My Wife's AI Prank Killed Me

While working overtime late into the night, I suddenly received a video from my wife. "Honey, there's a homeless man outside our door. I'm so scared!" In the video, a disheveled man was sitting outside my house. He occasionally muttered strange, unintelligible words. I immediately got permission to leave work and drove home, but on the way back, I got into a car accident. Only after I died did I learn the truth. It was a prank that had gone viral online. The footage of the homeless man had been generated using AI. What I never expected was that my wife's male best friend had taught her how to pull it off. They had even tampered with my car's brakes in advance. Worse still, the two of them had tampered with my car's brakes beforehand. After my death, they even went live and tearfully blamed the AI prank for killing me. Countless viewers sympathized with my wife, allowing the two of them to make a fortune from the livestream. Seeing how deep my resentment ran, the Grim Reaper gave me a chance to start over. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my wife sent me that video. Chapter 1 [Honey? Are you watching the video? Hurry and answer me!] Another message from Karina Stewart popped up. There was a hint of impatience. My chest heaved violently, and my fingernails dug into my palms. The taste of blood spread through my mouth. Suppressing the overwhelming hatred inside me, I, Mike Jerome, typed out the words one by one. [Don't be scared. Lock the door. I'll be home soon.] Karina immediately replied. [Honey, you're the best! Hurry, okay?] She even sent me a kiss emoji. It was utterly disgusting. I grabbed my jacket and rushed out of the office. A coworker called after me. "Mike, aren't you finishing the report?" "Something urgent came up at home!" Without looking back, I ran into the elevator. The doors closed. In the mirror, my face was pale, but my eyes were bloodshot. I immediately messaged my younger sister, Tanya Jerome. [Tanya, help me check a license plate. CS-3879.] [Make it quick. Track it and find out where it is tonight.] The elevator stopped on the first floor. I didn't go to the parking garage. I knew that my car's brakes had to be tampered with by now. Driving the car would be walking straight into a death trap. I walked over to the cafe in the corner of the building and found an empty spot to sit down. I then switched on the laptop I always carried with me. I began working out my revenge plan. In my previous life, I had died without even knowing why. This time, I was going to make them pay a hundredfold. My phone vibrated. Tanya had replied. [Mike, I found it.] [That car is parked in the underground garage at Rivera Heights.] I narrowed my eyes. Tanya sent another message. [But he just posted on social media. His location is supposedly Nightfall Bar, west of the city. He claimed he was drinking with a client.] The car was at home, but he claimed to be at a bar. What a perfect alibi. I smiled. Chapter 2 Before I could even close my laptop, Karina called. I answered. "Honey!" Karina cried. "He's still here. He's still walking around outside the door! I'm so scared!" She was really good at acting. In my previous life, that crying voice had fooled me completely. "Where are you? Hurry home! Drive slowly on the way and be careful!" It was those conflicting instructions—hurry up and slow down—had thrown me into a panic in my previous life. I had only wanted to get home as quickly as possible. My voice remained calm. "Don't worry. I just called the security in our neighborhood. "They're heading over now." There was an obvious pause on the other end. "Huh? You called security?" "I also told them to bring their batons. Take another look through the peephole and send me a new video so I can confirm." Karina's voice immediately became flustered. "I-I'm too scared! I don't dare open the door! It looks like he's watching me! "Honey, don't worry about the security guards. Just come home quickly! I only want you here!" She started whining sweetly. "Okay. I'm going to the parking garage now." I hung up. I started typing rapidly on the laptop. I was a programmer. Back in my previous life, I had hacked into the public security cameras outside our home because of a dispute with a neighbor. I entered the code and bypassed the firewall. The surveillance footage appeared on the screen. My front door was completely deserted. There wasn't a single person in sight. The streetlight illuminated everything clearly. Even the curtains behind the familiar window had been left slightly open. I could imagine Karina hiding behind that gap with her phone in hand while smugly waiting for news of my death. I took a screenshot and sent it straight to Karina. [Honey, there's nobody outside.] [Maybe you were mistaken. I asked security to check too, and they said nobody was there.] After I sent the message, Karina was silent for several seconds. She immediately called me back. Her voice was panicked now, and the crying tone from earlier was completely gone. "M-Maybe I saw it wrong. "Honey, I'm sorry. I've been working too much lately. I must have been seeing things. "You don't have to come back. Just keep working. I won't bother you." She was desperate to end the call. "I just missed you too much," she added. "Okay. Go to bed early." I pretended to believe her and hung up. I then immediately called Tanya. "Mike? What's wrong?" "Help me check the call records between Karina and Harry for the past three months. Right now!" Tanya paused for a moment. "Mike, did you and Karina have a fight?" "Don't ask questions. Just do it. The sooner, the better." I hung up. The hatred inside me was almost overflowing. I recalled what had happened in my previous life. The day after I died, Karina withdrew every dollar from our joint account. It was the money we'd been saving to buy a home in a good school district. She didn't even leave anything for my parents. Harry even comforted my parents, saying that he would treat Karina like his own sister and take care of her. My parents cried tears of gratitude and thanked him for being such a good man. 'A good man?' I wanted to see how long these two could keep up their little act. Chapter 3 I closed my laptop and walked out of the cafe. I didn't go back to the office or head home. Instead, I hailed a cab. "Rivera Heights, please." Halfway there, Tanya called. "Mike, I found it." Her voice was unusually serious. "A minute after you hung up, Karina called Harry. "They talked for fifteen minutes! "And they've been calling each other almost every day for the past three months. Most of those calls were late at night." My face remained emotionless. "Got it." "Mike, what's going on? Do you need me to come over?" "No. Get some sleep." I hung up and stared out at the scenery outside. The neon lights and bustling streets were painfully harsh on my eyes. I recalled how Harry had 'cared' about me in my previous life. He had once patted me on the shoulder and said, "Mike, stop working overtime all the time. Spend more time with Karina. She's a woman all alone at home. She gets lonely." At another drinking party, he had jokingly said, "If you keep neglecting Karina, I might just start feeling sorry for her." Back then, I thought it was just a joke between friends. Now that I thought about it, every word had been a test and a boast. The cab soon arrived at Harry's neighborhood. Rivera Heights was an upscale development. Someone only three years out of college should never have been able to afford a place there. Now I understood that part of this had been paid for with my 'financial assistance.' I didn't go upstairs immediately. Instead, I walked into the property management office. "Hello, I'm looking for Harry in Unit 1503. I'm his brother." The property manager glanced at me. "Do you have an appointment?" I deliberately looked anxious. "He got drunk. He called me from a bar and asked me to come help him, but I don't have his key. "I've been calling him, but he won't answer. "I'm worried something happened to him. Could you send a security guard upstairs with me? If he really is drunk and starts acting up, at least there'll be someone there to witness it." Seeing my earnest expression, the property manager nodded and called over a security guard. "Take this gentleman upstairs and have a look." The guard and I stepped into the elevator. "What's he like when he's drunk?" the guard casually asked. "Not very well. He tends to get rowdy." I casually made it up. We reached the door of Unit 1503. The guard was about to knock, but I stopped him. "Wait. Let me try the code first. He once told me there was a backup password." I walked over to the keypad. In my previous life, Karina had accidentally let it slip once that Harry's backup password was her birthday. '0815.' I entered the numbers. Beep. The lock clicked open. The security guard didn't suspect a thing. I didn't rush to open the door. I retrieved my phone and sent Karina a message. [Honey, I'm done with work. I bought your favorite late-night snacks. I'll be home soon.] Karina replied instantly. [Okay! Honey, thanks for being so considerate.] She thought I was still the same fool I'd been in my previous life. I put away my phone and started recording. I made sure both the audio and video were clear. Then I said to the security guard, "Sir, do me a favor and come inside with me. If he's really drunk, I won't be able to carry him by myself." The guard nodded. "Sure." I pushed open the door. The living room was empty. The bedroom door was tightly shut. From inside came faint, disgusting sounds. I gave the security guard a look. He understood. Apparently, he thought I was planning to catch my brother in the act. He suddenly pushed the bedroom door open. Chapter 4 After the security guard pushed open the bedroom door, I followed him inside with my phone held high and still recording. What greeted us was an utterly indecent scene. Karina and Harry were naked and tangled together on the bed. "Ahh!" Karina screamed and frantically grabbed the blanket to cover herself. Harry abruptly sat up. When he saw me, he began shouting furiously. "Mike! You set me up!" The security guard froze as well. He then awkwardly turned away. "Uhh, sir, this is a family matter–" I sneered. "Set you up? "Karina, weren't you afraid of the homeless man? What about this homeless man? Are you afraid of him?" Karina's face went pale, and she couldn't stop trembling. "Mike, hear me out–" I put away my phone. The video had already been saved. "Sir, you saw everything." I called the police on the spot. "Hello, emergency services? I'm in Unit 1503 in Rivera Heights. I caught my wife committing adultery with another man, and there's now a dispute. Please send someone over to handle it." The police soon arrived. Karina and Harry, who were wrapped in bathrobes, were taken to the station to give statements. I went with them, gave my own statement, and provided the recording of me catching them together. In the interview room, I put on the role of a heartbroken husband. "Officer, family matters should stay private." I pointed at Karina. "I forgive her." Karina stared at me in disbelief. Harry became visibly relaxed too. "I don't want to pursue this. I'll accept what happened. I only have one request. We're getting divorced tomorrow." Seeing how determined I was to divorce Karina, and recognizing that this was ultimately a civil dispute, the officers focused on mediation. They sternly lectured Karina and Harry, recorded the incident, and let them leave. Karina and Harry walked out of the police station. Karina put on a fake remorseful expression. "Honey, thank you. Can we go home and talk about this?" Harry also came over and patted me on the shoulder. "Mike, I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I drank too much." They thought I was still the same fool from my previous life. I pretended to be exhausted and waved them off. I then retrieved my car key and placed it in Harry's hand. Harry froze. I said, "I don't want to drive that car anymore. It feels filthy. The car is still in my company's garage. "Aren't you my friend? Do me a favor. Drive it away and take Karina home. "That car is cursed." Harry assumed I meant the car was cursed with bad luck since my wife cheated on me. He smugly accepted the keys. "No problem, Mike. Leave it to me." He put an arm around Karina. "Karina, stop crying. I'll take you home." The two of them hailed a cab and headed to my company. I watched the cab disappear around the corner. I immediately turned around and walked back into the police station. I found the officer who had taken my statement earlier. "I suspect they're plotting to kill me! Karina used an AI-generated video to trick me into going home, while Harry posted a fake location at a bar. All of this was designed to make my death look like a car accident!" The officer's expression turned serious. "What evidence do you have?" "I suspect Harry tampered with my brakes! It's the car I left in my company's garage. My license plate is CS-3879! "I knew something was wrong tonight, so I didn't dare go to the parking garage! I suspect he tampered with it this afternoon. Please immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from the garage at Easteria Tower!" "What?" The officer shot to his feet. "Where's the car?" I pretended to tremble as I answered, "I-I was too confused earlier. I thought he was only having an affair with my wife. I didn't know he was trying to kill me too. "I gave them the keys. They're taking a cab to get the car right now!" The officer inhaled deeply and immediately grabbed his radio. "Dispatch! The suspects are currently taking a cab from East District Police Station to Easteria Tower! "Immediately locate the black sedan with license plate CS-3879! Notify all patrol units that its brakes may have been deliberately tampered with. The vehicle must not be driven. I repeat, it's extremely dangerous!" After shouting into the radio, the officer looked at me with mixed emotions. "Stay here for now. You're a key witness—and we still need to clarify exactly what happened." He hurried out of the office. I sat alone in the interview room while staring at the glass of water on the table.