My Imaginary Husband Sent Me a Dress

To avoid trouble, I always made up that I had a husband.

While shopping with a coworker, I saw a really expensive dress.

The salesclerk pushed hard to sell it, so I said:

Never mind, my husband won't agree. Even if I buy it, I'll just have to return it.

Unexpectedly, the next day, a package arrived at the company.

When I opened it, it was actually that dress!

My coworker's eyes lit up, and she picked up the card inside and read:

"To my dear wife: If you like it, you should have it. You deserve all the beautiful things.

"Signed your loving husband!"

I was completely dumbfounded.

My husband was something I made up.

I'd never even been in a relationship, so where did a husband come from?

I thought my coworker Lina was just reading nonsense, so I hurriedly grabbed the card.

But I saw that these two lines were indeed written on it.

"Laura, you usually say your husband won't let you do this or that.

"Isn't he quite generous? Five thousand dollars, bought without blinking!"

A few other coworkers also gathered around.

"So your husband is this rich, who would've thought, Laura!"

I forced a smile, unable to say a word.

It had been three months since I joined the company, and my married persona was very stable.

Anything I didn't want to do, I pushed off by saying, "My husband won't let me."

It worked like a charm.

But in reality, I was single and had never even held a guy's hand!

Where did a husband pop up from?

I sneaked a peek; the dress was even my exact size.

Who sent it?

I narcissistically wondered if someone had a crush on me.

But I only saw this dress when I was shopping with Lina, so she was the only one who knew about it.

I quietly observed Lina's expression.

Completely normal.

All day, I was restless.

After work, I called the store's customer service.

This wasn't a small transaction, so the store should have the buyer's information.

But the rep was silent for a few seconds and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, this order was placed anonymously. The customer opted for privacy protection, so we can't see the information."

Anonymous?

So mysterious.

I stared at the dress for a long time, then shoved it into the deepest part of my closet.

The next day at work, Lina asked, "Laura, why aren't you wearing that dress? I wanted to feast my eyes and see what a five-thousand-dollar dress looks like on!"

I brushed it off: "Wearing something that expensive to work, isn't that a waste?"

I didn't dare to wear something from an unknown source.

Lina didn't ask further.

I focused on my work, but before long, the receptionist called me.

"Laura, you have a delivery!"

My whole body shuddered, and I had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, when I brought the package over and opened it, inside was a full set of lipsticks.

The card inside was signed again: Your loving husband.

Lina exclaimed, "Aren't these the newly released ones? We talked about them last week, and you said you liked several shades!"

Yes, and I had even casually said at the time:

"I really want to buy the whole set, but my husband definitely won't let me. He always says I have enough lipstick."

Lina shook her head.

"Won't let you buy? Now he just bought the whole set for you! Laura, what kind of angel husband do you have!"

Angel, definitely an angel.

So angelic that I don't even know who he is!

What the hell is going on?

Could someone really have a crush on me?

Then just confess to my face! What's the point of secretly sending gifts and calling himself my husband!

My mind was a mess, and I shoved the lipsticks into my drawer.

Lina looked at me strangely: "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you happy at all about receiving a gift? Did you fight with your husband?"

I smiled awkwardly.

Lina took it as my confirmation: "No wonder he's sending you gifts these past couple of days. Geez, with such a generous husband, why would you fight with him?"

I didn't speak.

I silently memorized the tracking number on the delivery box, then found the online store and contacted customer service.

The reply I got was:

[This order was placed anonymously, so we can't provide the information.]

Can online shopping even be anonymous?

I was pondering this question.

Suddenly, the receptionist called me again.

"Laura, come get your flowers!"

Flowers? What flowers?

I blankly stood up and walked over. The delivery guy was holding a huge bouquet.

"Are you Ms. Laura? These are the flowers your husband sent you."

I froze on the spot. By the time I reacted, the delivery guy was already walking away.

I hurriedly chased after him and called out to stop him.

"Excuse me, who placed the order for the flowers?"

The delivery guy gave me a weird look: "Your husband."

I shook my head: "I mean, can I see the buyer's account?"

The delivery guy didn't understand but did it anyway, taking out his phone to show me the chat history for his order.

As expected, the other party's account page was completely blank.

"This bouquet is two thousand bucks. Minus the delivery fee, your husband even gave me an extra thousand as a tip."

The delivery guy was smiling so wide his eyes disappeared: "Miss Laura, your husband is really good to you, so generous."

I stiffly handed the phone back to him and forced a stiff smile.

Back at the company, my coworkers all gathered around.

"Such a big bouquet, it must've cost thousands, right?"

"That's nothing. Laura's husband bought a five-thousand-dollar dress without blinking!"

"Hey, there's a card on the flowers, what does it say?"

Only then did I see that card.

[Honey, don't be mad anymore.]

Seeing this line clearly, my hand trembled, and I almost threw the flowers.

A few coworkers teased: "Laura, with such a great husband, how could you bear to fight with him?"

"I'm crying from envy, I want a husband this good too!"

"His apology is so sincere, just forgive him."

They were all talking at once, and I couldn't take in a single word. Instead, I glanced at Lina.

The dress, the lipstickonly Lina knew I had said those things.

Even the moment I just mentioned in front of her that I fought with my "husband," a bouquet was immediately delivered, telling me not to be mad.

Could she have found out I didn't actually have a husband and was playing a prank?

But these things weren't cheap. It didn't seem like she'd spend that much money.

I couldn't figure it out; I didn't have a clue.

My mind was in chaos, so after work, I went to see my grandpa.

Grandpa cooked a big table of food for me, and I affectionately linked my arm with his, acting spoiled.

Suddenly, I noticed he wasn't wearing his hearing aid.

"Grandpa, where's your hearing aid?"

Grandpa was very hard of hearing, and it took him a while to understand what I said.

"That thing? I accidentally dropped it in the river while fishing yesterday!

"It's no big deal, no big deal!"

How could it be no big deal?

I immediately searched online for hearing aids, researching which one was the best.

"Just buy a cheap one, don't waste money," Grandpa said beside me.

I didn't go back that night and just stayed over.

Early the next morning, a knock on the door woke me up.

I walked out of the room bleary-eyed and saw Grandpa opening the door. Outside was a delivery guy.

"Hello, please sign for this."

Grandpa glanced at the package and froze.

"Where did you buy this? It arrived so fast!"

I instantly woke up and hurried over.

Looking closely, what the delivery guy was holding was exactly a hearing aid.

But I hadn't even placed the order yet!

Instantly, goosebumps broke out all over my body.

"Hello, which one of you will sign for it?"

The delivery guy said again.

Grandpa was about to sign, but I quickly said:

"Um, I think I bought the wrong one. Sorry, I need to reject this."

This was for Grandpa.

I didn't dare to just accept it. What if it was dangerous?

While rejecting it, I caught a glimpse of a familiar card attached to the box.

[Of course, we have to give Grandpa the best. Laura's Husband]

My hand trembled in fright.

After sending the delivery guy away, I took half a day off from the company and took Grandpa to a physical store to buy a hearing aid.

Then I exhorted Grandpa repeatedly.

"Grandpa, if you receive any packages recently, you must ask me immediately."

Although Grandpa didn't quite understand, he listened to me well.

When I went to work in the afternoon, I was a complete mess.

Who exactly was this person, to even know my grandpa's address?

More importantly, only Grandpa and I knew I was planning to buy a hearing aid!

I had only searched for hearing aids online the night before.

And it was delivered to the door early in the morning?

No matter how I thought about it, it was absurd.

Could it be...

I looked down at my phone.

Could someone have installed something on my phone and was monitoring me?

Thinking it over and over, this was the only possibility.

So as soon as I got off work, I went to buy a new phone, formatted the old one, and sold it secondhand.

Spending two large sums of money in one day made my heart ache.

But what gave me peace of mind was that I didn't receive any more gifts for the next several days.

I had just breathed a sigh of relief, but that night, I had a strange dream.

In the dream, an unfamiliar man said to me with a wronged look:

"Honey, you don't wear the clothes I gave you, you don't use the lipstick, and you even refused Grandpa's hearing aid.

"Are you sick of me, or do you just not want gifts?

"It's your birthday, so how about I give you money? You can buy whatever you want yourself."

I woke up from the dream in shock, my heart almost leaping out of my chest.

Today was indeed my birthday.

But what kind of messy dream was that?

The alarm went off right then. I patted my head to forget about it and got up for work.

Sitting at my desk, I was munching on bread and rushing a proposal when my phone suddenly vibrated.

I clicked it open and instantly widened my eyes.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands... One million!

My card had received a deposit of one million!

I thought it was someone's prank, but when I clicked into the account page, there was indeed an extra one million.

Remark: [Honey, happy birthday.]

What was this situation?

"How about I give you money? You can buy whatever you want yourself."

The words from the dream surfaced in my mind.

I sat frozen in my seat, feeling my worldview collapse.

"Laura? What's wrong?"

Seeing me not even blinking, Lina nudged me.

I quickly put the phone face down: "No, nothing."

Oh my god, what the hell is going on?!

Where did this one million come from? Don't tell me I actually have a husband, but I just don't remember?

"By the way, Laura, I saw it marked on your desk calendar that today is your birthday. How are you planning to celebrate?"

Lina asked casually beside me.

I quietly picked up my phone and took another look at the account balance.

I had never used anything that "husband" sent.

Were these things real?

For example, could this one million be used?

I took a deep breath.

"Everyone, today is my birthday. I'm treating you all to dinner."

Hearing my words, my coworkers started to cheer.

Someone even asked: "Laura, aren't you spending your birthday with your husband?"

I made up an excuse: "He's on a business trip recently."

Then I sent a restaurant address in the SnapChat group.

Lina said in shock: "Laura, you're treating us to something this expensive?!"

I smiled and didn't speak.

But I was still a bit worried.

What if this money couldn't be spent?

As it turned out, my worries were unnecessary.

Watching me pay a bill of over fifteen thousand without blinking, my coworkers were dumbfounded.

"Laura, what exactly does your husband do? He's so rich!"

"You really hid it well, I really couldn't tell before."

"Alright, alright, let Laura make a wish first!"

Lina ordered a cake and put a birthday hat on me.

The candles were lit, and I closed my eyes.

Thinking of the bizarre experiences lately, I suddenly had an absurd thought.

Could it be that I have superpowers and whatever I want, I get?

Then I might as well try something big.

Thinking this, I chanted silently in my heart.

I want lots and lots of money!

Then I opened my eyes and blew out the candles.

When I went home at night, after washing up and lying in bed, I saw an unread message.

I sat up with a whoosh, clenched my fists, and clicked on that message.

I saw that another sum of money had been credited to my card, and the string of numbers was even longer than the one from the morning.

My heart pounding, I counted the zeros. It was actually one hundred million!

Remark: [I will give you lots and lots of money.]

It was too incredible... I got out of bed and walked in circles several times, feeling like I was dreaming.

Did I really have the superpower to make wishes come true?

But this wasn't scientific.

After calming down, I still felt something was wrong.

With such a huge income, would I be targeted by the police?

Getting rich overnight, would I be targeted by bad guys?

Even though the feeling of having money was great.

But I really didn't dare to spend this money.

Thinking it over, I decided to go to the police tomorrow.

If the police could trace the source of the money, that would be for the best.

If they couldn't, at least there would be a record.

Right, just like that!

I took a few deep breaths and comforted myself.

Lying back on the bed, I prepared to put down my phone and sleep.

Suddenly, my hand slipped, and I opened the photo album.

Then, I violently sat up once again.

Because in my photo album, a few photos I had never seen had appeared out of nowhere.

They were even photos of me and an unfamiliar man together!

And this man looked exactly like the face in my dream!

I was terrified and frantically turned on the light.

It was practically a ghost!

I had no impression of these photos at all, and I was sure I didn't know this man.

Unless the photos were AI.

But I had just changed to a new phone. Was the new phone being monitored too?

No matter what, I absolutely had to go report this to the police.

I left the light on all night and didn't dare to sleep.

As soon as it was dawn, I took a cab to the police station.

"Hello, has something happened to you?"

It was too early, plus my complexion was abnormal.

The duty officer became alert and poured me a glass of water.

I swallowed.

"Officer, photos of a strange man suddenly appeared on my phone, and... I also received a huge sum of money from an unknown source."

The officer frowned and asked, "Money from an unknown source? How much?"

"One hundred million... no, one million, plus one hundred million."

"One hundred million?!"

The officer jumped in shock and yelled.

"Officer Sam, what are you getting so startled about? What one hundred million?"

Another police officer asked from a distance.

And I froze for a moment.

Officer Sam?

...I slowly looked up and saw his face.

Suddenly, my mind exploded.

I knew! I knew what was going on!

While feeling excited, I had a severe headache. Then my vision became more and more blurry until I lost consciousness...