Chapter 2

Damian frowned at me like I was some thorny problem that needed urgent solving. I couldn't understand where the disgust in his eyes came from.

I had given the Conrads everything. Even if they couldn't see that my efforts deserved recognition, there was no denying the fact that my past life had been filled with grueling labor.

In my past life, I wouldn't have been stuck with the Conrads to take care of Damian's parents for him if he hadn't insisted on going to the frontier.

Dad wouldn't have had to hide his stomach pains from me, just because he saw how busy I was tending to the Conrads. He had dragged it out until it worsened.

By the time I ran into Ryder at the hospital and saw him taking Dad to the doctor's, the latter was already suffering from terminal stomach cancer.

Damian's mom, Rosalyn, seemed easygoing, but she was a snob through and through. When she realized Dad was dying and his words no longer carried weight, she couldn't even be bothered to put on a pretense.

I delivered food to the hospital a few times. For that, she told everyone that my heart wasn't with the Conrads anymore and that I didn't even bother acting like a dutiful daughter-in-law the second Damian left.

I had no choice but to write to Damian and beg him to request leave and come home. But that was when I realized I couldn't reach him at all.

For an entire month, I watched as Dad wasted away to skin and bones, barely able to swallow a single bite of food. I listened as Rosalyn went around telling the neighborhood that I refused to come home because I had a new lover at the hospital.

If Ryder hadn't been around to take care of Dad, I would have long snapped.

Later, I resented Damian when Dad died. But when news that Damian was dead arrived, I believed it, though it turned out to be a lie.

I remembered standing on the rooftop with my mind in chaos as Ryder begged me to go on living.

That was when I thought. "Forget it. I won't cause him any more trouble."

"What's on your mind?" Ryder asked and flicked my forehead to drag me back to reality. "I knew it. The moment you see Damian, your soul gets snatched away."

That was when I realized that I had been staring at Damian for quite a while now.

"You heartless thing. I spend every waking hour following you around like a shadow, and I still can't get you to give me a second glance."

Usually, I would have snapped back and called him a shameless flirt, but for some reason, I suddenly felt like taking up his challenge. "Oh? If I look at you, will you marry me?"

Standing nearby, Damian stiffened and abruptly snapped his head up at my words.

Ryder was utterly stunned. "Y-You've grown some guts now, haven't you, Carla? Is that how you're going to play me now?"

His bravado crumbled, and his laugh came out forced and hollow. "Fine. I'll stop messing around in front of Damian."

"I—"

I was just about to explain when he snatched the books from my arms and fled into the living room. For a moment, only Damian and I were left facing each other.

His gaze was dark. "Mind games don't work on me. Heidi saved my life, so I can't bear to break her heart."

Oh, so Heidi saved his life, huh? That was such a coincidence.

As I brushed my fingers over the scar on the inside of my wrist, I thought about how I had also saved Damian and even had to give up playing the piano for him. But why hadn't he ever thought about repaying that favor?

Since he was so worried that I might marry him, I might as well let him sit with that fear for days.

"Instead of trying to talk me into changing my mind, you should convince your parents. After all, anyone would want a colonel's daughter as their daughter-in-law."

I spread my hands. Rosalyn was a second wife, while Damian's dad was a nobody and just a minor clerk in a munitions factory. Given Rosalyn's snobbery, Damian's dream of marrying Heidi was a pipe dream at best.

"How dare you!" Damian snapped and glared at me. "Stop haunting me, Carla. What makes you think I'd be afraid of you?"

I froze.

It struck me that he might have started fearing me after I died. Was he afraid that I would come back to claim their lives after he cheated on me when I had given him my everything?

Before I could voice the question, a frantic shout came from the far end of the hallway. "Damian! Heidi's hurt!"