Chapter 2

Helen used to know that.

Back when we were first married, the heat broke during a freezing winter night.

She had stayed pressed against my chest all night, using her warmth to thaw my freezing hands and feet.

But when her first love, Austin Rogers, came back, everything changed.

...

I pulled back my translucent hand and floated toward the glittering ballroom.

Under the grand crystal chandelier, champagne pyramids sparkled.

Helen wore an elegant black evening gown, leaning softly against Austin, who looked sharp in a bespoke white suit.

They looked like a match made in heaven.

Austin smiled with graceful polish and raised his glass. "Thank you all for coming to our engagement party tonight. It hasn't been an easy road, and I'm deeply grateful to Helen for never giving up on me."

Helen looked up at him, her eyes dripping with affection. "Don't be silly. I should be the one thanking you for coming back to me."

The room burst into thunderous applause.

Everyone looked at them with envy and praised the picture-perfect couple.

Nobody remembered that somewhere else in this city, a man named Reuben Baxter was Helen's lawful husband.

Or rather, ex-husband.

Just yesterday, she slammed the divorce papers in my face and demanded I leave with nothing.

Before I could even sign them, she dragged me to tonight's party.

She had said, "Reuben, I want you to watch with your own eyes as I hand everything that was yours right back to Austin."

Now, she had done it.

"By the way, Ms. Kerr, where's Mr. Baxter?" someone in the crowd suddenly asked. "Isn't he here to offer his congratulations on such an important night?"

The air froze for a second.

The tenderness on Helen's face vanished instantly, replaced by a wave of cold annoyance.

"Why bring him up?"

She took a sip of champagne and replied coldly, "He's probably off sulking with a drink in some corner or pulling another sob story to gain sympathy. It's a miracle he hasn't ruined the mood yet."

Austin put on a worried look right on cue and gently tugged at Helen's sleeve. "Helen, don't talk about Reuben like that. He's loved you for so many years after all.

"I think I saw him out on the terrace earlier getting fresh air, wearing barely anything. Maybe we should have someone call him inside? He might catch a cold."

"A cold?"

Helen sneered. "He's built like a horse. The last time he tried to stop me from seeing you, he jumped into a freezing pool and stayed there for an hour. The next day, he was right back at the office raising hell. Men like him don't die easily."

I floated in front of Helen, watching those cold lips open and close.

I wanted to scream at her, "Helen, I wasn't pretending. After the pool, I ran a fever for a whole week and ended up with pneumonia. And I'm dead now. Really dead this time. I'll never raise hell again."

But no sound came out.

My explanations and pain meant nothing to her when I was alive. Now that I was dead, she couldn't hear them as well.

"We should still check on him." Austin insisted on playing the good guy. "It'd ruin the whole night if anything actually happened."

Helen frowned.

Just to indulge Austin, she reluctantly signaled a waiter over. "Go check the terrace and see what that lunatic is doing. Tell him if he wants to drop dead, do it somewhere far away so he doesn't dirty my place."

The waiter nodded and walked off.

As I watched his retreating back, a strange spark of hope flickered inside me.

I just wished he would find me soon and give me the dignity of a proper body bag.