When Alex died, his best friend David buried his old cell phone alongside him. But the next day, Alex’s widow received a call from the number that belonged to her late husband’s phone.
Alex and David had been friends since they were children. They attended the same school, graduated from the same university, and then began their business together.
With degrees from Stanford, it was unsurprising that the two men were brilliant and excelled at business on their first try.
Their startup, Feeota, which essentially dealt with cheap and easily accessible car rental services, grew big just a few years after its inception, and their business was thriving. However, things started falling apart after Alex got married.
His wife, Linda, was a very calculating woman, and she’d been trying to create a rift between the two friends. Alex couldn’t see his wife’s nefarious intentions since he was madly in love with her. But just after a few months into their marriage, she had managed to gain an entry into their office as an accountant.
David despised her mere presence, and when she began looking into the company’s accounts, he tried to suggest to Alex that hiring a third party to handle their finances wasn’t necessary, but Alex said that Linda’s degree in finance would be beneficial to the company.
Finally, David caved in, and the three began working together, attempting—if not pretending, to trust each other—especially in the case of David and Linda. But then something terrible happened.
Alex was returning from an investor meeting one evening when he was attacked and beaten by hooligans. He was discovered laying on the roadside and was rushed to the intensive care unit.
From Alex’s condition, it seemed like someone had the sole intention of harming him because none of his belongings were looted. All the money was intact in his wallet; even his cards and his car keys were lying beside him, so soon after arriving at the hospital, David called 911 and informed them of the situation.
“Do you think it could be one of your competitors?” Officer Banks, who was in charge of the case, asked David. “Do you have any suspicions?”
“That’s common in a business setting, officer,” Alex replied. “There will be competitors, but I can’t think of anyone who would be so hostile to us.”
“How about your relationship with your partner and his wife?” Officer Banks gave David a suspicious look. “Did you have any squabbles among yourselves?”
“What exactly do you mean, officer?” David snapped. “Alex and I have known each other since we were children. We never had any disagreements. Even with his wife,” David exaggerated. “So rather than looking for an easy target, it’ll be better if you concentrate on the culprit.”
Officer Banks smiled at him. “We’ve seen friendships change when business is involved, sir. Anyway, we’re done with questioning. We’ll let you know when we find any leads. Take care of your friend till then.”
David sat in Alex’s room that night, staring at his friend, who was lying lifeless in his bed like a corpse. The doctors had said that the surgery was thorough, but if Alex did not regain consciousness within the next two days, he would go into a coma.
Linda was already nowhere to be seen all this time, so David decided to call her. However, as he walked out of the hospital in search of a proper signal, he noticed Linda holding hands with a man he’d never seen before.
Surprisingly, she didn’t show any signs of distress on her face, although her husband’s life was hanging by a thread. There is something fishy going on, David pondered, his gaze fixed on Linda and the man.
But when Linda shifted her gaze to David, their hands quickly untied. “Oh, David,” she said as she approached him. “I was so worried. I’m glad Max was there with me when I learned about Alex; otherwise, I wasn’t even in a state to come to the hospital. By the way, is Alex all right? What did the doctors say?”
“Well, looks like you were too upset, Linda,” David cast a stern glance at Max. “Anyway, the surgery went well, and the doctors are just waiting for him to wake up. I was about to leave right now, but I think I’ll stay with Alex.”
David could hear Linda and Max whisper something as he walked away, and he had an odd feeling that something wasn’t right. So for the next few days, he stayed by Alex’s side all the time.
Linda, on the other hand, had been acting strangely, despite the fact that she should have been concerned about her husband. She began to delve deeply into company matters, attempting to replace Alex, and she didn’t even bother to pay Alex a visit at the hospital.
David’s suspicions grew stronger with each passing day, and when he was sure Linda and Max were trying to hide something, he decided to find out. He hopped into a taxi and followed her car out of the office that afternoon.
David noticed Linda riding straight to Alex’s country house, and as she stepped out of the car, she hugged Max, and they began kissing passionately. At this point, everything started making sense.
Linda had an affair with Max. Following Alex’s death, she would receive half of the company’s shares and an equal partnership. And for that, Alex needed to die.
On his way back that day, David had an idea to expose Linda’s intentions. He called her and told her she needed to get to the office right away. She responded that she was at the bank resolving issues and would be in the office in two hours. “Perfect!” David exclaimed as he hung up the phone.
He then proceeded to Alex’s desk and opened the last drawer, where he discovered his old phone. David had purchased it for Alex with his first internship pay.
David walked out of the office, taking the phone with him, hoping to punish those who had threatened Alex’s life. But sadly, on the way back home, he learned that Alex had died. He rushed to the hospital and couldn’t stop crying as he saw his friend lying lifeless on the bed.
A few days later, during Alex’s funeral, David noticed Linda and Max together, occasionally glancing at him. She didn’t seem sad at all. After all, why would she? That’s exactly what she desired! David was fuming with rage. And he knew that now was the time to put his plan into action.
He placed his friend’s phone on the coffin after it had been closed so that others could see it. “I want to bury this phone with Alex because it was my first gift to him,” he said between sobs.
“I was working as an intern at the time, and I noticed Alex had a broken phone. As a result, I gifted this to him. I want this to stay with him for the rest of his life.” He knelt to kiss his friend goodbye and whispered, “Don’t worry, pal. I’ll find the person who did this to you! It’s a promise.”
That night, David dialed Linda using the SIM card he’d removed from Alex’s phone. Linda was stunned when she saw the number that registered on her phone. The name of her late husband flashed across the screen. “Who is this? And where did you get this number?” she asked shakily as she answered the phone.
“Do you think you and your partner will be able to get away with murdering your husband?” the voice inquired. “You’ll be behind bars soon. I’ll come to get you. Just wait,” it added before hanging up.
Linda, who believed in otherworldly forces, was terrified. Max tried to calm her down by turning off the phone, but she was frightened and passed out.
When David found out how terrified she was, he issued her yet another threat the next day. “Do you think I won’t find you? Turn yourself in before I find you, or you’ll be finished!”
Linda was so scared that night that she called David to her home. But when he arrived, he couldn’t recognize her. Her face was riddled with dark circles, and she appeared to be on the verge of going insane. She confessed to her crime out of fear and stated that she was willing to testify against Max, the mastermind behind everything.
After the trial, when Max and Linda were found guilty, David brought two glasses and a bottle of wine to the cemetery. He placed one glass on Alex’s grave and held the other for a long time. “Well, buddy, I kept my word,” he said as he watched the sunset. “Now, sleep well. I hope you find peace wherever you are.”
What can we learn from this story?
You can’t escape karma. Max and Linda had to pay the price for what they did to Alex.
Keep an eye on the people around you. Unknown to Alex, Linda was cheating on him and even had him murdered for her gain.
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