I Caught My Husband in the Crypt and Buried Him

During the annual memorial at the family estate, my husband and his brothers wife vanished. I was lighting candles by my fathers open grave with my mother in law Martha when glowing text flashed before my eyes.

It said my husband had hidden inside the burial vault with Mia, and the groundskeepers would fill the grave that afternoon. It mocked their death wish.

Then I understood. He had not gone to pick lilies. He was sneaking into the crypt to be with her.

As I stood, Declan, his half brother, stopped me. He said the wind was too strong and that he would look instead.

The text reappeared. It praised Declan for covering for them. It said Mia only married him to stay near my husband. Once she had a girl, they would trick me into believing my missing daughter was found.

But the next line froze me. It said my daughter had died long ago in an abandoned pigpen. They kept me only to drain my accounts.

I swallowed the rising bile. I turned to Martha and said the vault looked unstable. I told her we should have it filled at once.

Relatives took shovels to help. If they loved hiding in graves, they could stay there and keep my daughter company.

01

[Holy shit! Why is the wife filling the grave now? This isn't how the script goes!]

[It's fine. The dirt is barely at their ankles. The brother needs to step up and save the day!]

Declan stepped forward, blocking the relatives.

"This... filling the plot so suddenly might bring bad luck. Shouldn't we wait for the priest to bless the earth first?"

I leaned on my shovel, lifting my eyes to glare at him.

A year ago, Declan was the one who suggested taking my daughter out for a walk.

Penny was only three. She could barely walk straight, but she clamored to go to the store to buy candy for me because my blood sugar was low.

She never came back.

Declan claimed he took her to meet Preston and Mia. He said the moment Penny saw them, she ripped her hand away and ran off into the crowd.

I refused to believe it. I searched the streets for three days and three nights. I screamed her name until my vocal cords bled. I walked until my feet were covered in gruesome blisters.

In the end, all I could do was file a missing person's report. I sat by her empty princess bed and cried every single day for a year.

And now, these floating comments were telling me my baby girl died in a rotting, rural pigpen?

My knuckles turned white around the wooden shovel handle. A cold sneer crept onto my lips.

"Leaving a gaping hole like this disturbs the dead. We need to let your father rest."

Declan froze, his eyes darting around nervously.

"Audrey, I'm just thinking of Preston. You know how superstitious he is about the family plot. We should at least wait for him to get back and take a look."

The glowing text updated in real time.

[Good job, bro! Otherwise the dirt would be at their waists by now. How are they supposed to make a baby in that?!]

[I am so stressed! They are right in the middle of the action! Why is the wife being such a pain?]

I nodded slowly. Since he wanted to play this game, I would play along.

"Fine. We will wait for your brother, Preston. Oh, and Mia too. We can all pay our respects and seal the grave together."

Before Declan could let out a sigh of relief, I turned to the crowd and raised my voice.

"Everyone has been working hard all morning! It's time I treat you all to a proper meal."

I pulled out my phone and dialed the most extravagant southern barbecue joint in the county.

"Hi, I need five massive party platters of ribs, ten buckets of fried chicken, twenty briskets, fifty pulled pork sliders..."

Ignoring Declan's horrified stare, I let my lips curl into a slow, venomous smile.

"The walk down the hill is too steep. Let's just sit right here by the grave, eat, and wait for Preston and Mia."

The floating comments exploded into an absolute frenzy.

[She gets to stuff her face, but what about our main couple?! The oxygen in the vault is running out!]

[Ahhh this is bad! Mia is going to pass out from hypoxia!]

[Look! Preston is kissing her to share his breath! The sexual tension is insane!]

[Who cares if the bitter wife throws a tantrum? She's just a tool to push the plot forward!]

[Exactly. The main couple has plot armor. They won't actually die.]

02

Every word felt like a needle driving into my heart.

We had been married for five years. Whenever Preston kissed me, it was always a brief, sterile peck. He always claimed he hated physical intimacy.

It wasn't that he wasn't used to it.

It was just that in his world, I was nothing more than the villainous first wife.

Well, if that was the case, I was going to play the villain to perfection.

After the massive feast, I looked at the relatives slipping into food comas and offered a sickly sweet proposal.

"Martha, everyone is exhausted. Let me handle the rest of the dirt."

Martha paused, clutching her silver rosary.

"By yourself? What if the soil isn't packed tight enough?"

I totally understood her concern for the old man's resting place. I gave her a reassuring smile and yelled toward the road.

"Bring it up!"

A deafening roar echoed through the trees. The crowd turned to see a massive, yellow backhoe excavator rumbling up the hill like a tank.

The comments went absolutely feral.

[What the actual fuck?! Is the wife psychotic? One scoop from that thing and our couple is dead!]

[Preston is freaking out down there! He's desperately clawing at the dirt trying to climb up!]

[Wait! What about Mia? She's still at the bottom!]

Thank god I had the foresight to call a heavy machinery crew while ordering the barbecue.

Martha's face broke into an approving smile.

"You always think ahead, Audrey. You might not be as sweet and obedient as Mia, but you did good today."

Declan wasn't smiling. He stared at the giant steel bucket, his face entirely drained of color.

"No! You can't use an excavator! Send them away right now!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What is your problem? Do you not want your father to rest in peace?"

The relatives turned to glare at him.

He stumbled back a step. "That's not what I meant..."

I didn't give him a second to breathe. "Or are you saying there's something hidden down there that you don't want us to see?"

Martha's eyes instantly lit up with greed. "Hidden? Like what? Did the old man stash his secret fortune down there?"

The relatives leaned in, their eyes gleaming.

Everyone knew the old patriarch was obsessed with hoarding gold and antique jewelry. It wasn't a stretch to think he took a secret stash to his grave.

I cleared my throat softly. "Well, you are his illegitimate son, Declan. He only called you and Preston into his room right before he died."

All eyes locked onto Declan's violently red face.

Martha, who would rather die than let a penny of family money go to a bastard son, scowled fiercely.

"Declan, you have always tried to steal what belongs to Preston. You better start talking right now."

"I... I'll tell you!"

Declan gulped, shooting a desperate glance at the rapidly filling burial plot. He clenched his teeth and made a wild gamble.

"Dad did bury a chest of gold down there!"

"You have to dig the dirt out! Please!"

The floating text was practically sweating bullets.

[We are so screwed! If they dig it up, the secret affair is completely exposed!]

[Well, we can't just sit here and watch them get buried alive! Better exposed than dead!]

[Wait, look! What is Preston doing?!]

Thud.

A heavy, muffled thud echoed from deep beneath the earth.

Everyone froze.

03

Martha stumbled back in horror. "What was that sound?"

[The dirt is past their throats! Preston is desperately kicking his dad's coffin to get someone's attention!]

[Mia is dying in his arms! Her face is turning purple. She's going to suffocate!]

Declan's pupils dilated in sheer panic. He started screaming at the relatives.

"Grab shovels! Dig! The treasure box might be caving in!"

Trying to save them? Not on my watch.

I stepped right in front of him. "Hold on. Didn't you want to wait for the priest? Well, I had my spiritual advisor look at the charts yesterday."

"Today is an auspicious day for sealing the grave, but a cursed day for unearthing it. Anyone who digs it up will suffer eternal retribution."

"To hell with retribution! It's all..."

"Shut your mouth!"

Martha gripped her rosary so hard the chain nearly snapped. "Nobody digs! Fill the grave!"

Declan's jaw dropped. "What?"

[I am furious! The evil wife totally knows Martha is insanely superstitious. She's playing her!]

[You can't blame Martha. The old bat has done too many evil things. She literally poisoned the old man for the inheritance!]

[The old man is nothing! She killed her own granddaughter! When the couple suggested leaving Penny in the pigpen to starve, Martha was the one who personally drove her there.]

I almost couldn't believe my own eyes.

Even tigers don't eat their own cubs.

Memories flooded my mind. Countless nights, little Penny would cautiously try to win her grandmother's affection.

She would waddle over, holding out her favorite toy, only for Martha to slap her so hard she would fall to the floor.

"You little parasite! Why couldn't you be a boy! Do you have any idea how long I had to play the sweet mother-in-law to trap your mother into this family?!"

Back then, I just thought Martha was a bitter traditionalist who hated girls. I never imagined she actively wanted my baby dead.

But deeply religious people usually feared bad karma. My gut told me there was an even darker conspiracy at play.

Another muffled, frantic thud echoed from the dirt.

It was unmistakably human.

Declan looked like he was about to burst into tears. "No, seriously, you have to dig it up! There's..."

"Even if there is treasure, you wouldn't get a single dime."

I cut him off with a half smile, watching Martha's face darken like a thundercloud.

She was incredibly greedy and selfish. There was no way in hell she would let an illegitimate son touch a cent of the inheritance.

"Declan, the old man spoiled you when he was alive, but I run this family now."

Martha tilted her chin up arrogantly. "Fill it! Pack it tight! Don't leave a single crack!"

Watching the excavator roar back to life, Declan couldn't take it anymore. He clenched his fists and sprinted down the hill.

"Fine! If you're going to force my hand, don't blame me for getting ugly!"

The comments immediately started buzzing again.

[Where is he going... Is he getting the Mayor?!]

[Probably. The Mayor controls all the land deeds and permits on this mountain. He has the final say on whether a grave gets opened.]

[Hahaha, let's see how the wife stops the Mayor from digging!]

[Exactly. The unloved one is the real homewrecker. I hope she dies soon so she stops getting in the way of our true love!]

Reading the glowing lines, a freezing smile touched my lips.

They had no idea.

The excavator was already dumping the final load of dirt onto the grave.

04

Declan returned quickly, towing the town Mayor behind him.

"Who gave you permission to seal this plot?!"

The Mayor puffed his chest out, marching over. "Don't think I don't know you're hiding treasure down there! Dig it up immediately! That belongs to the county!"

"If you try to hoard it, I'll have the sheriff lock you all up!"

Martha's face paled. "What are you talking about? This is my family's private cemetery. You have no right!"

The Mayor sneered, pulling a crumpled document from his jacket. "Your dead husband owed me money! I'm seizing his assets to settle the debt. Digging up his grave is perfectly legal."

Martha leaned in. It was undeniably the old man's handwriting.

Declan kept his head down, but his lips twitched into a relieved smirk.

[Omg, did you guys see that?! That IOU is totally forged by Declan!]

[Right? Our deeply devoted second male lead has been secretly in love with Mia since they were kids. But Mia told him she'd only marry him if he covered for her affair with Preston.]

[And Preston totally treats Declan like a real brother. Declan is sacrificing his own happiness for their true love! So selfless!]

I quietly enjoyed the sight of Martha being rendered absolutely speechless before I finally spoke up.

"Mayor, are you entirely sure you want to dig? The things buried down there... might be a bit of a shock."

The Mayor glared at me sideways. "None of your damn business. Even if God Himself came down, I'd still dig!"

He waved his arm aggressively. "Where is the construction crew?! Start digging! Anyone who finds gold gets a massive bonus!"

But the only response was the idle rumbling of the machinery.

Not a single man moved.

"Are you deaf?! Do you know who I am?! If you disobey me, you'll never work in this town again..."

His words died in his throat.

The foreman stepping out of the excavator was a face he knew all too well.

[Holy shit? That's not a local crew. That's the private contractors from the Sinclair family in New York?!]

As the comments chattered away, the foreman stepped up and gave me a respectful bow.

"My apologies, Miss Sinclair. I hope we didn't startle you."

"The moment I got your call, I brought the crew straight here. We are entirely at your disposal."

I nodded.

The Mayor probably had no idea that ever since I married into this family, I had been using my trust fund to quietly prop them up.

This entire rural town, which didn't even have paved roads five years ago, was built up by Sinclair money.

The construction crew, the extravagant feast, the luxury cars, even the cemetery plot itself, it was all paid for by me.

"Wait... you're the heiress to the Sinclair empire!"

The Mayor finally realized who he was screaming at. His legs gave out, and he dropped straight to his knees in the dirt.

"I was blind! I am so sorry! Whatever you want! We don't have to dig!"

Martha's eyes lit up with triumph.

I let a dark, playful smirk pull at my lips. If we didn't dig, how was I going to enjoy the show?

"Well, you were so passionate about it. Now I'm curious to see what kind of treasure is hiding down there."

Everyone froze.

Declan's eyes bulged, staring at me in pure disbelief.

[Is the wife bipolar? Dig, don't dig, what the hell does she want?]

[Hahaha she's definitely scared! Even with all that money, she doesn't want a murder charge!]

[Hurry up and dig! I haven't seen an update on the main couple in forever! They are finally getting saved!]

Seven or eight burly men grabbed shovels and started moving earth.

Declan stood on the sidelines, completely failing to hide his overwhelming relief.

Martha, on the other hand, was trembling with rage, pointing a shaking finger at me and muttering curses.

"If it wasn't for your New York money, do you really think Preston would have ever looked at you?"

"Don't think your billions make you a goddess! Let me tell you, you don't even compare to a single strand of Mia's hair!"

"Sure, Mia grew up poor, but she knows how to be a proper, obedient woman!"

I sneered. Over our five year marriage, Martha had constantly compared me to Mia.

In her eyes, Mia was the flawless, ultimate prize.

"Then you should have let your precious son marry Mia," I shot back.

The moment the words left my mouth, the comments surged.

[Oh my god! The wife doesn't know! Our sweet baby Mia and Preston are biological siblings!]

[Martha refused to let Preston marry Mia precisely because she knew they were brother and sister!]

[Hehehe, thank god our girl Mia is smart. She married Declan just so she could keep hooking up with Preston! I am obsessed with them!]

"Wait! Look at this! What is this?!"

The Mayor's trembling hand pulled a piece of fabric out of the dirt.

It was a woman's black lace thong.

Martha nearly fainted. Her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head.

"Why is Mia's underwear down there?!"

I stepped forward and casually tugged at another piece of fabric, pulling out a man's boxer brief. I gasped in mock horror.

"My husband's underwear is in the grave too?!"

Every single pair of eyes locked onto the two pieces of muddy lingerie.

Suddenly, a relative gasped.

"Hold on... has anyone noticed that Preston and Mia have both been missing this entire time?"

The floating text started panicking like ants on a hot skillet.

[What's going on? They've been digging forever, why haven't we seen the main couple?!]

[Wait... look at how deep they are digging. Are they... dead?]

[Look! Look at the dirt! Is that... human fingers?!]