from Seraphina's grasp, my voice eerily calm.
"Seraphina, I'm giving you one last piece of advice. Go and get Mom's body back. She always valued her dignity. And she loved you more than anything."
My words were the final spark. Seraphina erupted. She snatched the money and hurled it at my face.
"You're insane! My mom is perfectly fine on vacation abroad! I just checked her phone's location yesterday. It was at the airport! You can stop this crazy act! As for your mother, getting you this fifty thousand is the most valuable thing she's ever done!"
"And another thing! You want a divorce? Fine! I'll give you one!"
She pointed a finger at my nose, her eyes filled with malice.
"But I'll be the one writing the terms. And I'm going to make you understand what happens when you piss me off!"
With that, she grabbed the still-sobbing Hunter and slammed the door behind them.

5.
To protect Seraphina's "ace" reputation and the department's public image, the higher-ups quickly classified the catastrophic failure as a "rescue accident."
And Seraphina, to shield Hunter, took full responsibility. She even held a press conference.
On screen, Seraphina looked gaunt, with dark circles under her eyes. She offered a "sincere" apology to the countless cameras. But every word she spoke was a defense of Hunter.
"…As an intern, Officer Hunter's willingness to step up in such a critical moment, his courage in offering to take the shot himself, is truly commendable."
"Though the result was tragic, there is honor in his attempt."
Hunter, dressed in somber clothes, wept uncontrollably for the cameras. He recounted again and again how his "operational error" and "lack of mental fortitude" led to the tragedy, professing that he would be "haunted by regret for the rest of his life."
His masterful performance quickly won the public's sympathy.
One reporter asked a pointed question.
"Captain Seraphina, why is your husband, Mr. Liam, not present at today's press conference?"
A shadow of sorrow and exhaustion flickered across Seraphina's face at the perfect moment.

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