Chapter 1

1

It has been three years since I died.

My husband finally thought of me today.

The reason was simple―his childhood sweetheart, Seraphina, had her leukemia return.

She needed another bone marrow transplant.

He tracked down the house where I used to live, intending to force me to sign the donation papers.

However, he found the place completely abandoned.

He ended up asking a neighbor about my whereabouts.

"Are you talking about that girl, Chloe?" the neighbor asked.

"She's been dead for years! I heard she was forced to donate marrow while she was sick. She passed away just a few days after coming home."

My husband, Hayes, refused to believe it.

He was convinced the neighbor was conspiring with me to trick him.

He looked at the old woman with pure impatience.

"If you see her, tell her this," he snapped.

"If she doesn't show up within three days, I won't pay another cent for that brat's medical bills."

The neighbor realized he was beyond reason and just shook her head.

As she walked away, she whispered to herself.

"Poor child. He starved to death right next to her..."

......

It has been three years since our deaths.

My son and I are still nothing but wandering ghosts.

Our lingering attachments to this world are too strong for us to move on.

Meanwhile, my husband, Hayes, has risen from the bottom of the social ladder.

He has transformed into a powerful and envied billionaire.

Years ago, when he was at his lowest, I supposedly betrayed him without hesitation.

Because of that, he hates me.

He wants to skin me alive.

Three years ago, he forced me to donate bone marrow to Seraphina while I was already ill.

The procedure was invasive and painful.

I don't know if the doctor made a mistake or if my immune system was simply too weak.

A week after the surgery, I developed a severe systemic infection.

I fell into a coma from the fever and died alone in that house.

My three-year-old son, Skyler, died right beside me because there was no one left to care for him.

During those three years, Hayes never visited us once.

He never even bothered to make a single phone call.

Now, I hold Skyler's tiny, translucent hand as we float in the air.

We watch as Hayes violently kicks the front door of the cottage where I spent my final days.

He has changed so much in three years.

His eyes are colder and more ruthless than ever.

He is both familiar and a complete stranger.

Standing behind him is Seraphina, wearing a designer mask and expensive clothes.

Her cheeks look rosy, and her figure is healthy.

She doesn't look like someone who is suffering from a terminal illness at all.

Skyler hears the loud thuds against the door and hides in my arms, trembling.

He looks up at me with eyes full of both excitement and fear.

"Mommy, did Daddy finally remember us? He hasn't come to see us in a long, long time."

"But he looks so angry. Did I do something to make him mad?"

"And who is that lady standing there?"

I stroke his hair, feeling like a thousand knives are twisting in my heart.

My throat feels tight, and I can't utter a single word.

"Chloe! Get out here right now! Stop playing dead!"

Hayes screams toward the yard.

The noise startles Mrs. Gable, who lives in the next house over.

She walks out of her gate and looks at Hayes.

"Young man, who are you looking for? No one has lived here for a long time."

Hayes straightens his suit and asks, "Doesn't Chloe live here? Did she move?"

Mrs. Gable's eyes dimmed with sadness as she sighed.

"Are you talking about poor Chloe? She died three years ago."

Hayes froze for a split second.

"I heard someone dragged her off to donate marrow while she was sick," Mrs. Gable continued.

"She died only a few days after she got back. It was a tragedy."

Seraphina's expression shifted, her face turning slightly pale.

She spoke up in a defensive, victimized tone.

"Ma'am, don't talk nonsense. Donating marrow is a safe procedure. It doesn't kill people."

"If Chloe didn't want to help me, she could have just said so. She shouldn't curse herself like this."

She raised her voice on purpose, as if she expected me to be eavesdropping from inside.

Hayes, who had been momentarily stunned, suddenly relaxed when he heard Seraphina's words.

A mocking smile spread across his face.

"Does she think life is a movie? If she's going to lie, she should at least make it believable."

"She should check if there's even a single case of someone dying from a donation."

Mrs. Gable didn't understand what they were arguing about.

She simply repeated, "The poor thing was dead in that house for days before anyone found her..."

Hayes's face turned into a mask of ice as he looked at the old woman.

"I don't know why you're helping her lie to me," he said coldly.

"But tell her this: she has three days to show up and save Seraphina."

"If she doesn't, she can forget about the money for that brat's dialysis."

Mrs. Gable stood there, completely stunned by his cruelty.

She shook her head and turned to go back into her own yard.

Hayes threw one last warning after her.

"Three days! If she's not there, I'm cutting off every cent."

"I'll make her watch that little bastard die right in front of her."

Mrs. Gable's eyes turned red as she walked away.

"That poor child," she whispered.

"He already starved to death... if only I had checked on them, maybe I could have saved him..."