The Mansion Gift That Killed Me

My best friend Liam gave me a mansion. But not long after I moved in, someone broke in with a knife in the dead of night.

“Liam, you framed me, ruined my family, took everything from me! I’m gonna kill you!”

I immediately realized I was being set up as a patsy.

But before I could even speak, the attacker slit my throat in one quick motion.

After police shot the deranged killer dead at the scene, Liam put his arm around my wife Scarlett and strolled over. He smirked, “Thanks for getting rid of that pain in my neck and leaving me your fortune. I’ll enjoy everything you left behind, including your wife. Rest in peace, pal.”

Scarlett melted into his embrace, compliant. “Liam, I told you I’d help you take everything he had. I kept my promise. Now you owe me—marry me.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my “brother” gave me that mansion.

“Alex, we’ve built so much together over the years. To show my appreciation, I want to give you this mansion.”

“You’re a big shot at a public company now, and you and Scarlett deserve a place that matches your status.”

Hearing that familiar voice jolted me back to reality.

Looking at Liam’s smiling face, I realized I’d been given a second chance.

In my past life, just a few nights after accepting Liam’s “gift,” I ended up with my throat slit.

Now I saw the truth. He’d purchased that mansion publicly with reporters watching to expose its location, then secretly transferred ownership to me. All to make me his fall guy.

That way, he could have his enemy commit murder while seizing everything I owned. A perfect two-for-one deal.

Seeing me hesitate, Scarlett chimed in. “Honey, Liam’s like family. It’s just a little something to show he cares. Don’t be so uptight.”

A bitter laugh rose in my throat. She’d never so much as held my hand in public, but now she was practically clinging to Liam.

If I hadn’t lived through this before, I might’ve bought that “brother-sister” act.

But now I knew the truth—she and my “best friend” had been hooking up for years, and she was helping him set me up to die.

This time, with all the facts, I wasn’t about to let them make me their fool again.

The killer got out of prison in three days. As long as I didn’t move in before then, I’d be safe.

“You keep it. If I want a place, I’ll buy my own.”

Liam and I usually had that bro bond where gift-giving was normal, and I never said no. But this time, my answer threw them off.

Liam’s smile dropped. “Alex, what’s with you…”

Scarlett scowled, clearly irritated. “Alex, what’s your problem? Liam’s being nice—why are you being like this? You wanna hurt his feelings or something?”

I let out a dry laugh, nodding at how close they were standing. “He’ll survive. You’re already keeping him plenty warm, aren’t you?”

That set Scarlett off. “Alex, what the hell are you insinuating?!”

“I only see Liam as a brother! We’ve been married for years—don’t you trust me at all?!”

I stayed quiet, and Scarlett got even more worked up.

But Liam stepped in first. “Calm down, Scarlett. Alex is probably just jealous—that’s why he won’t take the gift. Maybe we should keep our distance so Alex doesn’t get the wrong idea.”

His words said one thing, but his body stayed put. In fact, he inched even closer to Scarlett.

Then he turned to me with a smile. “Don’t worry, I only see Scarlett as a sister. There’s nothing going on between us. If the mansion’s not your style, I’ll hook you up with something else later.”

I forced a small smile. “Sure. Just make sure it’s not another ‘surprise’ like last time.”

“Of course not.”

Liam looked uncomfortable, while Scarlett shot me a dirty look, muttering about how I’d gotten too big for my britches since the company went public and forgotten who my real friends were.

But I didn’t care. As I headed for the door, I said, “Believe what you want. I’ve got work to do. Later.”

Behind me, Scarlett kept bitching about my attitude.

But at that point, I couldn’t have cared less. I really did have bigger fish to fry.

Before I died, I recognized the guy. It was David, our former CFO, who Liam had framed for embezzlement and sent to prison. But now, there seemed to be more to the story than that.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone after Liam the second he got out.

I needed to dig into that old case.

I wasn’t about to let the bastards who killed me get away with it.