Chapter 1

"Jameson, I'm dying. Please... help me," I begged over the phone.

Jameson Rhodes frowned at the other end. "Mia, Isabella's competition is today. Can you stop bothering me?"

I'd always been the calm and quiet type. Even now, hearing his sharp voice, mine softened involuntarily. "But... today is our wedding."

He let out a sigh, heavy and impatient. "So what? It's just a wedding. If you're going to die, hurry up and die. Don't get in the way of me watching her race."

My voice caught in my throat. "I really..."

...am dying.

But before I could finish, he cut me off. "Mia, your life isn't worth a damn. Even if you died, it wouldn't matter."

Then the call ended.

I stared at the phone, listening to the flat, endless dial tone. Tears slipped down my cheeks.

I thought I had grown numb to pain, thought I could accept my fate with grace. But I was wrong. Even I could still cry out of sheer unwillingness.

My face, once delicately made up as a bride's, was now a mess of smeared makeup and tears. My body trembled uncontrollably from fear.

I gathered up the hem of my dress and ran with all I had.

The wedding dress I had carefully chosen, once pristine and stunning, was now soaked with black mud.

I ran barefoot. Each step was stabbed with pain as rocks tore into my flesh. Blood marked the path behind me, but I couldn't stop.

A deranged killer was chasing me. I could die at any moment.

I ran as hard as I could, but my foot caught on my hem. I crashed to the ground. Pain shot through my knee.

I didn't stop. Hands scraping against the dirt, I crawled forward, terrified.

Behind me, the madman laughed. "Be good now... I'll be gentle."

A cold hand grazed my ankle. I turned around, panicked—

He grabbed me hard and raised his axe high. I saw its reflection in my wide, terrified eyes.

Then the axe fell.

I didn't even have time to feel the pain.

My head hit the ground with a dull thud, rolled once like a ball, and came to a stop—eyes open, just slightly, staring straight at the faintly glowing phone screen.

At some point, the screen had opened a news video. Sweet romantic music played softly from the phone.

It rang out, disturbingly bright in the eerie silence.

On the screen, my sister was kissing a man. I couldn't see his face clearly, but I knew who it was instantly.

It was Jameson.

Their kiss reflected in my lifeless pupils.

The video shifted, light flickering in my eyes as if reacting.

The killer picked up my head and slung my body over his shoulder. He hummed along softly to the music as he walked away.

My pupils gradually faded.

In the darkness of night, the scene was nothing short of grotesque.

…

I died. I was now a headless corpse.

But I wasn't at peace. The hatred inside me hadn't died with me.

The image of my husband kissing my sister burned in my memory.

The wedding I had dreamed of became a cruel, lonely farce.

Jameson's words had cut me deeper than any blade.

I didn't understand. Why? Why do this to me?

We'd been together since we were kids. He once told me I was the only one he loved.

So why? Why did he leave me on our wedding day... to be with Isabella?

Maybe it was obsession, maybe just sheer stubbornness—But even in death, I lingered as a ghost, following Jameson.

At the MB 12-Hour Endurance Race, the crowd roared, alive with energy.

No one noticed the couple hidden in a quiet corner, locked in a kiss.

"Jameson, don't... this isn't right," Isabella Hartman tried to push him away. "Today is your wedding with Mia. You shouldn't abandon her for me."

Jameson cupped the back of her head. "It's just a wedding. It can't compare to you, Isabella. You're the most beautiful, the most gifted racer."

They kissed again, forgetting the world around them.

'No. This isn't right. You can't—how can you do this?! Jameson, this is betrayal!' The sight of them twisted something deep inside me.

I reached out, trying to tear them apart—

But my hand passed through their bodies like air.

That's when it hit me.

I was dead. A ghost. Powerless to stop any of it.

After all our years together, I had never felt pain like this.

No matter how I tried, I couldn't accept it.

My husband and my sister were seeing each other behind my back.

I collapsed to the side, sobbing into my hands.

My cries echoed pointlessly against the celebration all around me.

But it was over. No one could hear me. No one even knew I was gone.

"What if something really happened to Mia?"

Isabella glanced at the desperate messages I'd sent Jameson before I died. Her expression was cold.

Jameson just shrugged, unconcerned. "She's always so distant. Barely talks. She probably got upset that I left her at the wedding altar and decided to scare me with this stunt. Don't worry. Mia's got no fire in her. She's bland—like a glass of water."

Hearing that, I suddenly understood. To him, I was worth so little. No wonder he was so drawn to Isabella.

She was famous. All charm and sex appeal.

Me? Just plain water. Tasteless and forgettable.

I clenched my fists, even without a body, and bit down hard, the grief tearing through me like my insides were splitting apart.

Everything I had once held dear—how ridiculous it all seemed now.

Isabella smiled. "Great. After all, Mia is my little sister. I wouldn't want her to be hurt."

Didn't want me to be hurt?

Furious, I slammed my hand against the seat.

She knew Jameson was my fiance and kissed him anyway.

That line about not wanting to hurt me was a lie. She was so fake.

Jameson started the car slowly. I sat silently in the back, staring out the window, realizing he was probably driving Isabella home—to my family's house.

Even now, Jameson hadn't once tried to call me.

For the first time, I realized just how pathetic I was. Even in death, no one cared.

Halfway there, Jameson's phone rang. He answered while driving. "Hello?"

"Jameson, is Mia with you? Did something happen to her?"

He chuckled. "Don't kid me. What could happen to her?"

Marcus Whitmore, his friend, felt something was off. "I just happened to be at the precinct. They got an emergency call earlier. I swear, the voice sounded just like Mia's... is she with you?"