Chapter 2

I was dead.

But somehow, I was not completely dead.

My soul hovered in midair as I looked down at the broken body in the corner of the garden.

The snow fell harder, soon covering the blood and burying me beneath a small white mound.

This was a secluded garden behind the hotel. With music thundering inside the banquet hall, no one had noticed that someone had just died here.

I wanted to drift down and drape a coat over myself. It was so cold… And I had always been terrified of the cold when I was alive.

Justin knew that in the past.

During the first winter after we married, the heater broke. He held me tight all night and warmed my hands and feet against his body.

But then Kelly came back, and everything changed.

...

I pulled back my translucent hand and floated toward the glamorous banquet hall. Beneath the enormous glass chandelier, the champagne tower glittered brilliantly.

Justin stood tall in a black suit, one arm around Kelly, who was wearing a custom white gown.

They really did look perfect together.

Kelly lifted her glass with a shy, sweet smile and said, "Thank you all for coming to our engagement party. It hasn't been an easy journey, and I'm grateful Justin never gave up on me."

Justin looked down at her, his eyes filled with tenderness. "I'm the one who should thank you for coming back, silly."

Thunderous applause broke out around them as everyone looked at them with envy, praising them and saying they were a match made in heaven.

No one remembered that elsewhere in this city, a woman named Wendy Sanders was still Justin's legal wife.

Oh, wait. His former wife.

Just yesterday, he had thrown the divorce papers in my face and demanded that I leave the marriage with nothing.

I had not even had a chance to sign them when he dragged me to tonight's party.

He had said, "Wendy, I want you to watch while I take back everything that's yours and give it to Kelly, one thing at a time."

He did it now.

"Huh? Justin, where's Wendy?"

Someone in the crowd suddenly asked, "Tonight is such an important occasion. Isn't she going to come offer her congratulations?"

The air froze for a moment.

The tenderness vanished from Justin's face immediately, replaced by cold impatience.

"Why bring her up?" He took a sip of champagne and said in a cold tone, "She's probably hiding somewhere crying or planning another stunt to make you all feel sorry for her.

"We should be grateful she doesn't show up and ruin the mood on a day like this."

Kelly put on a worried expression at just the right moment and gently tugged at Justin's sleeve.

"Justin, don't say that about Wendy. She… She loved you for so many years, after all. I think I saw her on the terrace earlier, but she didn't look like she was dressed warmly enough.

"Why don't we have someone bring her inside before she catches a cold?"

"A cold?" Justin chuckled coldly. "She's as tough as an ox. The last time she tried to stop me from seeing you, she jumped into the pool in the middle of winter and stayed there for an hour.

"The next day, she still showed up at the office with enough energy to kick up a storm. She's the kind of woman who will live a long life. She won't die."

I hovered in front of Justin, watching his lips form each heartless word.

I wanted to scream at him.

'Justin, I wasn't pretending.

'After I jumped into that pool, I had a fever for a week and ended up with pneumonia.

'And I'm already dead.

'This time, I'm truly dead. I won't have any energy anymore.'

But I could not make a sound.

He had never believed my explanations or my pain while I was alive. Now that I was dead, he could not hear them at all.

"We should still go check." Kelly insisted on playing the kind woman. "If something has really happened, it would bring so much bad luck to us."

To reassure Kelly, Justin frowned and reluctantly beckoned a waiter over. "Go see what that crazy woman is doing on the terrace. Tell her if she wants to die, she can do it somewhere else and stop dirtying my territory."

The waiter left to do as he was told.

As I watched the waiter leave, a flicker of hope rose in me.

Hurry.

Hurry and find me.

At least come and collect my corpse.