Chapter 2

Chapter 2 When I still didn't respond, Garrett's temper flared. He had always been like this―petty, controlling, and relentless until he got his way.

Just as he raised his foot to kick me again, his eyes caught something bizarre. The gaping wound on my head had shrunk.

The sight struck him like a bolt of lightning. Garrett stumbled back in terror.

Right at that moment, my body slowly dragged itself off the ground in a jarring, unnatural posture.

Because of the violent impact, my neck was bent at a strange angle, and several joints were completely dislocated. I looked like a reanimated corpse forcing itself upright.

Garrett stared intently at my face. Seeing no other supernatural signs, his fear morphed back into furious mockery.

"Done playing dead, Nora? You are honestly pathetic. Now your clothes are ruined and you will need medical supplies. Do you think money grows on trees?"

Every single cent he spent came from my family's trust fund and my hard work. I used to think I just couldn't compete with Gemma in his heart.

I never imagined that a few pieces of ruined fabric and some gauze were worth more to him than my life.

And the biggest joke of all was that I was the one paying for it.

Gemma fluttered around me with an exaggerated expression of guilt.

"Garrett, Nora only did this because she hates me. Please don't be mad at her. Look at all that blood, let's just take her to the clinic."

Garrett's jaw tightened at the mention of the clinic.

"If she is crazy enough to jump in front of a truck, she can deal with the fallout herself. Stop worrying about her. Look, she can already stand, can't she? A tiny scratch like that will heal in a few days. Why waste money on her?"

To him, spending anything on me was a total waste. Gemma nodded with a knowing smile.

Seeing that I was supposedly fine, the two of them leaned into each other, and Garrett barked another order at me.

"Why are you standing there like a statue? Go bring the car around! Look at yourself―you look disgusting. Are you trying to scare everyone on the street?"

He knew how battered I was, yet he still ordered me to act as their chauffeur. Gemma opened her mouth to speak, but Garrett silenced her with a hand on her waist.

He cast a disdainful glance over me and smirked.

"Your acting today was absolute garbage, Nora. Gemma has been worried sick about you. Don't you think you owe her an apology? Is pulling these stupid stunts really that fun?"

I was covered in crimson, my face bruised and distorted, limping heavily with shattered joints. Yet not a single word of concern left his mouth. All he wanted was an apology.

How utterly absurd. Gemma was the one who pushed me into oncoming traffic, nearly tearing this body to shreds.

Now, he demanded that the victim apologize to the perpetrator.

Fortunately, this empty husk was bound by a single core directive: complete obedience and unconditional love for him.

My body paused for a brief second, then bent low at the waist, bowing deeply in apology.

Garrett was visibly irritated by my lack of resistance. He shoved Gemma aside, his voice sharp and aggressive.

"You really are a piece of trash, Nora. You would throw away every ounce of your dignity just to beg for a scrap of my attention. You do whatever I say, exactly like a trained mutt."

The family dog he once owned had been tossed off the third-floor balcony by Gemma three years ago. It had whimpered twice before dying on the lawn.

I truly was no different from that poor dog―abused, trampled, and stripped of all pride.

Yet I couldn't understand why he was so enraged.

Isn't this what he always wanted? An obedient, subservient wife who never got jealous and did whatever he commanded?

A woman who never argued back, never questioned his cruelty, and never asked why she had to apologize.

When I was alive, he complained that I was too dramatic, that I made mountains out of molehills over his infidelity.

Now that I was dead and had left behind the most compliant version of myself, shouldn't he be thrilled?

After all, this was the dream wife he had always asked for.

So why did he look so utterly miserable?