Chapter 1

My miscalculation of the tomb's structure led to my husband's student, Emily Shaw, getting trapped inside for half an hour.

On the surface, nobody said a word, but behind my back, they gossiped about how I was jealous of Emily for being young and cute, and even gave me the nickname "The Old Witch."

When Leonard Brooks found out, he gave everyone a serious dressing-down and suspended Emily's work right in front of everyone.

Later that afternoon, when he took me down into the tomb, he handed me a heat pack and told me not to let it bother me.

But when I climbed into the coffin to check it out, the lid suddenly slammed shut.

I swallowed my panic and yelled for help, but all I got back were people mocking me.

Someone called, "That's what you get for messing with Em. Enjoy your night in there, Old Witch."

Another one laughed, "There's a Zhou Dynasty woman in there. Don't go crushing her with your fat ass, or don't expect the professor to bail you out."

Then, Leonard's familiar, calm voice came from outside. "It's over. Why are you still here?"

I banged on the door and shouted for help, but the teasing voices easily drowned me out.

"Shouldn't we wait for her? What if she gets stuck down here like Em did?" someone asked.

"She's got a heat pack. She'll be fine." Leonard answered.

After what felt like forever, the mocking and teasing finally faded away, and the place went dead silent.

My heart was as empty as the tomb.

Throughout the long night, I typed out the divorce agreement, tears streaming down my face as I wrote every word.

But when Leonard saw the blood pooling under me, the man who was always so aloof and proud suddenly dropped to his knees and begged me not to leave.

In the pitch-black, cramped space, I huddled in the corner, screaming for help.

Outside the coffin, the group of kids were making obnoxious noises, obviously trying to cover up my shouts.

"Professor, Em got those heat packs for you, but now the Old Witch has them. If she finds out, she'll start crying again."

"That whole 'miscalculation' thing is a cover. The Old Witch is jealous that Em gets your personal attention, so she trapped Em in the tomb on purpose. Honestly, Professor, you shouldn't waste your kindness on her."

"It's a heat pack, seriously?"

Leonard let out a helpless sigh. "Hurry up and pack up. We need to get back. There's going to be a heavy rain tonight."

The rest of them laughed and walked off, leaving me trapped in the coffin without a second glance.

When I realized they were really leaving, panic surged through me. I started banging desperately on the stone lid overhead.

In the cramped space, dust kept clogging my throat. "Leonard, help. I'm still in here."

But the coffin was sealed up with layers meant to keep out moisture and decay, so barely any sound escaped.

I pressed my head desperately against the coffin lid, my face nearly smashed against the bronze patterns. "Thud, thud."

Leonard paused, as if he'd noticed something, and glanced over in my direction.

My breath caught. I thought he'd finally realized I was here. I started banging on the coffin lid frantically.

But his gaze remained icy and detached, not a hint of emotion in his eyes. Then, one of his students tugged at his sleeve.

"Professor, let's go," that student said.

Leonard's gaze rested on the coffin in the center of the tomb for a moment, then he gave a slight nod and turned and walked off with everyone else.

I slowly lowered my swollen, red hands, my heart feeling like it was being crushed in someone's fist.

He didn't say a word to defend me when those students called me "The Old Witch."

Emily was an intern who hadn't even graduated yet, always bumbling around and breaking all sorts of porcelain and ancient texts.

Every time, I'd end up staying up late into the night restoring the artifacts she'd damaged.

I also felt bad for Leonard, who always got chewed out by the higher-ups, so I'd end up reminding Emily to be more careful. The other students had long been annoyed with me because of it.

This time, after my mistake trapped Emily for half an hour, they finally couldn't hold back anymore and started openly calling me "The Old Witch."

That nickname came from when I'd end up in the hospital with bad cramps, and Leonard would never leave my side, which always delayed the team's progress and got everyone scolded.

Normally, I could let it slide when they called me that behind my back, but I never expected them to go this far.

This was pure payback.

Leonard had no clue about any of this. If he realized I was missing, he'd totally freak out.

There was this one time I overslept during a nap, and he went absolutely nuts and had everyone turning the place upside down and even called the police.

When he finally found me, his eyes were all red from worry and relief, and after that, he practically stuck to me like glue.

Thinking about it now, my heart melted all over again.

Now, I was the only one left in this massive underground tomb. The only sounds were the drip of water and the soft scrape as I tried to lift the coffin lid.

I tiptoed carefully to the side, making sure not to disturb a single thing. Everything here was from antiquity, and inside the coffin was one of the king's concubines.

If I broke anything, Leonard would be heartbroken because he cared more about these relics than anything else in the world.

I braced my sore elbows against the coffin lid, trying to lift it up, but the thing must weigh a ton.

The sticky, humid smell of rot filled my nostrils, and there was something rustling underneath me.

I held my nose, feeling nauseous, and huddled deeper into the corner. With no signal underground, I turned on my phone, using it as a makeshift flashlight.

The corpse had long since dried up into a skeleton, swarming with tiny red bugs, each about the size of a grain of rice.

I went rigid as a sudden thunderclap exploded overhead, even making the coffin tremble for a second.