Chapter 2
Morning came. The bells of the mountain wellness retreat echoed through the valley.
Oliver and Lucy walked out of the sanctuary arm in arm after a long night of supposed quiet reflection.
Lucy's cheeks were flushed. She clung to him, strutting like a victorious peacock.
"Sleep well, Oliver?" she asked sweetly.
"Yeah," Oliver grunted. He looked exhausted.
He unlocked his phone to find dozens of missed calls from his executive assistant and the local police precinct.
A flood of frantic text messages filled his screen. He cleared all the notifications without reading a single word.
"Let's head back to the office," he said.
The car cruised back into the city.
They drove past my apartment building. It was the exact spot where I had jumped. Yellow police tape still cordoned off the sidewalk.
The pavement had been washed down, but you could still see the faint, dark red stain of my blood.
A group of nosy neighbors stood nearby. They were gossiping loud enough to be heard from the street.
"God, that girl who died last night was a total mess," one woman said.
"I heard she was a mistress," another chimed in. "She couldn't handle getting dumped by her sugar daddy.
"Young people today are just so weak."
The car window was cracked open, letting their nasty chatter drift inside.
Oliver frowned and rolled the window all the way up, shutting out the noise.
"Disgusting," he muttered.
Lucy rested her head on his shoulder. Her voice dripped with fake sympathy. "Caroline would be so upset if she heard them talking about her like that."
"She brought it on herself," Oliver replied coldly. "Nobody would know about her pathetic drama if she didn't make such a public scene. It's embarrassing."
I sat in the passenger seat, staring at his sharp profile.
I was dead. I was nothing more than a ghost. But hearing those words still made my phantom heart ache.
The car pulled up in front of Sterling Enterprises. His assistant, Brandon Carter, was waiting by the entrance.
He was pale and sweating heavily. He physically shook as he clutched a manila folder.
"M-Mr. Grant..." Brandon stammered.
Oliver stepped out of the car.
He ignored Kevin and walked straight toward the lobby. "Save your breath if this is about Caroline. I don't have the time or the patience for another cheap sympathy stunt."
Brandon scrambled to keep up.
He stepped right in front of Oliver to block his path. "It's not a stunt! Sir, please, you have to go look!
"Caroline's body is at the morgue. The police couldn't reach you, so they told me to..."
"Move!" Oliver snapped. He stopped and glared down at Brandon.
His eyes were ice-cold. "Are you deaf? I'm not going. I don't care what twisted game she's playing.
"A dead body? Hah. She actually brought in props to force my hand? Tell her she overplayed her part. Nobody's buying it."
Brandon was on the verge of tears. "Mr. Grant, it's real! I identified her myself. It's Caroline. She's really dead!"
A sharp slap echoed through the lobby.
Oliver had struck Kevin hard across the face.
Everyone froze. They stared at the two men in absolute shock.
"I never want to hear that nonsense again," Oliver warned.
He took out a pocket square to wipe his palm, acting as if he had just touched something filthy. "Fire this traitor.
"Anyone else who dares to mention Caroline's name gets the exact same treatment."
He stormed into the elevator. Lucy trailed right behind him.
She paused as she passed Brandon.
"You shouldn't have done that, Brandon," she said. "How much did Caroline pay you to lie to Oliver?
"Karma catches up to people who lie too much."
She covered her mouth to hide a smug giggle, then turned and stepped into the elevator.
The elevator doors slowly shut. They cut off Kevin's desperate sobbing.
I stared at Oliver's rigid back. Suddenly, I found the whole thing ridiculously funny.
Just how arrogant were you, Oliver? Were you so confident that you lacked the guts to go see for yourself?
Or were you just terrified deep down? Maybe you couldn't admit that the Caroline who stayed, no matter how badly you broke her, was finally gone forever.