The Phone Call
I am the second Mrs. Roberts
Harriet looked at the text with surprise. It made no sense. She could not understand what it meant but she could not ignore it. She looked at the chat application and it showed ‘typing …’
The first Mrs. Roberts. I don’t think anyone knows she existed. I think something bad happened to her
“Bad? Like what?” replied Harriet in the message.
I think he had her killed
“Who?” she replied immediately.
My husband! I think he had her killed
“What?” thought Harriet. Mrs. Roberts was the wife of Sunil Roberts, a billionaire scientist and philanthropist. Over the last few years, he had handed over his company to his daughter and retired to obscurity but he was still on the news. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have been married to him for as long as I know,” typed Harriet quickly. After establishing an instant connect with Mrs. Roberts, she had researched her online. They were a very close couple.
You don’t understand. He tells me things I can’t remember. I don’t think it was intentional. He let something slip. I haven’t been feeling good. There is something …
The messages stopped coming. Harriet waited for a few minutes and then typed, “Are you there?”. There was no reply. She immediately searched for Mr. Sunil Roberts online. The man was sixty-seven years old and he had been married for thirty years to the same woman. In every article about him, he mentioned his wife as his pillar of support. There were many pictures of them together. They looked like the couple who set goals for other couples.
Harriet dialed her number to make sure everything was ok. The phone kept ringing. “She was just texting me,” thought Harriet. She waited for a few minutes and then dialed her number again. Her heart began to race as she waited for the billionaire’s wife to pick up. After what seemed to be forever, someone answered the phone.
“Mrs. Roberts can’t come to the phone right now. May I take a message?” asked a male voice in a polite tone.
“Who is this?” asked Harriet suspiciously.
“I am Mrs. Roberts’ butler. Should I ask her to call you back?” he asked.
Harriet had a bad feeling. Mrs. Roberts had stopped texting in the middle of something serious. Nobody does that. What if she was telling the truth? What if Mr. Roberts had caught her texting? She had to find the truth. She had to go to Mentone Avenue, home of Mr. Roberts and the most elite members of their city.
