The Last Remnants of His Love

I died in a car accident.

That day, Susan Young and I had a fight because I’d just made my first big payday and wanted to celebrate with her, but she wanted to spend Julian Lane’s birthday with him.

I tried to stop her, but she accused me of making a scene. “If Julian and I had wanted to be together, it would’ve happened years ago. You wouldn’t have ended up marrying me.”

I was furious.

I smashed things around the house and let out all the resentment I’d buried over the years.

She couldn’t take it anymore and slapped me. “Quentin Chase, have I been letting you get away with this for too long?”

I wasn’t even heartbroken anymore. In that moment, I suddenly gave up on her.

I turned and left.

“Quentin, if you walk out that door today, don’t ever come back!” she threatened from behind me.

Just as she wished, I never made it back.

As I drove away, I got into a terrible car accident and died on the spot.

My sister took care of my funeral arrangements. Perhaps she was too angry to tell Susan I was dead.

After I died, my soul somehow stayed by Susan’s side.

Maybe I still had unfinished business.

I watched her go celebrate Julian’s birthday that day and prepare little gifts for him for every holiday over the next six months.

Whenever Julian called, she rushed to see him at once, even in the middle of a raging storm.

Sometimes Julian would kindly ask about me. “Has Quentin still not come back? Did I cause trouble between you two? If I did, I can call him and apologize.”

“It has nothing to do with you. He’s just petty,” Susan said coldly. “Forget about him. Let’s see how long he can keep this up.”

Seven years together, and I still meant nothing to Susan.

Or maybe I should never have entered their world in the first place.

With or without me, her life went on as usual.

I was still nothing but a burden and dead weight to her.

I thought Susan would keep living as if none of it mattered.

Then one day, Julian asked her about the watch he gave her, and she suddenly remembered me.

She called and said angrily, “Quentin, are you finished making a scene? If you don’t want to be with me anymore, we can get divorced. What are you trying to prove?

“Where did you put the watch I asked you to get repaired?

“Did you hide it from me? After all these years, you still haven’t stopped being jealous of Julian!”

My sister answered the phone.

The other end went quiet for a long while.

Susan must have been so shocked that she couldn’t get a word out.

“Say something! Are you dead?!” Susan demanded.

“Yes.”

My sister finally managed to say the word, her voice cold.

“What are you talking about? Put Quentin on!”

“I said Quentin is dead.”

My sister spoke slowly and deliberately.

“Congratulations, Susan. He’ll never be jealous of Julian again.”

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, but it vanished almost at once. She scoffed, “What stunt is Quentin pulling now? Does he think pretending to be dead will make me regret it? Tell him to come back on his own, or he can really die out there!”

“He’s dead! I told you, Quentin is dead!”

My sister suddenly broke down and shouted at Susan, “He doesn’t need you to regret anything. You’re heartless!”

“Enough, Wendy. I don’t want to waste my breath on you! What happens between Quentin and me is none of your business. Put him on the phone.”

My sister hung up on Susan.

I saw Susan’s face turn red with anger.

All these years, she’d never once lost an argument with me.

Whenever we fought, I always gave in.

She swallowed her anger and called me again.

“Ask Quentin where he put the watch I gave him to get repaired. I need it.”

“I don’t know,” my sister said coldly.

“I told you to ask Quentin—”

“Susan, you deserve to be struck by lightning,” my sister said through gritted teeth.

She knew everything that had happened between Susan and me, so she knew how much I loved Susan.

That was why Susan’s behavior made her hate her so much.

“You!”

“In the end, all you care about is the watch Julian gave you. Is that watch more important to you than Quentin’s life?”

My sister’s voice sounded choked with emotion. She felt I deserved better.

My sister cut Susan off before she could speak. “Quentin is dead. Believe it or not, I don’t care! I’m never answering your calls again. You won’t even let him rest in peace!”

My sister hung up on Susan again.

All I saw on Susan’s face was anger.

My sister told her I was dead, but Susan hadn’t shown even the slightest sign of concern. She was probably still thinking about where I’d hidden the watch Julian gave her.

To her, the things Julian gave her mattered more than my life.

I still remembered how, at the moment of the crash, I used the last of my strength to call her. She hung up without hesitation.

She was probably thinking about how to celebrate Julian’s birthday then too.

It was ridiculous.

I began to wonder how I’d managed to hold on for all those years.

Maybe death really had left me without a heart. Or maybe I simply no longer felt anything for Susan.

No matter how cruel she was now, I couldn’t seem to feel hurt anymore.

I floated in midair and watched her coldly.

Her anger slowly faded, and then she grew dazed. She stood motionless in the same spot for a long time without reacting.

I didn’t know what she was thinking, and I had no expectations of her.

Her phone suddenly rang.

Julian was calling.

They’d planned to go hiking together that day.

The moment Susan saw Julian’s name on the screen, her expression softened. A faint smile tugged at her lips.

I smiled too.

That was right. With no expectations, there could be no disappointment.

“Julian,” she said softly.

After six months of hearing Susan speak so warmly to Julian, I almost forgot how cold she used to be toward me.

“Susan, are you ready to leave? I’ve got everything packed, and I’m driving over to pick you up. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Julian said warmly.

“Okay,” Susan replied at once.

She added, “Drive safely.”

After hanging up, Susan hurried to the walk-in closet.

She searched through the clothes in the closet.

After looking for a while, she still couldn’t find the outfit she wanted.

She left the room and called downstairs, “Mrs. Wallace, where’s my brown Gucci tracksuit? It has two stripes down the sides and logos all over it.”

The housekeeper, Martha Wallace, hurried upstairs when she heard her.

“Ma’am, I put all your clothes away in the closet. Which outfit are you looking for?”

Susan answered impatiently, “The brown one. It has two stripes down the sides and lots of logos.”

Martha didn’t quite understand.

She went into the closet and searched for Susan. “Ma’am, is it this one?”

“No.” Susan snapped. “I already looked. It’s not here.”

In fact, the outfit was at the very bottom of the closet. Susan just hadn’t been patient enough to look properly.

She never wasted time on people or things she considered unimportant, just as she’d never cared much about me.

“Then I’m not sure, ma’am.”

“I hired you to take care of my household and my daily needs. You can’t even find my clothes?” Susan raised her voice.

Susan was clearly more irritable than usual that day.

Was she really that eager to see Julian?

Martha looked embarrassed.

After a long pause, she finally worked up the courage to say, “Mr. Chase always took care of your clothes. He said you were particular about what you wore and worried I might not handle them properly. Why don’t you ask him directly?”

“Don’t ask him! What would be the point?” Susan snapped. “He’d better have the guts to stay away for the rest of his life.”

Hah.

So, in Susan’s mind, my “death” was just another trick.

She didn’t believe I was really dead.

She thought I was still using this stunt to make her come and soothe me.

Susan angrily grabbed the first tracksuit she found and hurried out.

She got into Julian’s sedan, and they drove out to the suburbs.

They hiked together, chatting and laughing the whole way.

My death made no difference to her at all.

Halfway up the mountain, Julian suddenly turned to look at Susan. “What’s wrong today, Susan? You’re walking so slowly. Are you feeling unwell?”

Susan paused and looked up at him.

“Why don’t we take a break? We’re not in a hurry,” Julian said considerately.

“Okay.”

Susan took out a napkin and carefully wiped the step before letting Julian sit down on it.

She stayed by the railing, looking out at the view from halfway up the mountain.

“Susan, what’s wrong today? It seems like something’s on your mind,” Julian said, watching her. “You can tell me anything. I’ll help you through it.”

“It’s nothing,” Susan replied. “Work’s probably been a little stressful lately.”

“I knew work was stressing you out, so I brought you here to get some fresh air and relax,” Julian said quickly.

He looked so hopeful, as if he were waiting for her to praise him.

Susan unexpectedly stayed quiet.

A trace of displeasure crossed Julian’s face, but he quickly hid it.

After they’d rested for a while, Susan urged him, “It’s getting late. Let’s go.”

“I’ll carry you,” Julian offered.

Then he added, as if it had just occurred to him, “I work out a lot, so I’m pretty strong. Quentin is so skinny. I bet he isn’t very strong.”

As he spoke, he deliberately lifted his white shirt to show off his well-defined eight-pack abs.

I was much thinner than Julian, and I didn’t have any muscle.

But I used to love exercise, and I was strong too.

Later, I spent so much time drinking at Susan’s business dinners, looking after her health, and working that I had no time to exercise. The endless strain left me thinner and weaker.

But Susan never saw any of the sacrifices I made for her.

She probably even looked down on me for being so frail, didn’t she?

“Why bring him up?” Susan’s expression changed at once.

Julian froze.

Susan had never spoken to him so sharply before.

“I’m sorry,” Julian quickly said. “I didn’t know. Did you two have another fight?”

“No,” Susan replied dismissively. “I really can’t walk any farther. Let’s head back down.”

“But… we’re only halfway up.”

“I have work to take care of this afternoon, so I’d better get back early.”

Susan left him with that and started down ahead of him.

Julian looked furious.

He gritted his teeth, then followed her.

After they came down the mountain, Julian drove and offered, “Susan, let’s have lunch together.”

“I need to get back to work, so I can’t.”

“Food doesn’t taste as good when I eat alone,” Julian said, trying hard to persuade her.

“Please have lunch with me. I promise I’ll take you to the office as soon as we finish. I won’t make you late.”

In the end, Susan couldn’t bring herself to refuse Julian and agreed.

Julian smiled in triumph.

I had to admit, Julian had every reason to feel confident around Susan.

They arrived at Julian’s favorite restaurant.

As Susan got out of the car, she rubbed her stomach.

Julian noticed and quickly asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”

Susan nodded, then opened her bag and took out a pill case. When she opened it, she found that she’d run out of stomach medicine.

Susan often suffered from stomach pain. A few years earlier, her family faced a crisis and nearly went bankrupt. She worked day and night, barely eating or sleeping, to get them back on their feet.

Over time, she developed chronic stomach problems.

After we got together, I often prepared and brought her meals. Her stomach improved a lot, but the pain still flared up from time to time after business dinners. I didn’t want her to suffer, so I always made sure to keep stomach medicine in her bag.

I regularly checked her supply and replaced the medicine as soon as she ran out.

Susan shouldn’t have run out of stomach medicine so quickly.

But when I thought about it, no one had been around to remind her to eat or bring her meals for the past six months. She often skipped meals, so she had only herself to blame for her frequent stomach flare-ups.

“Let me rub your stomach,” Julian offered, moving closer and placing a hand over her stomach. “That should make it feel better.”

Susan froze for a moment, then pushed him away. “No need. I’m probably just hungry. I’ll feel better after I eat.”

“Then let’s go eat,” Julian said with a cheerful grin, as if nothing had happened.

Susan pressed her lips together, and they both got out of the car.

At the table, Julian focused on ordering with the server, occasionally asking Susan what she wanted.

Her stomach hurt so badly that her face had gone pale.

But she never showed weakness in front of Julian. She couldn’t bear the thought of making him worry, so she endured everything in silence.

I watched her and felt a strange flicker of satisfaction.

Good. I hoped it hurt like hell.

After Julian finished ordering, he still didn’t notice how pale Susan looked.

He kept chatting and laughing with her. “Susan, I ordered your favorite spicy ribs. Make sure you eat plenty.”

I saw Susan’s expression finally change.

How could someone with a stomachache eat something so spicy?

Julian truly hadn’t noticed anything about Susan’s health.

Back then, I’d loved spicy food. But to help Susan’s stomach recover, I forced myself to eat bland food for a whole year.

A realization suddenly dawned on me.