Husband dumped his disabled wife in the forest unaware a mysterious man watched everything

Why does this feel weird? He didn’t look at her. You’re always on edge now. Her jaw tightened. Now, as if her anxiety was some spontaneous indulgence, not the result of being crushed inside a flipped vehicle 18 months ago and watching her career, body, and independence unravel all at once.

«Do you even like me anymore?» she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He laughed, short, flat, like it had been squeezed from somewhere behind his teeth. Why would I bring you up here if I didn’t? The road narrowed to little more than a trail. Mosscovered rocks jutted up from the earth like teeth.

Matthew stopped the car abruptly in a clearing surrounded by towering furs. Leah glanced around. No cabin, no dock, just trees and silence so thick it felt alive. This isn’t the lake, she said. I know, Matthew replied, stepping out of the vehicle.

He came around to her side, opened the door, and unfassened the harness that secured her. His hands moved efficiently. Not lovingly, not carefully, just fast. Leah’s heart started pounding. «What are we doing here?» «I need a minute to show you something,» he said.

«Just wait here.» But she didn’t wait. Something primal had already screamed loud inside her. Matt, don’t. She reached for his arm as he unfolded her wheelchair and locked it into place. He didn’t meet her eyes.

He lifted her like he had hundreds of times under her knees and behind her back, but there was no tenderness in it now. Only function, only force. Once she was in the chair, he pushed it forward with a speed that startled her. Stop, she said, panic rising. Matthew, stop.

The chair jolted as he reached the edge of a small bluff, a slope that led down to the edge of Still Water Lake, now visible through the thinning trees. Water dark and wide, mirroring the storm clouds above. The wind carried the smell of rain and pine, and something else, something raw and metallic. He turned the chair toward the slope. Leah froze.

Matthew’s voice was quiet. «I’m sorry, Leah. I really am. But I can’t keep doing this.» «What? What are you saying?» «You used to be brilliant,» he said fearless.

«The woman I married could outrun anyone. And now,» he gestured vaguely at her legs. Now you live like you’re already dead and I’m stuck here, buried alive with you. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. I tried, he said, stepping back.

But I don’t want this life. Not anymore. He turned and walked to the car. Leah screamed. Matthew.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t flinch. The car door slammed. The engine started. Gravel spun under tires as he reversed, then peeled down the trail and out of sight.

And just like that, she was alone. Leah sat frozen in the silence that followed. A silence thick with disbelief. The trees swayed. The lake whispered.

Her heartbeat was the only thing loud enough to be real. She blinked. Her hands trembled. She reached for her phone tucked in her coat and pulled it out. No service, of course.

She looked down the slope. Loose dirt, roots, and rocks. Too steep for her to descend. Too uneven for her wheels. The sky above broke open, spitting the first shards of sleep.

Leam Morgan, once head engineer on a $50 million hydroelect electric project, sat alone in a broken body, abandoned by the man who had vowed to stay in sickness and in health. She gritted her teeth. Then from deep in the woods behind her, she heard it. Footsteps, not animal, human coming closer. The footsteps were slow, deliberate, boots crushing underbrush, not sneakers or soft sold hikers.

Leah’s breath caught in her throat. She clenched the sides of her wheelchair and spun it or tried to. The left wheel caught on a route and jerked to a stop. She was stuck. «Hello,» she called out, voice.

The sound evaporated into the forest. Another step, closer. Then a figure emerged between the trees. tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a faded army green jacket, hood half up, rifle slung across his back. Leah’s panic spiked.

«I’m not trespassing,» she said quickly, forcing her voice steady. «My husband, he just he left. I didn’t mean to be here.» The man paused. He pulled back the hood slowly. Her stomach dropped…