WIDOWED WOMAN SAW A PROFILE WHO WAS LOOKING LIKE HER HUSBAND ON THE ONLINE DATING APPLICATION

Maria was crying as usual, as she was sitting in her living room, thinking about her husband, Dan, and how he lost his life in a horrible way, as trapped inside the burning car.
Several months was passed, as Maria lost her husband Dan. Maria was feeling like it happened yesterday.
Her friend said to her one day, “You can’t stay locked in this darkness forever, Maria,”
Jane continued, “Life’s got to move forward,”
“Think about…the debts. We need to figure out how to manage them. You don’t need to deal with it alone.”
Maria said, “I know…”, as she wiped her tears.
“But…I can’t forget Dan and move on like nothing has happened, Jane.”
“Why don’t you meet new people? Try Tinder?” Jane said.
As they were creating a profile for Maria, she wanted to use a stranger’s picture on her profile. As she was swiping in the app, she was shocked. She saw a profile who belonged to Dan. She swiped right, and they matched.
As she was in the kitchen, making lasagna, her phone made a sound. It was a message from Dan’s profile.
“Hi, what’s up?” He said.
“Hi. Making lasagna. You?” Maria answered.
“I knew someone who made excellent lasagna,” His profile continued.
“I was looking for plane tickets.”
“Really? You’re planning a trip?” She asked, as she was nervous, and anxious.
“Yes, decided to take a break. Can’t choose which country to fly to.”
Maria said, “I’ve always wanted to visit Italy,” she always wanted a trip to Italy, but her husband said that the people were too emotional for him, and it was too hot.
Maria was shocked with Dan’s response, “Don’t like Italy. The climate’s too hot, and people are too emotional. But…they know how to cook!”
“I think Italy is wonderful,” she responded.
“I want to choose a country with a more temperate climate and mountains.” He said.
Maria asked, “Do you like hiking?”
“Yes, since childhood.”
“My husband instilled a love for mountains in me,” Maria said.
“Husband? Really?”
“We’re separated,” Maria decided to lie, “I want to start fresh, I guess?”
“That’s the right attitude. In that case, want to meet up?”
Then the profile gave an address, and Maria decided to went there, to see who he was, and if Dan was alive.
She arrived to the cafe, and started to wait. Then she saw a man similar to Dan, who was walking fast on the sidewalk. She decided to follow the man, but after a while the man got into a taxi and left.
Then she messaged to the man, “Hey, when will you arrive?”, and there were no response.
Then she went to Jane’s house to talk, but she saw the for sale sign. She called Jane, then she didn’t responded, and her voice was heard, “It’s Jane. Please leave a message,”
“Jane, it’s Maria. Saw the sale sign. Please call me when you get the message.” Maria said an hung.
Then she saw Jane’s neighbor, “Jane left for the airport two hours ago, dear!” Mrs. Gilbert said.
“She was in a bit of a rush for her flight! Are you waiting for her?”
“A flight?” Maria was shocked, since she had no idea of Jane’s trip.
“Jane didn’t mention she was going anywhere.”
“Moving to another country, if you believe!” Her neighbor said.
“She was with a man. Although I didn’t see his face clearly, I can say he looked a lot like your husband. They could’ve been brothers.”
She was frozen, as she started to think that were Jane and Dan running away together. She decided to talk with Jane’s sister.
“Be honest if you’ve been hiding something all this while,” Maria said, “Something’s not right, and I can feel it.”
“Look, Maria, sometimes, grief plays tricks on your mind—” Jane’s sister said.
“I know how it sounds. Just tell me what I asked.”
Then Jane’s sister said, “Maria, I swear, there’s nothing,”
“But I’ll call and ask the family, OK? Take care.”
Then Maria went to the airport, to learn the truth.
As she was searching for Jane and “Dan”, she saw Jane’s red suitcase, and started to run after them, as she shouted, “Jane!”
But she couldn’t reach, as Jane and “Dan”, passed through the boarding gate, and she didn’t had a ticket.
But she was committed, as she rushed towards the airport police. She told everything to them, as she said, “I have to know where my husband is and why he did this. I thought he was dead, but…I now feel like he might have planned everything.”
The Detective said, “We’ve looked into your husband’s accounts, ma’am,”
“And they’re currently frozen due to the outstanding debts. If those are settled, the accounts will be unlocked.”
“And if I sell my house, I can repay the debts.” Maria said.
“I’d suggest you be careful, ma’am,”
“This is risky. You could lose everything.”
Then she sold her house, and opened the accounts of her husband after paying the debts. The officers stated that they are watching the accounts, and they will let her know if there are any movements.
As she was in a grocery store, the detective called Maria and said that the money was withdrawn in Austria. She was shocked, as she asked, “Austria?”
“Yes. It’s a significant lead,” Detective said, and continued, “But all the money’s gone. It was taken out in cash.”
“What does that mean for finding my husband?” Maria asked.
“It means we have a location to work with,” the detective said, “But we need to act fast. I need to ask you: are you sure you want to continue with this? It could mean—”
Maria said, “I know what it means, I could lose everything. But I’ve already lost so much. I need to know the truth.”
“I understand. We’ll do everything we can.” Detective said.
As the days passed, Maria started to work at a part time job, and was living in a horrible apartment. Then detective called her and said, “Your husband has been in touch with someone in Austria, Mrs. Johnson. We found an email. It was encrypted, but we cracked it. We think it’s about…relocating again. But don’t worry, we’re working with Austrian authorities. If he tries to leave the country, they’ll know.”
Maria was hopeful, as she wanted to hear some good news. Then some days later, she was called by the detective, “Your husband was apprehended trying to cross the border into Switzerland. We request you come to the station.”
As she went to the station, she was shocked, when she saw her best friend and dead husband.
“I cheated on you with Jane,” Dan started.
“When my company failed, I was desperate. I couldn’t face what I’d done, the debts, the failure. I took out loans, knowing I couldn’t pay them back. And when it all became too much, Jane and I planned to fake my death. We paid off a pathologist to get the body of a homeless man. I burned my car with the body inside and made it look like I was dead. ”
Jane started, “We didn’t want to hurt you ever, Maria. Sorry. We were…helpless.”
Maria was sad, but not for herself. She said, “But you’ll have to face the consequences of your actions, I hope, one day, you’ll understand the full extent of the pain you’ve caused.”
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