Demise by Design (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

**MrBallen** (0:00)
Today, I'm gonna tell you three stories that are all about people who thought they'd come up with the perfect plan. But instead, they actually planned out their own demise. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place because that's all we do, and we upload two, three, even four times every week. So if that's of interest to you, the next time you take the follow button on a haunted investigation, lead it into the basement, lock the door, toss the key, and run. Okay, let's get into our first story called The Perfect Wife.
One evening in July of 2016, a woman named Bei carried a bowl of rice to the dining table at her home in the city of Liuzhou, China. Her two teenage kids and her ex-husband, Chin, were already seated and they were talking and they were laughing. But when Bei came over and set the rice down and took her seat, the mood changed. It was like everybody suddenly got very quiet and began passing the dishes around in this sort of tense silence. So Bei and Chin had a very complicated relationship. They'd officially gotten divorced six years earlier, like they are not married anymore. But at the time, when they got divorced, they had agreed to keep living in the same house, to keep the family together. Now, this had been very hard on everyone. Bei, Chin, their kids for the first couple of years, but eventually they sort of got used to it. And then actually, after a few years, the two, Bei and Chin, they actually began to fall in love all over again. And they had even begun talking about getting remarried, but they hadn't gotten remarried yet. And so again, just a few years ago, it seemed like they were on a path where the family would be whole again, they'd be married again, and nothing really happened yet, but that's the path they were on.
But then a few months ago, everything had changed. Chin had begun acting increasingly cold and distant toward Bei.
And even though, again, they've been divorced this whole time, they were always very cordial, but now there was like this icy front that he was putting up. And then, just a few days ago, Bei had discovered very likely the reason behind this. She found out that Chin was seeing another woman. Now Bei, she obviously understood that Chin can do this if he wants to. They are divorced. I mean, they live together, they have kids together, but they're not a couple here. You know, she knew logically he could do that, but it just really hurt her. You know, for years now, she was thinking, you know, we're gonna get remarried, and now it's like, what's this about? And so Bei, after finding out about this, she confronted him about what she called the affair, even though, again, it's not really an affair.
But it had just turned into a huge fight, and they hadn't made up yet. And so now the tension between them was palpable as they sat at the table together. Like, it was so clear, there's like this huge conflict that is just totally unresolved. But now, as Bei looked around the table at her family, she felt a wave of not, you know, anger anymore, but longing. She did love Chin still, and she also loved having him and her kids all under one roof sharing meals together and, like, being a true family.
And she wondered, you know, maybe if she could just show Chin how amazing she was and how good he had it with her and their family here, maybe he would stop seeing this new girlfriend of his. So the next morning, after Chin left for work, it was like Bei was on a mission. She spent the entire day cleaning the house and picking up all of Chin's dirty underwear and all his laundry, doing his clothes. I mean, she made the house look spotless. And by the time Chin finally came home from work that night, she had prepared this beautiful meal that was all ready for him. And even though Chin really didn't have a huge reaction to any of her efforts, it didn't matter because Bei knew this is like a mission she's on. She is going to show him that she is the best he's ever going to get. And so the next day, she did it all over again, picked up after Chin and made the house so beautiful, cooked more food. He comes home, sort of doesn't care. And the day after that, and the day after that, she was just being the perfect wife. But eventually, it did sort of wear on her that it's like, he doesn't even seem to be noticing. But still, she was not ready to give up. And so after about a week of this, Bay was in her kitchen, dutifully cooking this big meal for Chin and her kids, even though Chin wasn't even home, and he wasn't answering his phone. So Bay didn't even know if he'd be home to eat this food. And her kids weren't home either. I mean, it really was like, truly nobody cared or even noticed that she was trying so hard to be the perfect wife here. But just then, Bay's phone rang on the counter. And she glanced at the screen, and she saw it was her daughter calling. So Bay picked it up, and right away she heard her daughter, who sounded really panicked, saying there was a huge problem. She explained to her mother that her dad, Chin, was in the hospital. That he had apparently had this really painful rash, and that had led him to go to the hospital because it wasn't going away.