# **FAKE MY WIFE – NEW EDITION

**PART 1**

The neon lights of Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston cast shadows on 28-year-old **Julia Parker**’s pale skin, making her look like a ghost hovering between two worlds. Her mother, **Linda Parker**, lay motionless in the ICU after a sudden heart attack, with an expected medical bill of **$87,400**—a figure Julia couldn’t even dream of meeting even with three jobs.

Julia wasn’t the type to be scared. She grew up in a working-class neighborhood, raised herself since she was 18, and lived by the motto: *“No one can save you but yourself.”*

But tonight—the despair was unbearable.

—

### **1. THE MAN IN THE DARK**

“Miss Parker?”

A man’s voice behind her startled her, making her turn around.

It was **Dr. Adrian Wolfe**, 33—the hospital’s genius cardiologist, wealthy, cold, and notoriously unapproachable. He had a handsome face so sharp and neat it was hard to breathe. There was no one in the Houston medical community who didn’t know his name.

Julia straightened immediately, trying to hide her tension.

“How is my mother?” she asked.

“Temporarily stable. But she needs surgery within 48 hours.”

Julia swallowed.

“I… I don’t have any money.”

Adrian watched her long enough to make her want to hide under the floor tiles. His gaze held no pity—only calculation, as if analyzing a medical fact.

“Come with me for a moment,” he said.

“Give me a few minutes—”

“No,” he interrupted. “Right now.”

His words were like prescriptions: no permission, no explanation—just an order.

—

### **2. UNBELIEVABLE REQUEST**

Adrian’s office was unlike any other doctor’s office. Clean as a lab, cold as an FBI interrogation room.

He pointed to a chair:

“Sit down, Julia.”

She was stunned. “How do you know my name?”

“You’re a relative of the patient. I read the file. And… I’ve been watching you for the past few days.”

The words made her heart drop.

“You’re watching me… for what reason?”

Adrian clasped his hands together, his expression frighteningly expressionless.

“I need a legal wife by the 12th of next month to get my family’s entire fortune back.”

Julia glared.

“I thought you were joking.”

“I never joke.”

“You’re a famous doctor, rich, handsome… You could have had your pick of anyone out there!”

“Choose? No.” Adrian leaned toward her. “I need someone *with nothing to lose*. Someone who won’t betray me. Someone who won’t ask questions. And you’re perfect.”

Julia laughed dryly.

“Perfect? ​​I’m a $12-an-hour bartender. I’m not… ‘perfect’ in any frame of reference.”

“That’s why I chose you.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’ve investigated you enough to know that you have no backing, no legal ties, no criminal record, no credit card debt—just poor.” He spoke evenly. “Poor girls are the most loyal when given hope.”

The words were so cruel that Julia felt her stomach churn.

“So what do you want?”

Adrian stood up, circling her as if assessing her.

“I want you to be my wife for a year.”

“Pretend?”

“No,” he replied. “Legal marriage.”

“And in return?”

“I will pay all of your mother’s hospital bills, plus $200,000 for you after the contract is completed.”

Julia gasped.

$200,000. An amount she had never dreamed of in her life.

“Conditions?” she asked softly.

Adrian stopped right behind her and said,

“Just one thing: You can’t love me.”

Julia laughed:
“Trust me… it’s the easiest thing in the world.”

Adrian looked at her, his eyes darkening:

“We’ll see.”

—

### **3. A LOVELESS WEDDING**

Their wedding took place three weeks later, in the Wolfe mansion—a place that made Julia feel like she was faking her own life.

No friends.
No family.
No flowers.
No real wedding rings.

Just two strangers standing side by side in front of the lawyer.

Adrian put his hand on her back to guide her to sign the papers. His hand was colder than she expected.

“Congratulations.”
The lawyer shook their hands.

“You are now husband and wife.”

Julia wanted to run away immediately.

Adrian just nodded, his expression unchanged, as if he had just signed for an Amazon package.

---

PART 2**

Investigator Lawson had just finished his sentence:

**“We are investigating the disappearance of seven cardiac patients…”**

Julia felt the air in the mansion freeze. One second. Two seconds. No one spoke.

Adrian stood motionless like a marble statue, his icy blue eyes reflecting the yellow light in the hallway. In contrast to the tension radiating from all directions, he looked… *strangely calm*.

“What do you mean?” Julia stammered.

Lawson opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of files. Photos of patients—all elderly, critically ill, who had been in the ICU—were spread out on a table by the door.

“Over the past eight months,” Lawson said, “seven patients under Dr. Wolfe’s care disappeared without a trace the day after they left the hospital. No one knew where they went. Credit cards, phones, GPS—all stopped at the same time.”

Julia looked at Adrian, horrified.

“You… you have something to do with this?”

Adrian didn’t look at her.
Didn’t look at the investigator.

He said only one word:

“Get out.”

His voice was low and sharp as a knife. Julia had heard him give orders to nurses in the middle of an emergency—but never this cold.

Lawson slammed his hand on the table.

“Mr. Wolfe, don’t play tricks. We’ve been watching you for three weeks. You leave your house every night at 2 a.m. Where are you going?”

Adrian replied:

“It’s none of your business.”

“What are you hiding in the basement?”

Adrian narrowed his eyes. “I’ll say it again. Get. Out. of. My. House.”

Lawson clenched his jaw, then stuffed the file back into his briefcase.

“We’ll be back with a search warrant. You won’t get away next time.”

He walked away, slamming the door as if he wanted to rip the wall apart.

Julia turned to Adrian—her heart pounding, her throat dry.

“Adrian… you have to tell me what’s going on.”

He looked at her for a long time. His eyes scanned her, as if analyzing her every heartbeat.

“It’s none of your business.”

“But you’re my wife!”

“On paper.”

Julia froze.

He walked past her, straight upstairs, leaving a sentence:

“What I do is to protect you. Just do what I ask.”

—

## **7. THE BASEMENT – FORBIDDEN ZONE**

That night, Julia couldn’t sleep.

In the darkness, the clanging of metal from the basement rang out again—slow, steady, like a hammer striking a clock.

She remembered Adrian’s condition:
**Don’t open the basement door.**

But doubt clawed at her mind.

What was he hiding?
Bodies?
Patients?
Or…something more terrible?

Julia stepped out into the hallway. The mansion was large and silent. The soft light from the kitchen led her to the wooden door that led down to the basement stairs.

She touched the doorknob lightly.

Suddenly—

A hand from behind grabbed her wrist.

Julia screamed.

Adrian stood right behind her, his breath on the back of her neck—hot, rapid, and… angry.

“I told you,” he growled. “Don’t touch this door.”

“Why? What are you hiding under there? Are you a doctor or—”

“I’m the only one trying to save you from your own stupidity.”

Julia stepped back, her heart pounding against her ribs.

“You have to tell the truth,” she said, her voice trembling. “If the FBI is right—”

“The FBI doesn’t know anything.” Adrian almost shouted. “They’re just looking for someone to blame.”

“Seven people missing, Adrian! Seven people! You’re a cardiologist, not God!”

Adrian looked at her, his eyes flashing with something he hadn’t seen before: **fear**.

Not fear of the FBI.
Not fear of being caught.
But…a different fear. More personal. Deeper.

“Julia…” he said softly, as if forgetting to be cold. “I’m not hurting anyone. I swear.”

“So what are you hiding?”

Adrian was silent. Too long.

Finally, he said:

“You will know. But not now.”

He touched her jaw, his cold fingers lifting her face, forcing her to look at him.

“Trust me.”

Julia pushed his hand away.

“I can’t trust a man who keeps his wife in the dark.”

She walked away, leaving Adrian standing alone in front of the door, his hand still shaking slightly.

—

## **8. THE SECOND NIGHT OF THE ATTACK**

Two days later, near midnight, Julia was washing dishes when she heard a loud bang at her front door.

She jumped—but before she could react, the glass door exploded.

Three masked figures rushed in, flashlights blaring.

“Julia Parker?”
“Stop!”
“Put your hands up!”

Julia panicked.

“I… I didn’t do anything!”

A man grabbed her arm and twisted it back.

“This is the FBI!”
“You’re under investigation!”

“About what?” Julia shouted. “I’m just the legal wife on paper—”

“Legal wife?”
The guy with glasses sneered.

“Julia… you should know this.”

He brought the phone screen closer to her face.

It was a photo from the hospital’s mandibular camera, the day her mother was admitted.

And in the frame… it wasn’t just her mother.

**It’s Julia.**

**And Adrian.**

But what made her freeze was the sight of Adrian putting his hand on her shoulder, pulling her along, with the voice on the recording saying:

> “Get your mother to the ICU. And remember… don’t say anything to the police. You owe me.”

Julia kept

ng nguoi.

“My mother collapsed from a stroke,” Julia trembled. “It had nothing to do with him…”

The agent spoke each word:

“No. Julia. Your mother *did* not have a stroke of her own accord.”

Julia gasped.

“What do you mean?”

Agent Lawson—who had been to her house—emerged from the shadows, speaking slowly:

“We have the results of your mother’s blood tests.”

He paused.

—

### **And the next sentence made Julia’s world collapse:**

**“There were traces of a powerful heart depressant in her blood… that could only be accessed from your husband’s private lab.”**

Julia felt like someone had sucked the air out of her lungs.

Can’t breathe.
Can’t speak.
Can’t believe it.

Adrian…?

He made her mother sick to force her to accept the offer?

No. It couldn’t be.

It couldn’t be.

But Lawson didn’t stop.

“Julia, there’s a very good chance that—”

He looked at her, grave:

**“Linda Parker is the eighth victim.”**

—

## **9. ADRIAN APPEARS**

The back door burst open.

Adrian rushed in, his eyes bloodshot like a lunatic.

“Let her go!” he shouted.

An agent raised his gun.

Julia collapsed to the floor.

Adrian didn’t look at the gun.
Didn’t look at the FBI.
He just looked at her, as if everything else in the world had disappeared.

“Julia, don’t believe them.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

Julia cried, trembling:

“You made my mother sick… so I had to marry you?”

Adrian stood there, dumbfounded.

“Your mother…” he whispered. “You did it to save…”

But before Adrian could finish, five guns were pointed at him.

Lawson shouted:

“Adrian Wolfe! You are under arrest on suspicion of kidnapping, poisoning, and seven missing persons—”

Adrian did not raise his hands.

He did not fight back.

He did not run.

He took a step toward Julia.

An agent slammed the butt of his gun into his head.

Adrian fell.

Blood flowed onto the white marble floor.

Julia screamed:

“Stop! Stop!!!”

The house was in chaos.

Red and blue lights flashed outside.

Julia was dragged to the car like a criminal.

Adrian lay there—unmoving.

—

## **And just before she was dragged out the door, Julia heard his voice—so small, so broken:**

“Julia… if they open… the basement… you will die.”

Then everything went black.

---

# **PART 3 — THE TRUTH AWAKENS**

Riverside Memorial Hospital at 2:17 AM was filled with strange sounds: the monitor, the nurse’s clogs, and sometimes the wind whistling through the window as if trying to pull someone out of this world. Mary stood at the end of the hallway, her nursing coat hanging loosely, her palms drenched in sweat.

**Harold was awake.**
He was alive again – after 11 minutes of being considered “dead”.

But what shook Mary was not the resurrection.
**It was the words he said when he opened his eyes.**

“*Don’t let anyone bring Laura near me… and check the basement of the main house immediately.*
*There’s someone locked in there.*”

Laura – the eldest daughter.
The basement – ​​the place the police had sealed off 3 years ago.

Mary still couldn’t forget the look in his eyes—frightened, desperate, and… knowing.

She took a deep breath and walked into the ICU.

—

## **1. Harold recounts his last minutes before “death”**

Harold couldn’t sleep. His old eyes were fixed on the ceiling, as if looking through the concrete, back to the mansion where so many secrets had been locked away.

“Mary… I didn’t have a heart attack.”

His voice was hoarse, but clear. “I was poisoned.”

Mary almost dropped the tray of pills.

“What did you say?”

“That night… I didn’t sleep in the main room. I was in the library. I heard someone open the back door.” Harold swallowed. “I thought it was Laura. But it wasn’t. It was… a man.”

Mary’s eyes widened. “The staff?”

Harold shook his head.

“No. The one who disappeared.”

Mary clung to the bed, her heart pounding. “You mean…?”

Harold nodded slowly.

“Daniel Miller — my assistant — the one everyone thought ran away with the money.

He came back that night.”

Mary was stunned.

Daniel was the biggest missing person case the local media had ever reported. A 26-year-old, kind, anonymous… vanished without a trace, leaving all suspicion on Harold.

“And what did he say to you?” Mary asked.

Harold closed his eyes, his voice shaking as if cursing himself.

“He said, ‘*I escaped. I have to tell the truth. I was afraid they would kill you.*’”

Mary felt her throat dry.

“Who… are they?”

Harold opened his eyes.

“**My family.**”

—

## **2. The police get involved – but things get weird**

At 6 a.m., Inspector **Miles Danner** arrives at the hospital. He’s a tough, matter-of-fact man, with eyes that seem to doubt the world at all times.

Mary stands next to him.

“You said Daniel Miller came back,” Miles repeats, taking notes. “But why didn’t anyone see him?”

“Because he only had time to say one sentence…” Harold breathes hard. “Then someone hit me from behind.”

Miles frowns. “Did you see his face?”

Harold looks Mary straight in the eye – and shakes his head.

Miles steps into the hallway, pulling Mary along.

“Do you believe him?” he asks.

Mary hesitates.

“I believe… he’s not lying. But… Daniel has been missing for three years. Why did he show up on the day Harold almost died? And why did Laura react so strongly when you told her about the basement?”

Miles squeezes his pen.

“You said Laura arrived at the ward 10 minutes before me?”

“Yes. She turned pale, just said ‘he’s delirious’ and left.”

Miles looked straight at Mary.

“You know… in most poisoning cases where the perpetrator is a family member, the first sign is always: they’re afraid the victim will wake up.”

Mary felt goosebumps run down her spine.

—

## **3. The Basement – ​​Where the Truth Sleeps**

That afternoon, the police unlocked the basement of Harold’s mansion.

Mary followed, because Harold was adamant:
“*I only trust you.*”

The basement was large, cold, and smelled of mold. Flashlights scanned every corner.

Then Mary heard something.
**Very faint.**
Like… the sound of metal clanking.

Miles signaled for silence.

The three policemen approached the last door — an old steel door, marked with signs of having been pried open.

Miles counted: “1… 2… 3!”

The door swung open.

Mary would never forget the sight.

In the corner of the room, on a rusty iron chair, sat a thin man with shoulder-length hair, his wrists bound with chains.

He looked up when the flashlight hit his face.

His eyes—tired, desperate, pleading.

And so familiar that Mary felt her blood freeze.

Miles gasped.

“Oh my God… **Daniel Miller.**”

Daniel tried to speak, his voice hoarse, but his words were terrifyingly clear:

“Harold… isn’t lying…
*Your daughter… is going to kill you.*”

—

## **4. Laura is arrested – but this is the first twist**

Laura was taken into custody that night.

Mary stood outside the interrogation room, looking through the glass.

Laura was so calm that it made everyone uneasy.

Miles asked, “You kept Daniel Miller in the basement for three years. Why?”

Laura smiled—a twisted smile that was both indignant and mocking.

“Because he stole money. Because he ruined my father. Because he deserved to die.”

Miles slammed the table. “Honestly!”

Laura glared.

“I did it… to protect this family from the truth.”

Miles raised an eyebrow. “What truth?”

Laura narrowed her eyes like someone who had buried a secret for too long:

“Want to know for sure?
Daniel is not an assistant.”
She laughed dryly. “He is… **illegible son

Harold’s beast**.”

Mary was stunned.

Miles froze.

Laura continued:

“My father hid him for 20 years. Gave him an education. Gave him a job. But when my mother found out…”
She gritted her teeth.
“…it all fell apart. He lost control. My mother threatened divorce. Daniel threatened to sue. So my father… came to me.”

Miles narrowed his eyes.

“You mean Harold knew he was locked up?”

Laura smiled.

“No, he didn’t know.
**He ordered it.**”

—

## **5. The main twist – the innocent is the devil**

Mary felt like her head was going to explode.

“No… Harold couldn’t do that. He… was… good…”

Miles looked at her sympathetically.

“Mary… you have to prepare yourself for the worst.”

But when they emerged from the interrogation room, a different scene turned everything upside down.

Harold — sitting in a wheelchair, was escorted in by his lawyer.

He looked straight at Miles.

“I want to sue Laura for false imprisonment and attempted murder.”

Miles looked at him suspiciously.

“When she said you were behind all this… what did you say?”

Harold sighed, feigning pain.

“I’m sorry she was so sick as to make up such a story… I just wanted to save Daniel. I loved him like a son.”

Mary’s spine tinged with chills.

**Not because he was lying.

But because… Daniel was trembling, looking at him, so scared he was pale.**

Daniel stammered:

“You… don’t come near me…”

Harold slowed down, his voice gentle — almost chilling:

“Daniel… son… don’t be afraid. They don’t understand.”

Mary sensed something was wrong.

Miles stepped forward to block Daniel.

“Mr. Harold. Stop.”

Harold looked at him coldly.

“Who do you think you are to tell me to stop?”

Mary suddenly remembered the look on his face when he woke up — not despair.

**But calculation.**

—

## **6. The Last Piece – and the Truth Twisted**

Mary asked Miles if she could talk to Daniel alone.

In the small room, Daniel sobbed.

“Mary… I don’t want to say… because I know someone will believe Harold more than me. But… Laura is partly right.”

Mary held her breath.

Daniel looked straight into her eyes.

“Harold imprisoned me. But not because I was an illegitimate child.”
His breath quickened.
“But because I know the secret he’s kept for 20 years.”

Mary stiffened.

“What secret?”

Daniel wrote with a trembling hand on the paper.

When Mary read the words — her whole body went cold:

**“Harold killed someone. I saw it with my own eyes. And that person… was Laura’s mother.”**

Mary was stunned.

Daniel continued:

“Laura’s mother found out about Harold embezzling money from the charity. She asked for a divorce. He went crazy. I accidentally saw it… and then you took me. She ‘disappeared’ because you buried her in the backyard.”

Mary choked.

Daniel took her hand.

“He never intended to spare me. And he would kill Laura if he had to. Harold is the most dangerous man you’ve ever met.”

—

## **7. Climax – Harold’s Revelation**

As soon as Mary stepped into the hallway, the alarm went off.

Miles had just been knocked unconscious.

And Harold — disappeared from the hospital room.

Mary immediately ran towards the emergency exit.

At the end of the hallway, she saw him pushing a wheelchair… towards the elevator, trying to hide.

“Harold! Stop!”

He turned his head. The smile of a victor.

“Mary… you’re smart enough to know:
**truth belongs to the survivor.**”

Then he held up in his left hand —
**the syringe from the medicine cabinet.**

Mary was stunned.

“What are you going to do?”

“Erase the naughty kids,” he said. “Laura betrayed me. Daniel betrayed me. You… lucky I like it. But if you stand in his way—”

Mary rushed forward, yanking him by the arm.

The two struggled violently. The syringe fell to the floor.

The police arrived.

Miles, his head still bandaged, shouted:

“CATCH!”

Harold was restrained.

But before he was handcuffed, he turned to Mary, his eyes full of hatred:

“You think you won?
No. You just made me… wait longer.”

—

## **8. Open Ending — The Real Nightmare Has Just Begun**

A week later, the newspapers reported that Harold had been charged with seven major crimes. Laura was released after her testimony matched Daniel’s. Daniel remained in the hospital, requiring long-term psychiatric treatment.

Mary returned to the hospital room, looking at Harold’s empty bed.

Miles came to stand beside her.

“If it weren’t for you… things would have been different.”

Mary smiled faintly.

“I just did what I had to do.”

Miles hesitated.

“Do you want to hear the news?”

“What news?”

Miles held out an envelope.

“The investigation team dug up Harold’s backyard.

We found… **a ​​wooden box containing a woman’s body.**
Just like Daniel said.”

Mary swallowed.

“What else?”

Miles looked at her, his eyes heavy.

“There’s a piece of paper in that room… with the name of the person who discovered the first embezzlement.”

Mary asked softly, “Who?”

Miles replied, “

“**Mary Collins.**
Your name.
Harold has been watching you for the past two years.”

Mary felt a chill run down her spine.

Miles put his hand on her shoulder.

“This means… to him… you were never a ‘trusted person’.
You were always a target.”

Mary looked out the window, the wind was blowing, the curtains were swaying.

In the corner of the room, the landline phone suddenly rang.

Miles picked it up, then paled and handed it to Mary.

“It’s for you.”

Mary put the phone to her ear.

On the other end of the line — a voice so low, slow, and familiar it made her blood run cold:

“Mary…
**Tr

The game has just begun.**”

Beep… beep…

Mary hung up the phone.

It was dark outside the window.

**Harold had escaped from the prison.**

And she knew —
this nightmare
**wasn’t over yet.**