Chapter 2

2.

While those two were getting intimate at our house, my lawyer was calling Silas's phone until it nearly overheated.

Silas's face was flushed with a passion I had never seen directed at me.

I clenched my ghostly fists, wanting to walk away, but I was tethered to him.

I couldn't move more than a few feet from his side.

The phone rang for ten straight minutes before Silas finally snapped.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

The lawyer's voice on the other end was icy and trembling with rage.

"Mr. Sterling, your wife's body has been at the morgue for days. As her next of kin, you need to come down here now."

Silas paused while putting his clothes back on. He let out a mocking laugh.

"Are you people still playing this game? Do you really think I'm going to fall for such a pathetic lie?"

"She's nothing but a dog I keep around. Why would I care about what she wants?"

The lawyer was stunned. He had never encountered a man so heartless in his entire career.

He gave Silas the address and hung up immediately.

Silas didn't want to go, but then a notification from a loan app popped up on his phone.

He needed my money to keep up his lifestyle.

That was the only reason he finally dragged himself to the funeral home.

The lawyer was waiting. He led Silas straight to my body.

I looked terrible―pale, cold, and covered in wounds. The people in the room turned away, unable to look at the tragedy.

But Silas didn't show a hint of grief. Instead, he kicked my cold leg.

"Fine, you win! You really got all these people to help you lie to me!"

"I just hung out with Cora. Is it really worth making such a scene just to make me look bad?"

"Get up and apologize to me right now! Or you can forget about ever coming back home!"

Watching him assault my corpse made me realize how wasted my love had been.

The truth was staring him in the face, and he still chose to believe I was faking my own death.

He was the one who pulled the trigger, yet he refused to accept what he had done.

When I still didn't move, Silas's face grew red with embarrassment.

"What the hell do you want from me? Are you trying to drive me insane?"

"I must have been cursed to marry a useless woman like you! If you want to stay married, transfer the money to my account now!"

He only came for the money.

I started laughing hysterically, though it felt like acid in my throat.

The lawyer finally couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward and shoved Silas back.

"Mr. Sterling, wake up! She's dead! She's been dead for days!"

"Even if you don't care about her as a wife, you shouldn't treat any human being like this!"

Even a stranger understood basic decency, but Silas was blind to it.

He just felt insulted that people were judging him because of me.

He glared at my body one last time.

"Fine! Keep acting! I'm telling you right now, I never loved you!"

"If you don't get up today, we are done forever!"

The room remained silent. I didn't move.

He finally lost it, grabbed his bag, and stormed out the door.

He had abandoned me again, with no hesitation.

Elena Sterling, you really are a pathetic woman.