Chapter 1

The door was thrown open with a hard shove, and before a single silhouette stepped across the threshold, a string of girlish giggles rushed in ahead of them.

Someone told Richard to turn on the lights.

Richard answered without much thought and fumbled for the switch.

I had lost count of how many of his companions he'd brought home.

And I didn't know what I did wrong in life, that after death I was reduced to hovering at Richard's side, watching him bring new women through our door.

I watched him return again and again with a new face, moving from shock to fury to a dull ache, then to numbness.

Now, it had been three years.

All the women Richard brought back had faces that resembled mine.

He never let the substitutes speak. A sound would make them different, and then they would not be mine.

Meanwhile, he never allowed them to stay overnight.

This was our marital room, after all. We never had a day as husband and wife.

The woman in front of me clicked her high heels on the rug I had bought.

I raised an eyebrow; I expected Richard to erupt.

But to my surprise, he simply bent to remove her shoes, then gathered her in his arms at the waist and gently set her down on the bed.

I saw her face clearly, and at one look I was stunned. This woman did not look like me at all.

*****

The woman was radiant like a flower, her smile bright and sweet.

Right now, she was blushing with shyness as she murmured, "Aren't we rushing this a little too much?"

Richard chuckled and gave her cheek a playful squeeze.

I floated above, watching Richard. He seemed different.

The woman kept crossing boundaries, and what she got in return wasn't Richard's cold face or anger, but endless tenderness and affection.

They looked just like a loving couple lost in their own little world.

In the end, Richard even let her fall asleep in his arms.

Morning light spilled through the window. Richard propped his head up with one hand, a smile playing on his lips as he gazed at her sleeping face.

Then he lowered his head to place a soft good-morning kiss on her cheek.

That gentle look—I had only seen it three years ago. I knew then, Richard had fallen in love with someone else.

Ghosts could feel pain too. A dull ache spread through my chest.

I wanted to hold it, but my hand passed through nothing.

I opened my palms wide. There was nothing I could do.

I couldn't hold him when Richard was drunk out of his mind and calling my name. I couldn't stop him when he wanted to follow me to death.

It had already been three years. He had done more than enough for me.

I had witnessed how deeply he once loved me, and I should accept that he had fallen for someone else.

But why wouldn't he let me go? Was I supposed to stand by and watch Richard marry another woman and raise children with her?

Something really did change though. After that night, I realized I could follow Richard outside.

Before, I had only been able to drift around the house, as if some invisible door kept me trapped inside.

Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar world outside, I was at a loss for a moment.

That house was the one Richard and I had chosen after searching for so long.

We picked it because the area had such good plans for the future—malls, schools, hospitals.

And now, all those promises had come true. Only the person standing by Richard's side wasn't me anymore.

""Noelle, how are you this cute?"" Richard said, unable to hide his affection.

The woman, Noelle Sutton, looked utterly flustered.

Richard laughed as he wiped ice cream from the tip of her nose and then slipped his finger into his mouth.

Noelle blushed and glanced around nervously. "Oh my god, there are so many people here."

"So what?" Richard pinched her cheek again, leaning in like he was about to kiss her.

The next second, Noelle's startled cry rang out, followed by the heavy thud of fist meeting flesh.

Richard staggered back, caught off guard. The man standing before him wore a furious expression. It was Joshua Cooper.

Joshua glared at him and demanded, "Richard, how the hell can you do this to Isabel?"