Chapter 1

My wife's secret obsession, her first love, fell into the wine cellar. The fall triggered a heart attack, leaving him in a deep coma.

In a fit of blind rage, she had my legs broken. She shoved me into a wine barrel, demanding I pay for what I had supposedly done.

"Donny almost died because of you! You need to feel every ounce of that pain!"

I struggled desperately inside that suffocating, airtight barrel. In the end, I ran out of oxygen and died in the dark.

It wasn't until her darling Donny finally woke up that she decided to end my punishment.

"Get your ass out of there right now and apologize to Donny!"

She had no idea that a dead man cannot say he is sorry.

1

"Ms. Fiona, a business partner is here to see Mr. Callum. He says he can't reach him."

In the executive office, Leo, the assistant, came in to report as usual. He gripped his files tightly, glancing nervously at Fiona's cold expression.

"Mr. Callum is still locked in that wine barrel. Should we… let him out?"

Fiona didn't even look up. A flash of pure disgust crossed her eyes as she cut him off.

"This company doesn't revolve around him. Find someone else to deal with the client."

"Donny is still lying in a hospital bed. That piece of trash doesn't deserve to see the sun yet!"

"But, the partner specifically asked for him," Leo stammered, hesitating.

Fiona slammed her files onto the desk. The loud bang echoed through the room like a gunshot.

"What do I pay the rest of you for? Is everyone else in this building dead?"

"How much did he pay you to speak up for him? If you don't want the job, pack your bags and get out!"

Leo immediately lowered his head, his face pale. He shut his mouth and scurried out of the room.

Fiona let out a frustrated growl, rubbing her temples. She turned her gaze to the photo on her desk.

It was a picture of her and Donny. Her expression softened instantly, her eyes filled with a longing tenderness.

"Donny, when you wake up, I'll make sure Callum kneels at your feet and begs for forgiveness."

I watched her from the corner of the room. My soul felt heavy as I stared at her gentle face. I couldn't help but let out a bitter, silent laugh.

I was already dead. I could never kneel before her precious Donny.

Looking back at my final moments, I still felt a chill. Even as a spirit, the memory of that pain was paralyzing.

A week ago, Donny had shown up at the vineyard. He had that smug, punchable look on his face as he provoked me.

"So what if you're married to her? You'll never have her heart, Callum."

"Didn't she tell you? She's planning to give this entire vineyard to me!"

I was busy with the fermentation process and didn't want to argue. I told the security guards to escort him out.

But he didn't leave. Instead, he tripped and fell into the cellar, which triggered his heart condition.

Before he passed out, he called Fiona to say goodbye. He made himself sound like a tragic hero, telling her how much he loved her.

"I know Callum didn't mean to do it. Please, don't be hard on him."

"I just hope that after I'm gone, he treats you the way you deserve."

"Fiona, I won't let go of your hand in the next life."

Fiona went absolutely ballistic after that call. she had her men tear the vineyard apart looking for him.

They eventually found him unconscious in the basement. I arrived just in time to see her sobbing over him, cradling him like he was her entire world.

Then, everything went black for me. She ordered her bodyguards to break my legs.

She watched with cold eyes as they stuffed me into a narrow wine barrel. I realized then that she believed every single word of Donny's lies.

I begged her to listen. I screamed until my throat was raw, explaining it was an accident.

She responded with a vicious slap to my face. Her voice was a venomous hiss.

"Donny has a heart condition, you bastard! You knew that, and you still locked him in that cold cellar!"

"Callum, I'm going to make you pay for every second of pain he's feeling!"

My limbs were twisted and forced into the cramped wooden space. The heavy lid was slammed shut, leaving only a tiny air hole the size of a coin.

In that dark, airless tomb, it felt like an invisible hand was crushing my throat. My body was a map of agony.

Through the wood, I could hear Fiona laughing. It was the sound of someone finally getting their revenge.

"Does it hurt? Good. This is your penance. You stay in there until you learn your lesson!"

She ignored my desperate banging. She walked away, letting the heavy basement door click shut.

I clawed at the wood until my fingers were a bloody mess. I was trapped in the dark, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

In the moment I took my last breath, my spirit ripped away from my broken body. I stood there, looking down at the gruesome sight.

I was a mangled, distorted corpse. My eyes were still wide open, frozen in a look of pure terror.

It was almost funny. Fiona was still sitting there, waiting for a dead man to apologize to her lover.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. The sound snapped me out of my dark thoughts.

It was the hospital. "Ms. Fiona, Mr. Donny has regained consciousness."