Chapter 1 Chapter 1

My boyfriend, Kevin Woods, was a forensic doctor. Meanwhile, I got kidnapped by the ex-convict he had helped sentence to prison in the past. He and his accomplices strapped a bomb to me. The kidnapper glared at me angrily. "You're Kevin's girlfriend, yeah? Tell him to get his ass over here right now!" I was forced to call Kevin. He sounded very impatient when he responded. "I told you not to call me when I'm working! You're so annoying!" I explained hurriedly, "Kevin, I got kidnapped! They're trying to get revenge on you! You mustn't come to my rescue—" Before I could finish my sentence, the kidnapper snatched the phone away. Kevin's voice drifted clearly from the loudspeaker. "Michelle, are you nuts? I told you I'm at work! How dare you joke around with stuff like that! "Do you even know that Vi's cat has been stuck in the tree for three days now? If I don't save it, it'll die! And to think that you came up with this reason just so you could get me to go home! You might as well just tell me that you're about to die!" I looked at the bomb strapped to my body. The ten-minute countdown was already shown on the timer. "I—" "That's enough! I don't want to listen to your lies! To Vi, her cat is as important as her life! If something happens to the cat, leading to something happening to Vi, you'll be a murderer! I won't let you off the hook!" At that moment, a sweet and soft feminine voice drifted from the loudspeaker. "You're amazing, Kev! To think you actually saved my darling kitty!" After that, the call ended. The kidnapper cursed out loud. "Ugh, how unlucky! Kevin doesn't love this woman at all! We got the wrong woman!" Once the kidnapper and his accomplices left, I stared down at the bomb strapped to my form. Tears began rolling down my cheeks at that time. Even the kidnapper could tell that Kevin didn't love me at all. To think that I'd only wake up and realize the truth on the last day of my life. The Vi woman Kevin had spoken of happened to be his childhood friend, Violet Rae. When Kevin and I first started dating, he told me Violet was like a little sister to him. Of course, I believed him. But once I realized that something was fishy, I was already head over heels in love with Kevin. I couldn't extract myself from our relationship anymore. Kevin would always hurry over to Violet at any time of the day as long as he received a phone call from her. This also happened during his first meeting with my parents. He ditched us right away without a care in the world and hurried over to Violet just because she was scared of the dark. He didn't even bother explaining what happened to us. All he said was, "Something came up." Back then, I had stopped him because I didn't want him to leave. I even begged him to stay out of respect for my parents. All Kevin did was chuckle coldly. "Michelle, this is how things have been between Violet and me over the past 20 years or so. If you can't get used to this, then you can forget about marrying me." I had consoled myself that Kevin was just treating Violet like his little sister and that he still loved me. But I only realized the truth when I was about to die. Kevin never loved me from the start. Violet was the only woman he cared about. Before the bomb detonated, I sent one last text message to Kevin. "Farewell. I hope that we will never meet again in another life."

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Bits and pieces of my body were scattered across the ground. In fact, one couldn't tell what I looked like right now. My soul levitated in mid-air. I just stared at my body from above. I didn't feel particularly sad. To me, death was an escape. I had no idea how long I had been floating around. That was, until Kevin arrived at the scene. He trailed behind a group of police officers. He was mainly in charge of taking photos of the scene and recording the details as well as communicating with his colleagues. One of the police officers said, "We discovered some gunpowder at the scene. Perhaps someone crafted this bomb by hand. The thing is, the victim's identity remains unknown for now." Kevin frowned as he looked at my body. I could feel nervousness starting to sink in. For some reason, I had this strange desire welling up in me. Would Kevin feel remorseful if he were to find out that I was the victim? I stared at Kevin unblinkingly, hoping to pick up on a glint of recognition in those eyes of his. But Kevin just stood up while maintaining a mask of impassiveness. "I can tell that the victim is a female. Based on the clothing pieces, she was wearing something stylish. You can try checking for missing women who are between ages 20 to 30." My heart sank tremendously at his words. It appeared that Kevin didn't recognize me at all. Right… He didn't care about me, so how would he be able to recognize me? After investigating the scene, my body was taken back to the police station. My soul followed it too. I ended up sitting in the back seat of Kevin's car. Kevin sat in the front passenger seat. The one who was driving the car was his colleague and best friend, William Knox. William said, "Kevin, did you switch off your phone? Chief Jacobson was looking for you just now. He had to call me just to pass the message to you." Kevin frowned instantly. He seemed to have recalled something unpleasant. "It's because of Michelle being so freaking annoying. I've already warned her not to call me when I'm at work, yet she never listens!" Although I was already used to hearing Kevin say such things about me, I still felt suffocated when I saw the palpable disgust on his face. It felt as though an invisible hand had just squeezed my heart. William let out a small sigh. "Kevin, Michelle most likely is just trying to show concern for you. You mustn't get mad at her." Kevin just huffed coldly without responding to William. Once he switched on his phone, the first thing that popped out was my text message. My heart went tense. Would Kevin pick up on the fact that I was acting weird based on the message? But I didn't expect his expression to darken so much. "You call this an act of showing concern to me? She even said farewell to me!" After that, Kevin called my number. But I could never pick up any of his calls ever again. Upon realizing that the call didn't go through, Kevin's expression darkened even more. "Fine. Michelle Fairfield, you'd better stay the hell away from me and never come back!" Once he was done speaking, he blocked my number without hesitation. He never thought about the possibility of me being in danger. The dull ache, which had been plaguing my heart this whole time, was starting to make me feel numb. I could no longer feel anything for Kevin. I should've known all these things a long time ago. I should've known that Kevin never cared about me, nor would he ever be thoughtful toward me. I was already dead, so why was I still hanging on to such unrealistic fantasies? Just like that, I followed my body to the police station. Soon, Kevin wheeled my body into the forensic laboratory in order to perform an autopsy on me. Meanwhile, my soul was stuck with Kevin wherever he went. I had to witness him cutting my body open. For some reason, my soul had to follow Kevin around ever since I saw him. Not only could I move away from him, but I couldn't free myself from this mortal plane as well.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Soon, the autopsy results were out. "The victim was about 26 years old. The kidnapper seemed to really hate her guts, for he tortured her immensely while she was still alive. In the end, she died due to the explosion. "Most importantly, the victim was found to be two months pregnant at her time of death." Everyone fell silent as soon as they heard Kevin's report. Torture. Death by explosion. Two lives were gone. Every word and phrase seemed so terrifying when combined together. I was shocked when I heard Kevin's report. Then, I looked down at my stomach in disbelief. I was… pregnant? The fetus was still so little… I didn't even know of its existence, yet it was forced to leave this world… Tears began dripping down my cheeks. Meanwhile, Kevin could only sigh. "That poor victim… I hope you guys can solve this case as soon as possible for the sake of seeking justice for her. I don't have any cases on me right now, so I can follow up with this case with you." I let out a cold chuckle while gazing at Kevin. Would he still say such things if he were to find out that I was the victim? After the autopsy, Kevin's expression remained solemn. He and William crouched in the backyard while smoking quietly. William said, "Kevin, couples don't argue! Since Michelle's mad at you, why don't you just be nice to her?" Kevin just sneered. "Be nice to her? She'll only cause more trouble! She called me when I was at work and threatened me! Next time, she would most likely lie to me about her fake death!" What Kevin didn't know was that I was truly dead. I wondered if he'd regret saying what he had said once he found out about the truth in the future. But I didn't care anymore. Now, all I wanted was to leave his side forever. William could only let out a small sigh when he realized that Kevin refused to listen to his advice. … The police started investigating the missing people first. William spent a few days investigating in the office. So far, he only managed to determine a few missing women who fit the criteria. At that moment, Kevin's phone rang. It was a call from his childhood friend, Violet. "Kev, when are you going home? I didn't get to see you when I was looking for you at your home earlier." Kevin's face was exhausted because he had been burning the midnight oil lately. He quickly squeezed out a small smile the moment he heard Violet's voice. "I have a case going on at the moment. Once I'm done with the case, I'll spend time with you, okay?" Violet had a sweet and petulant voice that made her sound like she was always whining cutely. "But Kev, I'd like to watch a horror movie! I don't have the guts to watch it if you're not here with me! You used to spend all your time with me!" Kevin didn't get mad at Violet for disturbing his work. Instead, he comforted her patiently. "I promise I'll take some time off and go on a vacation with you after I'm done with this case, alright?" Violet replied nonchalantly, "Oh, alright! What sort of case are you in charge of?" Kevin answered, "A woman got killed by a bomb after getting kidnapped. We're investigating this woman's identity right now. We think there was bad blood between the woman and the kidnapper." He let out a soft chuckle, his tone now gentle. "I won't go into the details. You're a scaredy cat—if you listen to the case details, you won't be able to sleep at all." I just sneered while watching this scene unfold before my eyes. How ironic. Kevin even had time to worry about whether or not Violet was scared. But he never thought about where I could possibly be at the moment. All this time, Kevin treated Violet completely differently than the way he treated me. After Kevin ended the call, he continued watching William cross-check the database on missing people with the victim's criteria. It was already past midnight by the time the cross-checking process was over. None of them fit the criteria. The case had gone into a stalemate. For a moment, everyone fell silent as they thought about what to do next. Kevin just stared at my body. After that, he said, "Let's publicize the victim's characteristics and see if there were still cases of missing people which had yet to be reported to the police." William nodded. Soon, he got in touch with the local TV station. My incident was broadcast throughout the city in less than ten minutes. A while later, Kevin's phone rang abruptly. I happened to be standing next to him in a dazed state. The moment I heard the voice coming from the other end of the line, I snapped out of my trance immediately. It was my dad. He told Kevin anxiously, "Kevin, Michelle has been missing for a few days! Her characteristics fit the ones that are spread by the police!"