A Love 32 Years Apart

"Ms. Tillman? This is Greg Weeks from the police station. Is Clarence Antonio your husband?"I massaged my throbbing head. The hangover was hitting me hard. "Was. We're divorced.""At ten past one in the morning of the twelfth of June, the year 2024, your ex-husband was found dead on the east coast. His body was washed ashore. The report was made by a fisherman. Through his data, we found you. We'll need you to come to police station for investigation."I thought this was a scam call, but when I got to ATPD and saw… the giant of a corpse, my mind buzzed. 'That's Clarence?' I thought.Greg informed me, "Witnesses claim that Clarence had no safety gear on before he went into the deep zone. No signs of murder, so this might be a suicide. You're the last one he contacted before he died, Ms. Tillman. Did he behave any differently when you talked?"A younger officer, Caleb Zimmers, gave me a glass of water. I drained it all, but my throat still felt parched. I shook my head, dazed. "No.

I caught that look, and for a brief moment, I was frightened enough to quit my job right there and then. His friends chased me off, but then a husky voice asked me, "What's your name?""Jessica Tillman."The frown on Clarence's forehead smoothed over. "Decent name."I wondered what that meant as I leaned my body closer to his arm and gently introduced the liquor to him.Clarence took the liquor and evaded my body. "You work here?"'Huh, so he's an aloof type,' I thought. "Just part-time," I said."Selling liquor?""Yes."Clarence frowned again. "How much do you make a month?""It's a commission-based job."Clarence tapped the bottle. "How much do you make from selling one of these?"I raised three fingers."How many do you have left?"I was taken aback but quickly snapped out of it. "It's a bestseller, so we only have ten of these left. We do have our pride and joy, though. It costs this much." I gesticulated.Clarence didn't even blink, and he gave me a black card. "I'll

When I woke up the next morning, Clarence was already out for work while I was grounded. I angrily argued with the guard, but the butler came and told me some bad news. My salary was forfeited. If I wanted to buy anything, I had to use Clarence's secondary card.The butler gave me a manual of sorts, and it was a list of endless don'ts. Any rulebreaking would result in a credit deduction. Furious, I demanded, "What? This wasn't the deal!" This was a scam!The butler grinned. "Do you remember what happened last night, Ms. Tillman?"Something told me nothing good would come of this. Still, I asked cautiously, "What happened?"The butler showed me a video. I'd be dead three times if awkwardness could kill."Mr. Antonio will be notified about every bit of spending. Don't go anywhere seedy, or he might… get angry." The butler told me Clarence got me a tutor so I could get into university. If I were to fail my studies, he would deduct my credit.I was in no position to argue, so I reluc

I was so stunned that I blurted, "But it's your wedding night. Why do you even have work to do?"Clarence patted my immaculately styled hair. "Sotheby's auctioning a pink diamond pendant tomorrow. You want it?" he asked, almost coaxingly.I had no idea what that was, but I nodded anyway."Then, it'll be your wedding present." Clarence left and disappeared for a week. Even so, the pink diamond pendant appeared on my dressing table all the same.Aside from the lack of intimacy, married life with Clarence was peaceful. I then made a mistake many women would commit: care about a man too much. I pitied him for being impotent at his age. He had all the riches in the world, yet no way to enjoy them.When my friends asked me to party with some models, I started refusing their invitation. I spent my days going to school. Whenever Clarence was home, I would nestle in his embrace and go through his files with him, telling him about my day.The butler stopped deducting my credit. Clarence sm

Clarence video called me this time. I thought he wanted to lecture me just like he did a long time ago, but he only smiled at me. "They're tainted. You can have as much fun as you want, Jess, but don't marry them. They'll swindle your money.""None of your business."Clarence looked at me earnestly. "Take care of yourself, Jess."I cried angrily and hung up on him. The calmer he was about this whole mess, the angrier I became. It was like I couldn't even vent my frustrations. The rage wouldn't stop festering and rampaging inside me.I ran to the underground garage and drank until I was blackout drunk. I wanted to come up with a wilder plan the next day so I could make Clarence mad.'Maybe I should drop out of school?' I thought in a daze. When I woke up the next day, I was going to go through with my prank. That was when the cops called. Clarence was dead. He drowned.This couldn't be true. Clarence should die of old age, or at least a rage-induced heart attack because of me. Dro