Chapter 3

A week passed, and Abigail didn't receive a single message from me. Her mood had grown increasingly dark.

She couldn't hold it in any longer and asked the butler, Robin Galvan, "Has Oscar really not come home at all this week?"

Robin answered nervously, "No, Ms. Finch. Perhaps you could give Mr. Howard a call. What do you say?"

Abigail let out a mocking laugh, as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world. "Me, call him? He deliberately set this trap to make me give in. He's absolutely out of his mind."

She slammed her phone on the coffee table and walked restlessly into the living room. Suddenly, she stopped and stared at an oil painting hanging on the wall.

Years ago, Abigail had spent six months painting it for me herself. In it, I stood in a field of golden flowers with a bright and carefree smile.

Back then, she'd leaned against my chest, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Below the painting were the words she wrote years ago. "Oscar, this painting will stay with us longer than the years and stronger than time itself."

As her feelings for me faded over time, the painting became the only thing that still held a trace of what we'd once shared. I had continued to treasure it, dusting it carefully every single day.

But now, it was nothing but an eyesore to Abigail. She suddenly stood up, grabbed the fruit knife from the table, and strode over to the painting before slashing at it. In the painting, my smiling face and hands were left in jagged, ugly gashes.

I quietly watched from the side. Luckily, since I died, my heart could no longer feel any pain.

Just then, Joel suddenly burst into the room and pulled Abigail into his arms, his voice tense. "Abby, Oscar used AI to fake intimate photos of me with a bunch of women just to stop our wedding.

"He even threatened me, saying that if I didn't do what he said, those photos and videos would spread all over the internet and completely ruin me!"

Abigail's expression darkened. She gently stroked Joel's cheek, her voice low and cold. "Joel, don't be scared. Since he dared to spread lies and make false accusations, he'll have to pay for his actions."

She immediately took out her phone and sent me a voice message. "Oscar, you have one hour. Get home right now and apologize to Joel. Otherwise, you'll regret it!"

I drifted beside her and looked at the message. All that remained inside me was endless bitterness.

Second after second passed. Before long, the hour was up, but there was no way I could ever appear before her.

Abigail stared at her phone, a cold smile forming at the corner of her mouth. "Oscar, you brought this on yourself."

She stormed into the bedroom and dug out the wooden box I treasured. Inside was our wedding ring.

I remembered getting down on one knee and gently slipping the ring onto her finger.

Abigail had thrown herself into my arms and held me tightly, saying, "Oscar, I'm sticking with you for the rest of my life. I'll never let you go."

But now, she raised her high heel and stomped down hard without hesitation, crushing the ring until it shattered.

The second item in the box was a crystal pendant Dad had left me—a family heirloom passed down for generations.

When Dad had placed it in my hands, he'd said solemnly, "Oscar, this pendant has been passed down in our family for generations. Someday, give it to the person you love most."

With an indifferent expression, Abigail picked it up and hurled it to the floor. It instantly shattered into pieces.

What broke me completely was her reaching for the protective charm Dad had risked his life to obtain for me.

I was a sickly child. My father walked for days on his knees, praying at every shrine along the way, just to bring me this charm.

Back then, he had pulled me into his arms with reddened eyes and said, "I don't ask for wealth or status for you. I only hope you stay safe and healthy your whole life."

It was the most precious thing I had in this life, but Abigail showed no mercy. She twisted it apart with both hands, snapping it cleanly in two.

I rushed forward frantically to stop her, but my hands passed through her and the charm again and again. All I could do was watch helplessly as everything was destroyed.

After doing all this, Abigail sent me one final message, as though she were showing me mercy. "Oscar, this is what you get for spending all day outside and never coming home. Since that's the case, don't ever step into this house again!"