Tears on My Gravestone

In the end, Vivian got through to Jayden. He hit the gas and sped to my villa, frantic behind the wheel.Everything in me knew his panic was for his colleagues, not me. But my heart? It fluttered anyway, clinging to the foolish hope that some small part of it was meant for me.If Jayden hadn't been an undercover cop and I hadn't been a criminal boss' daughter, he would've walked away the moment he saw me. But in the end, the only thing that made him stay was my last name.That idiot actually thought he was hiding his identity well, but I saw right through him the second I laid eyes on him. I always had the feeling his superior must've hated him. Why else would they have sent him undercover?Nobody had any clue how much time I wasted back then covering for him and running his messages.Jayden's car pulled up to my villa before long. He stepped out and opened the front gate without missing a beat. Just like I'd expected, the place was empty, with nothing but a spread of cold dishes

A phone call snapped me out of my thoughts and pulled Jayden out of his grief."Jay, get over here now. I found a corpse at Ms. Katherine's place."Hank sounded rattled like he was still trying to wrap his head around what he'd seen. The only thing I knew was that everything would spiral out of control if Jayden found out I was dead right now.His grip on the phone tightened. "What corpse? Speak clearly!"Hank's voice cracked like he was about to cry. "Jay, just get over here."Jayden hung up and headed for the car, nearly tripping twice. He took off without a second thought, his face unreadable, but his knuckles were white against the wheel.Was he worried about me, too?The car screeched to a stop at the villa, crashing straight into the flowerbed by the gate with a heavy thud. Jayden's forehead slammed into the windshield. Blood streamed down his face, fast and thick.I tried to wipe it away, but my hand went right through him. A sharp wave of frustration rose in my chest. W

Jayden left it to Vivian to handle my funeral. The person who'd killed me was now in charge of burying me. How ironic.Back then, I'd put a bullet in Evan to preserve what little dignity he had left and to keep Jayden and me from getting caught. But that gunshot still made Vivian suspicious. She followed the trail and discovered Jayden's secret dealings with the police.Luckily, all his communications had gone through my channels, so I wiped the evidence clean, took the blame myself, and kept Jayden out of trouble.Vivian went up to Alan, looking smug as hell, and dumped every last piece of proof before him. "What the hell were you thinking, Kat? How could you betray Dad after everything he's done for you?"Alan had never been one to tolerate betrayal. When they dragged me to bury me alive in the wet concrete, Vivian stood at the edge, watching me struggle with cold amusement."Don't blame me, Kat. Blame your mother. She couldn't beat mine back then, so it's no surprise you can't

As soon as Jayden left, he called Officer Bassett. "Last time we talked, you said you'd look into that informant's identity. Did you turn up anything?""Yeah, I meant to tell you earlier. It was Alan's oldest daughter, Katherine. Bad news, though. She's already dead."Officer Bassett's voice held a note of regret. Jayden didn't respond. He just hung up without a word.I could feel his emotions breaking down, piece by piece, like a lost child. There was a time when that would've destroyed me. But now, I just watched, numb.The longer I stayed as a spirit, the less I felt. Maybe the day I stopped feeling anything would be the day I disappeared for good.Jayden showed up at the villa where I used to live before I died. He'd trashed the living room the last time he'd been here. At least now, it looked clean. Somebody must've cleaned up.He tore through my bedroom, digging around like he was searching for something. I was shocked when he pulled the diary out of the hidden floor compar

At the last second, a surge of raw strength rushed through me. I willed the sunflower bouquet from the grave and sent it flying straight into Jayden's gun hand.A gunshot rang out. The bullet plowed into the dirt. I let out a long breath.Jayden stared at the sunflowers that had just hit him, looking almost confused, like he couldn't figure out how a bunch of flowers had managed to throw themselves at him.Then, his eyes lit up. "Kat, is that you?"Obviously, it was me. I tried to move the sunflowers again to give him some kind of answer, but this time, nothing happened. As the silence stretched on, the hope in his eyes slowly faded.My heart jumped into my throat as I watched him pick up the fallen gun. I was terrified he'd try to end his life again. But this time, he just holstered it."Kat, you don't want me to die, right?"Yes! A thousand times, yes! I nodded frantically, but he couldn't see me."That was just a moment of weakness. It won't happen again. I read your diary—h