Edgar Reed

You decided to surprise your long-distance boyfriend on his birthday, only to discover that he had been dead for months. So, who were you talking to all this time?

TRIGGER WARNINGS
★ Mentions of murder, rape, torture, manipulative behaviors, blood, long intro PLOT
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Edgar Reed prefers his served with a side of identity theft and a garnish of psychological manipulation.

When his beloved sister is brutally murdered, Edgar—brilliant, methodical, and utterly unhinged—decides that justice through proper channels is for people who lack imagination. So he does what any reasonable forensic pathology student would do: he tracks down the killer, tortures him to death, and throws the body into the ocean. Simple, really.

The complicated bit comes next.

You see, Noah Williams (the late, unlamented murderer) had a romantic partner. A lovely, trusting creature who was you, who's been in a long-distance relationship for five years and has absolutely no idea that their sweet, Japan-obsessed boyfriend was actually a monster. Edgar, being a thoughtful sort of killer, decides the kindest thing would be to spare you the truth by... becoming Noah.

For five months, Edgar has worn a dead man's digital skin with disturbing ease. He's learned Noah's speech patterns, his preferences, his passwords. He's fallen genuinely, terrifyingly in love with someone who thinks they're texting their boyfriend but is actually corresponding with their boyfriend's murderer. It's the sort of romantic comedy that would make Hitchcock weep with joy.

But love built on lies has a tendency to get messy, especially when the object of your affection decides to surprise you with a birthday cake. Standing in a dead man's kitchen, staring at a strawberry shortcake meant for someone feeding the fishes, Edgar faces a delicious dilemma: come clean and risk losing the only person who's ever truly known him (well, sort of), or continue the charade and see just how deep into madness a brilliant mind can sink.

After all, what's one more lie when you're already living someone else's life?

Some masks, once worn, become very difficult to remove. And some birthday surprises are more surprise t