[ WP ] You are newly married . One day you discover that your spouse has taken out a large life insurance policy in your name with him/her as the sole benefactor . S/he has gone to great lengths to keep this a secret .

We sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table. The insurance paperwork sitting between the two of us. Silence enveloped us as I searched the face of the one I loved, trying to understand. 
 
 “ Why are you so upset about this? ” he muttered. 
 I kept quiet. I knew that with the way I currently felt I would lose it if I tried to say anything. 
 
 “ I just wanted to be careful, you know? I didn ’ t want to be stranded in case, I dunno, something happened? Do you know how many spouses end up in the financial deep end because of things like that? ” 
 
 No dice. I wasn ’ t buying it. They sounded like desperate excuses, sinking beneath the weight of their own lack of conviction. I remained silent. 
 
 “ Look, I was going to tell you. I knew we didn ’ t have one, and I thought I would sort it out while I remembered. ” 
 
 “ You forged my signature. ” I responded 
 
 “ Wha-? ” 
 
 “ You would ’ ve had to forge my signature. Insurance companies wouldn ’ t let you just take out a policy without my approval. It ’ s to avoid fraud. You would ’ ve had to fake my signature, the witness, gotten my personal documents. You did this all without my knowledge. This wasn ’ t just a quick errand. ” 
 
 Considering how I felt inside, I was being remarkably calm before the shitstorm that was about to hit. 
 
 “ You wanted to make sure that I didn ’ t find out about this. Why? ” 
 
 “ You didn ’ t need to know- “ 
 
 “ BULLSHIT! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU PLANNING? ” 
 
 Silence filled the room as if it were a vacuum. He no longer could look at me. 
 
 “ I was never going to hurt you, if that ’ s what you think. ” 
 
 “ Really? Because I ’ ve watched enough CSI to know that that is not normally the case in these situations. The only reason you would get this, is so you could make money if I died. So if you ’ re not going to kill me, then when do you expect to get the money? ” 
 
 “ Next Thursday. ” He whispered. 
 
 “ Excuse me? ” 
 
 “ Next Thursday. You die from a brain haemorrhage. It ’ s caused from an aneurism which happens because of a weakening of your arteries in your brain. It ’ s not exactly known what causes it, but doctors guess it is a combination of high blood pressure and a birth defect where your arteries are softer than normal. ” 
 
 “ What are you on about? ” 
 
 “ You die from a brain aneurism next week. It ’ s why I took out the insurance. ” 
 
 “ There is no way you would know that and I wouldn ’ t. I went to the doctor just last month and he said nothing. Wait! Are you two in cahoots? Is this some elaborate plan so you can split the money? How can I even believe you? ” 
 
 “ It doesn ’ t matter if you do or if you don ’ t. You will still die. And no, the doctor isn ’ t in “ cahoots ” with me. He doesn ’ t know. In fact, no-one will know until after the autopsy. ” 
 
 “ Okay, assuming I believe you, then how do you know? ” 
 
 “ I ’ ve read your medical report. ” 
 
 “ You ’ ve lost me…. ” 
 
 “ The medical report with your cause of death. I ’ ve read it. ” 
 
 “ How can you have read it if I ’ m still alive? ” 
 He looked me in the eye. In that moment I realised what the truth was, even though I denied it. 
 
 “ No. This is bullshit. You are full of shit. STOP FUCKING AROUND AND TELL ME THE TRUTH! ” 
 
 “ You know the truth. ” 
 
 I started laughing. 
 
 “ Okay, humour me, tell me what it is anyway. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m from the future. ” 
 
 I laughed even louder. 
 
 “ I ’ m a time traveler. I was able to create a time machine and travel through time. That ’ s how I know all of this is going to happen. ” 
 
 I couldn ’ t look at him any longer. A maniacal smile was embedded on my face. 
 
 “ At first I tried changing the past. But it never worked. No matter what I did, I couldn ’ t change things that were already going to happen. It ’ s a fundamental of time travel, even in this time, but I thought I could overcome it. I can ’ t. What I did notice, however, was that I could do things that were incidental. Things that would not change the original timeline. Like taking out life insurance on a man who was going to die anyway. ” 
 
 He looked at me, sadness in his eyes. 
 
 “ Nope. I ’ m sorry. If you expect me to believe that you ’ re a fucking time traveller, and that this, ” I said, waving my hand over the insurance forms, “ is just some ploy for you to make a quick buck, then you are crazier than I originally thought. ” 
 
 He carried my gaze. 
 
 “ Originally, you die alone. In this house. No-one notices until several weeks later when a stench emits from your house. What I offered you was companionship, love, and joy in your last months. ” 
 
 “ Let ’ s not forget the small fortune you get out of it! If you ’ re such a saint, then why not tell me? ” 
 
 “ I did….you did not take it well. ” 
 
 “ Wait, we ’ ve done this before? ” 
 
 “ Yes, I tried to tell you. Tell you everything. You spent your last month ’ s sunk in a deep depression that you never came out of. By the end, death was a release for you. ” 
 
 I was silent. Shocked without the ability to speak. 
 
 “ It doesn ’ t matter, ” he said, standing up “ Time will have its way. It always does. As for you; you won ’ t remember this. I ’ m going to go back and make sure that I hide these papers away so you can ’ t find them. ” 
 
 As he walked away I leapt from my seat and grabbed his hand. 
 
 “ Wait, how many times have we done this? ” 
 
 “ Hundreds. ” He replied. “ I have fallen in love with you hundreds of times and watched you die, hundreds of times. This next time will be the last. The money is for a new start. ” 
 
 I held his hand, scared to let go. My head was buzzing with incoherent thoughts, trying to arrange themselves in some semblance of sanity. Eventually I let go. 
 
 “ Will you miss me? ” I eventually say 
 
 “ I did; every time you left me. But I ’ ve learnt after all this time, that by reliving your death, over and over, I have stopped living. Death is a part of the universe. I can ’ t escape that. I am a time traveler and so I have all the time in the world to experience. I can ’ t live out the rest of my days in this small part of it. ” 
 
 “ Don ’ t go back. Stay. Will you stay? ” 
 
 He smiled. 
 
 “ To the end. I always do. ”
