The Widow's Secret

I'm just a farmer who married a girl from two thousand kilometers away.

But then, she killed someone.

I was brought to the police station and provided surveillance footage from our bedroom—of us making love.

In the footage, Lana seemed to be looking at me through the camera.

What follows is everything I remembered while being questioned at the station...

At only twenty-eight, I was already living the "rural life" countless young people dream of. To put it bluntly, I'm a farmer.

I didn't have the same ambitions as other young people from my village—desperate to escape the mountains. I just wanted to coast by. Fortunately, fate smiled on me. I managed to bring home a twenty-three-year-old girl I'd met on social media, and together we embraced the simple life.

Just earlier today, I received a call from the town police station saying my wife had gotten into a fight with Mrs. Susan Miller, the village widow, and I needed to come pick her up.

"Lana, you're in your early twenties. Why are you fighting with a middle-aged woman?"

On the electric scooter ride home, my tone was slightly accusatory. My wife said nothing.

Fine. I figured my wife had just married far from home—thousands of kilometers away—and was feeling uncomfortable.

The next day.

My wife got into another fight...

Same widow, same police station, same officer.

"What's wrong with your wife? Look what she did to the woman. Good thing it's just superficial wounds. Hit any harder and she'd be locked up."

The officer lectured me while I nodded apologetically, first apologizing to Mrs. Miller, then pulling out two hundred dollars and telling her to buy herself something nice.

Mrs. Miller's face had scratch marks, but otherwise she seemed fine. I felt somewhat relieved.

Back home, Lana didn't say a word and just burrowed into the covers.

I was annoyed. I worked hard in the fields all day, and if you weren't going to help, fine—but now you're creating problems for me?

"What's going on with you? What did Mrs. Miller do to you?"

I stood by the bed, looking at Lana staring blankly, getting angrier by the second.

Lana looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes. My heart immediately softened.

Sigh...

"Forget it. Mrs. Miller's fine. You rest up. I'll make us something to eat."

After dinner, I still felt uneasy. Lana could be spoiled, but she'd never resort to physical violence.

I figured the only way to know what happened was to ask Mrs. Miller herself.