The Perfect Wife's Perfect Revenge novel Chapter 17

McNeil didn’t turn his phone back on until the next day.

As soon as the screen lit up, he saw over a dozen missed calls—all from the local police department.

“Is this Mr. Langford?” The voice on the other end was clipped and official.

McNeil’s reply was cool, almost detached. “Yes. What’s this about?”

“In the early hours of this morning, we found the body of a young woman on Westchester Avenue. The ID number is—”

The officer rattled off a long string of digits. With every number, McNeil felt his chest tighten, his pulse pounding louder in his ears.

“The deceased is Victoria. We discovered her frozen body inside a Ferrari. There are indications she was assaulted and disfigured before she died. Mr. Langford, I’m afraid you’ll need to prepare yourself. We’d like you to come down to the station and help with identification.”

As the officer finished speaking, McNeil felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.

A Ferrari. The ID number. Victoria.

“No. That’s—not—possible.”

He rejected it instantly. Victoria would never be reckless enough to drive out in a blizzard, not her. Even if the name and car matched, he still refused to believe it.

He didn’t answer the officer right away. After hanging up, he dialed Victoria’s number.

Last night, she’d called him at least ten times, but his phone had been off.

Was she trying to reach him for help?

A surge of adrenaline shot to his head, leaving his vision whited out like a snowstorm. His ears rang so loudly he barely registered Violet’s voice beside him—he couldn’t even tell where she was in the room.

He stood frozen, cold to the bone.

“McNeil?” Violet’s voice was steady, calm—the result of a full night’s sleep.

“Is it Victoria? I’m alright, you should go check on her.”

Last night, she’d whispered a plan to Gwyneth: distract the nurse, sneak a mouthful of water laced with syrup, and spit it up convincingly in front of the staff.

Afterward, Gwyneth had phoned McNeil. Everyone knew Victoria would make a scene—she always did—but Violet had Gwyneth looking out for her.