Chapter 3

3

That evening, Jasper brought Seraphina back to our house because she said she couldn't bear to be away from him.

The soup I had made for his stomach on the day I died was still sitting on the dining table.

It was starting to smell sour.

Seraphina sighed, looking pained. "Did Lyra make this? Doesn't she know you hate these kinds of soups?"

Jasper let out a dismissive snort.

"She only does these things to squeeze more money out of me. Why would she care about what I actually like?"

"Not everyone is as thoughtful as you are, Seraphina."

I watched them coldly. The irony was suffocating.

He had developed a severe stomach condition because he skipped breakfast for years. He'd even been hospitalized for it.

I had spent every day learning new recipes just to help him heal.

But in his eyes, it was just proof of how "useless" I was.

He pressed Seraphina onto the sofa and went to the kitchen to cut up a variety of fruits for her.

"Rest for a bit. Tell me what you want for dinner, and I'll make it for you."

For a moment, he actually looked like a gentle, caring man.

Seraphina looked at him tenderly. "I wish I could have married you. Lyra is so lucky, yet she doesn't appreciate it."

Jasper smiled and got up to clear the table, his face clouding with irritation.

"That useless woman… making this garbage just to give me more work to clean up―"

He stopped mid-sentence. He saw the signed divorce papers I had left on the table.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the document. In the next second, he tore the papers into tiny pieces.

He threw the scraps into the trash with a burst of rage.

"Since when does she have the right to dump me? If anyone's getting a divorce, it's me!"

I sneered at him.

In his mind, I was probably no different from a stray dog. No, even a dog was worth more.

He pulled out his phone and dialed my number over and over, his face tense.

My phone had likely been sold and wiped a dozen times by now.

How could he possibly get through?

Finally, he began sending me furious voice messages.

"Lyra Sterling! You had the guts to leave these papers, so why are you hiding now?"

"Don't play hard to get with me. It won't work!"

"Get back here right now. This marriage is over!"

"Even if you're dead, you'd better crawl out of your grave and sign these papers before you go!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash.

Jasper dropped his phone and ran toward Seraphina.

She was standing in the living room, looking innocent. At her feet were the shattered remains of a bracelet.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper. I just wanted to look at it. I didn't mean to drop it."

She did it on purpose. I knew it.

My fists clenched, and my soul shook with fury.

That bracelet was my family's heirloom, passed down through generations of women.

I had given it to Jasper when we got married. He had called it tacky and tossed it on a storage shelf.

He'd said it was just "easier to reach" there.

That bracelet had survived five generations. It wouldn't have shattered just from a simple drop.

Jasper must have told her about its significance, and she had smashed it to hurt me.

I stared at her with blood-red eyes, wishing I could tear her apart.

But I was just a ghost.

I looked at Jasper, hoping for a shred of respect for the heirloom. He knew what it meant to me.

But Jasper just grabbed her hand and checked it for scratches, sighing with relief.

"It's fine. It was just a cheap, broken piece of jewelry. Ten of those aren't worth one of your fingers."

He didn't even look at the shattered pieces on the floor as he led Seraphina upstairs.

Behind his back, Seraphina flashed a smile of pure triumph.

My fists tightened and then went limp. I let out a long, hollow breath.

Yes, that bracelet was just like me.

A piece of trash that was never worthy of his eyes.