Chapter 3

Perhaps thinking of the past, Damine's expression darkened.

After a moment of thought, he still called my number.

But no matter how many times he tried, the line wouldn't connect.

His face flushed red with anger.

"Ha! She's got some nerve, ignoring my calls now. Then she can stay gone forever!"

The young assistant beside him hesitated, then picked up the missing persons report.

"Mr. Ashwood, I didn't find any matches in the recent disappearances list. But there's one name I think you'd want to know about."

The guard pointed to my name on the list. Before he could speak, Damine cut him off impatiently.

"Enough!"

"We're on duty. Don't waste my time with irrelevant garbage!"

Though I'd known this would be the outcome, my heart still ached with sorrow.

Anything about me was a waste of time. But he'd answer Sera's calls.

Maybe in his eyes, Sera was the sister he acknowledged.

And me, his actual blood sister, didn't matter at all.

Damine ignored the young warrior. He'd lost interest in examining the amulet that had fallen on the table.

He shoved it into a bag along with the phone.

After submitting the evidence to the forensics unit, Damine finally pulled out his phone during his break.

He opened the group chat that didn't include me.

[Pretty weird coincidence. This female body is about the same age as Jocelyn. Wonder where the hell she is now.]

Rowan sent a voice message. His mocking laughter came through immediately.

"Jocelyn Ashwood isn't the type to rough it. The money she stole from me is enough for her to live it up anywhere in the world."

Damine froze when he heard this.

Like he'd been awakened, embarrassment and rage flashed across his face.

Right. How could he forget?

Someone as cold-blooded and selfish as me would never make myself suffer.

I was probably somewhere having the time of my life, laughing at what a fool he was.

Sera's soft voice came through.

"Maybe Jocelyn was just acting on impulse. It's been a month now. However angry she was, it should've passed by now. Let me try calling her. Maybe she'll pick up for me."

Damine's head snapped up immediately. A flicker of light passed through his eyes, one he didn't even notice himself.

Rowan refused just as quickly.

"No need. Why bother calling her?"

But his eyes involuntarily drifted toward Sera's phone.

Sera's face stiffened for a moment.

This clearly wasn't what she wanted.

I could see the unwillingness and jealousy churning in the depths of her eyes.

She must be so jealous. After all, I was dead. She'd confirmed it herself. Yet I still occupied an irreplaceable place in these two men's hearts.

Sure enough, she gritted her teeth and opened her phone. Her finger slid across the screen and dialed my number.

Call after call Ashwoodt unanswered.

Her eyes quickly reddened, her voice catching with sobs.

"Does Jocelyn hate me this much?"

"I know my body is weak. Everyone says I probably don't have many years left. My only wish is to marry Rowan properly before I go, with my family's blessing."

"I just want to fulfill this one small wish. Why, why won't Jocelyn even give me this chance? Does she hate seeing me happy that much?"

Rowan's heart broke for her. He immediately pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Don't talk nonsense. Our Sera will live a long, long life. When Jocelyn comes back, I'll make her apologize to you immediately!"

Damine panicked too, rushing to comfort her.

"Sera, don't be sad. I love you most. You're the most important princess in the Ashwood family."

Damine reached out tenderly, as if he could wipe away her tears through the screen.

"I have to admit, your mom and dad saved the wrong person all those years ago. Otherwise none of this would've happened, and you wouldn't be suffering like this."

"That ungrateful wretch. From now on, we don't care whether she lives or dies."

I looked up in disbelief.

The place in my heart that was already full of holes felt completely crushed by those words. Even the pain had gone numb.

I stared at Damine's familiar face.

I could barely connect him with the brother who used to cry when I got even the smallest scrape.

This face had given me the warmest smiles. This same face now called me an ungrateful wretch who shouldn't have been saved.

I looked up in a daze and caught the secretive, triumphant smile on Sera's lips.

As if she were saying to me silently:

See, Jocelyn? This is what happens when you go against me. Even your own brother wishes you were dead.