All Chapters of I’ve Been Dead for Three Years: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

My wife, Katrina Paine, was being pressed to the floor by several burly men in our cramped rented apartment. The men were street thugs whom my mother had hired.Katrina’s face was deathly pale, and she was so terrified that her body shook uncontrollably.“Why are you doing this, Samantha? Everything was going just fine. Why are you doing all this?”“Don’t call me by my name so casually. You’re not my family.”My mother, Samantha Harding, frowned. Her gaze burned with fury, and her voice was filled with hatred. “I already disowned Aiden when he said he wanted to marry you. If he dares to abandon his older brother for a woman, then he doesn’t deserve to be a member of this family. The Harding family raised him for twenty years. It’s time for him to pay us back, but where has he run off to?”At Mom’s words, I felt a wave of bitterness rise within me. My older brother, Anthony, had been in poor health since he was a child. The whole reason my parents decided to have me was so I co

Chapter 2

I watched as Katrina died right before my eyes. Grief and sadness enveloped me even while hatred filled my heart. I was so angry that my whole body shook. The second Katrina took her own life, the last shred of love I had for Samantha died. Even though she had caused all this, Samantha was expressionless. She only looked down at the ground and left with a huff. When she walked past Katrina’s body, she even cursed me once again. “You’re truly a cold one, Aiden. Your wife’s dead, but you still haven’t even shown up. Don’t forget that you still have a daughter in kindergarten.”I gritted my teeth when I heard her. She really was determined to ruin my entire family. I had died years ago, so how was I supposed to show up?After Katrina took her life, the landlord considered the place unlucky and threw out all the things in the apartment. He also changed the locks. When my daughter, Madison, came home from kindergarten and found out that Katrina had died and that she could not en

Chapter 3

I knelt on the ground and cried. On this day, I had watched both my beloved wife and daughter die. I had died three years ago, so why was I being forced to see all of this?I recalled the night of Samantha’s birthday three years ago. To marry Katrina, I had cut all my ties with my family. I started my own family and got a small home. We lived humble but happy lives. The week before Samantha’s birthday, Anthony suddenly texted me, saying that Samantha had forgiven me long ago, even though she never mentioned it. He hoped that I could come home and spend Samantha’s birthday with her. Even though Katrina was worried, I drove three days alone to reach the Harding family home. I stopped at the entrance to the building, and before I could even open the car door, the world suddenly shook. Before I could react, I watched as the buildings before me collapsed one by one. The neatly laid out buildings instantly became ruins, and cries and shouts for help rang out. My hand shook as

Chapter 4

Samantha was looking at my canceled phone number with hatred on her face.Even though Katrina and Madison were dead, Samantha had yet to give up on finding me. She first went to the hospital to visit Anthony. Anthony was lying in bed and playing a game on his phone. When he saw Samantha enter, he immediately started putting on a show, acting weak and fragile. “Is Aiden still unwilling to come and help me? I knew he always hated me. It’s all my fault that I’m in bad health, and you were forced to put all your attention on me. It’s justified for him to feel slighted by that.”Seeing that Anthony was sad, Samantha quickly reached for his hand and reassured him. “How could any of this be your fault, Anthony? We had him because we wanted him to take care of you. Without you, he would never have been born. He should be thanking you.“Don’t worry. I’ll find Aiden and make him donate his kidney to you. Your father’s last wish was that I take good care of you.”Anthony sighed deeply

Chapter 5

Samantha was quiet for a moment. Then, she let out a derisive scoff. “You must be someone Aiden got to trick me. Tell him to get out here and talk to me straight. Stop using these lies to mess with me. Everyone knows that it was Anthony who saved me from that earthquake that day. Aiden had been in a whole other city, so how could it have been him? You should check the probability behind your lies before you tell them.”The man on the other end of the line spoke again. “Samantha, my mother is Caroline Pierce. Do you remember her? She lived next door to you before the earthquake. I’m her son, Arnold Jordan. If you don’t believe me, I’ll ask my mom to talk to you herself.”An older woman’s voice came through the line. “Hello. Is this Mrs. Harding? We were in the hospital together, remember? Didn’t I tell you then that I watched your son save you from the rubble? Have you forgotten?”Samantha’s hand shook as she held the phone. She feigned composure as she answered, “I remember. B

Chapter 6

Afterward, Samantha received a phone call from the police. She went to the morgue to collect the bodies of Katrina and Madison. Arnold had come along. Arnold was not only the family’s old neighbor but also my childhood friend. He had been my best man during my wedding and had helped Katrina and Madison a lot after my death. He patted Samantha on the shoulder and comforted her. “Don’t be too sad, Mrs. Harding. After Aiden passed, Katrina developed severe depression. It’s been hard for her these past three years. Death could be a form of release for her.“It’s a shame about Madison, though. According to the police, there were no cameras along that stretch of road, so they couldn’t find the driver behind the hit-and-run. Plus, she could have been saved if someone had brought her to the hospital in time.“I know your relationship with Aiden hasn’t been the best. If you had found out about his passing earlier, I’m sure Katrina and Madison wouldn’t have ended up like this. Too bad

Chapter 7

Early the next morning, when Samantha came to visit Anthony, she brought some chicken noodle soup. When she got to the door of Anthony’s ward, he was being pushed out in a wheelchair by a nurse. When the nurse saw Samantha, she immediately frowned and chastised her. “What’s wrong with you and your family? The patient is having his kidney transplant soon, but none of you are with him. Where have you been?”Samantha looked at Anthony in confusion. “How is it that you’re getting a kidney transplant? Didn’t you say only Aiden can be a donor and no one else can?”Anthony looked at Samantha coldly. He still remembered the slap she gave him yesterday. “I never said that no one else can donate. I only said that he would be a better match because we’re brothers. You were the one who misunderstood. Don’t blame everything on me.“Besides, I did the kidney matching long ago. If I’d known Aiden was dead earlier, I wouldn’t have waited so long for nothing and suffered so much. Since you’re

Chapter 8

Anthony was not the type of person who could sit still and behave. After being discharged, he went against the medical advice given to him to stay home and rest. Instead, he went out late at night with his friends to go drinking. When Samantha arrived at the diner Anthony frequented for supper, she found him and his friends drinking. She was about to go over and tell him off, but then she heard Anthony saying something conspiratorially. He said, “You don’t know how hard I’ve been having it! It’s been so tough faking it! I never liked studying or being all nerdy. I like sports and playing basketball. But to keep up the act of being physically weak, I had to suffer for thirty whole years!“When I found out that my horrible little brother died a few days ago, I was overjoyed! I’ve hated him since he was born. I’ve been doing everything I can to frame him since I was a kid. I wanted my parents to either beat him up so badly that he wouldn’t survive or send him away, but he still kep

Chapter 9

Samantha was rooted to the spot, completely stunned. She looked like a puppet with its strings cut. After a moment, she ducked her head and went home. The next day, Arnold came by and rang the doorbell. “Mrs. Harding, Aiden left some of his things at my place. We’ve decided to move the whole family abroad, and we’re selling the house. That’s why I brought everything here to you.”Samantha thanked him numbly and then opened the box with all the things I had left behind. Anthony exited his room with a yawn. He looked at the box with disdain. “Aiden’s been dead for three years. What’s the point of bringing his things here now? This is unlucky stuff. You should throw it all away.”Samantha ignored Anthony. She reached into the box and took out three brand new pairs of gloves made of sheep’s wool. There were also several boxes of expired hand cream.There was even a sticky note with handwritten instructions. Samantha sobbed at the sight of it. “Aiden bought these specially fo

Chapter 10

Anthony did not go home all month. Samantha shut herself in her room and kept holding onto the family photo. She kept apologizing and occasionally interjected with loud curses. It was like she had gone mad. When she got hungry, she would order takeout. She did not shower or clean herself, and she developed a stench. One day, her cloudy eyes suddenly gained clarity. She looked out the window. “If I cared more about you, would things have ended up differently? Would I have had a good and loving son, a sweet daughter-in-law, and an adorable granddaughter?”This supposition was pointless. There were no “what ifs” in life. She only felt regret because her reality did not match up with what she wanted. The hospital called Samantha. Due to the way Anthony had been eating, drinking, and staying out late, his kidneys were failing again. He might not survive the month. After hanging up, Samantha slapped herself hard. Then, she let out a laugh. “This is karma. This is all karma. We

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP