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Crime

This story contains themes or mentions of suicide or self harm.

Kathleen Herbert had a perfect life: a loving husband, a dream job running a small bookstore with her sister, a big house on the beach with two adorable kids and a cute dog. She was blessed with everyone she hoped for in her childhood. She was checking her email, and suddenly, a message popped from her computer. Hi, Lara Western. Do you think you can get away with murder?

Her heart stopped, and this figure of imagination or a bad dream. Lara Western is dead. She died in a school fire, and her roommate, Kathleen Herbert, survived. She took a deep breath. I could know her secret. She thought that everyone would really believe that Lara Western and Kathleen Herbert died in a fire so that Lara could steal Kathleen's perfect life.

Now, how do I play this? Stay calm and deny it, test how much they really know or try to buy their silence. I have 10,000 in cash stashed away, which no one has. Twenty years is a long time to get away with murder. She thought she had everything planned out ideally.

First, she going to try to keep calm and deny it. She denied replying; you are wrong. Lara Weston is dead. They quickly replied stop lying. You are a murderer. You killed a young woman to steal her life, and we know everything about what we did and have been following since that night. You will be finally punished.

She has a million questions and does not know where to start. Who are they? How did you find this find out? How did you find me? Why are you after twenty years? What will happen if the truth comes out? Could she go to jail? Will her husband leave her? Will her kids hate her? How will the family react? Will they disown her?

Why does someone care about Lara Weston? Only a few teachers and one family member bothered to show up to her funeral; barely a tear was shed. Remember, Lara Western is dead in a fire and raised as Kathleen Herbert, like a phoenix from the ashes. Take a deep breath. Remember, everyone has a price.

 She spends what seems like an eternity staring at the screen. She remembers the need to play it cool. She could lose everything. She decides to just ask them straight up who they are. They instantly reply. It does not matter if you come to the expose as Lara Western, the arsonist and murderer.

She spends her day lost in thought, thinking about whether she can run away. Not No, too many people will miss Kathleen Herbert. People will look for her. There is no way she can pull it off for the second time. There is no way she can still have a second-person identity, and her life is too great to start again.

What can she do? Take some take deep breaths. Remember, she cannot let her life crumble. Could she kill them, but she does not even know them. She does not even know what they are capable of. How does the murderer she does not believe that she gets away with murder twice? She thinks the best route is to pay them off.

She spent hours trying to word the perfect message. She did not know how dangerous this person or people were. After some deliberation, she asked them, "What do you want? "They just replied with a word of justice. A flood of panic took over her body.

She could see her life crumbling before her eyes. She decided to offer more money than money. It was the only chance to save her perfect life. I will give 10,000 to get it to go away. They instantly responded, "You need to give more. We know how much money you have and everything about your life."

$10,00 is the only amount that she can give without people asking questions. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She replied that $10,00 was the only cash amount she could give without someone noticing. They replied, "Liar, do you know you have more money?" Y. They started uploading her bank account details and photos of her house and out with her family and kids.

She is sitting there, starting to panic. She does not like selling the house without her husband. She can start the business without explaining the situation and would not want to go to a networked bank. She asks her husband, the manager of the only bank in this small coastal town.

What she can do will allow her to get a large amount quickly without further questions or jail time. At the back of her mind, she knew that this day might come because there are no such things as the perfect murder. It has been surprisingly easy to become Kathleen Herbert without anyone really noticing.

She ends it all by killing Kathleen Herbert and Lara Weston. The last twenty years as Kathleen Herbert were the best years of her life. But what if she kills herself? It would devastate her husband and kids. How would she kill herself without a body to find? As if they found her body, the secret will finally come out, hurting many.

There was no option but to pay them. I messaged them, "How much do you want to go aw?" y. They instantly replied with twenty million. Oh, my g, there is no way I can get that sort of money. She just accepts her faith that everyone knows she is murdered and her fake perfect life.

She pleaded to them, "So, will you? You cannot just give a huge amount of money and allow people to find out her terrible secret." They agree to give her 10,000 a month until the money is paid, and she has to make a video confessing to her horrible crime in every single detail.

Arranged to drop off the $10,000 and the video on a USB drive in the park at 10 p.m. The last piece is what to tell my husband and kids to explain why she has to drive to the park at night by herself. She quickly managed to record her criminating video. She parked her car at the side, so hopefully, no one will notice her gone.

I planned a high-energy play session for the kids, and she planned to put on a movie that would put her husband to sleep. Her plan perfectly worked all night at 9:30. She carefully tip-toed around her house to her car. She was lucky she managed not to disturb a single dog or neighbour.

She pulled into the park's carpark. She suddenly got a message on the phone saying to drop off under the bench near the foundation. She quickly walked towards the foundation, constantly looking both ways to see if she could see anyone, but she could not. As she quickly walked away, she received a message on the phone saying that we did this on the first of every month until the debt was paid.

September 18, 2024 03:08

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2 comments

David Sweet
04:39 Sep 22, 2024

Intriguing story, but I was a little confused as to what specific evidence the person had to convict her besides just a threat? Also, watch proofreading. Sometimes you forget the $ in front of 10,000 and other places you have $10,00. Sometimes it's Lara Western and others it's Lara Weston. And there are a couple of other proofreading mistakes. I feel like I need to know more details behind Kathleen's motivation to kill and how she set up this perfect life. This could be accomplished through flashbacks with dialogue. You may have a larger...

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Sarah Xenos
07:28 Sep 22, 2024

Thank you, David, for taking the time to read my story and giving some feedback

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