Chapter 1
Five years after I died, Steven Lowrey returned home.
He was the man I once heartlessly abandoned when he was penniless.
After years of relentless effort, he had finally risen to become the hottest new tycoon in the business world.
Steven was back, eager to see me at my most miserable and regretful.
However, he didn't know I'd been dead for years.
*****
As Steven emerged from the airport, a sea of reporters had already swarmed outside.
This was the same Steven who couldn't afford a simple necklace, who once knelt and begged me not to leave him.
At that moment, however, he was flanked by a phalanx of bodyguards and hand-in-hand with his stunning girlfriend.
His features were etched with cold defiance, a far cry from the man he once was.
My soul hovered unseen among the crowd, watching him approach from a distance.
I wondered if it was because we hadn't seen each other in seven years or if Steven had changed beyond recognition.
But for a split second, I honestly couldn't even tell it was him.
Right beside me, my father's hoarse, exhausted voice suddenly rang out, strained and desperate. "Mr. Lowrey, I'm Susanna's father! Don't you remember Susanna?"
Only then did my dazed mind snap back to reality.
It wasn't just my imagination. Steven had really returned.
Seven years after we broke up and five years after I died, he finally came back.
I was only here because I'd followed my father.
I gazed at that face that was so familiar yet so foreign.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, immediately followed by an excruciating, bone-deep pain that consumed my entire being.
In the end, Steven and I ended up separated by life and death.
My father was still shouting himself hoarse, his desperate cries finally drawing the attention of several reporters.
Steven probably heard it, too.
However, he merely cast a casual glance in my father's direction, his eyes brushing past him with indifference.
Without so much as a flicker of expression, Steven continued toward the airport exit.
The bodyguards cleared a path through the crowd, and he was just about to step into his car and leave.
Suddenly, my father lost control, desperately shoving through the crowd in a frantic attempt to reach Steven.
His voice trembled with helpless pleading when he called out to Steven.
"Mr. Lowrey, wait! Please!
"For Susie's sake, I'm begging you to please help the Taylor family!"
Steven finally stopped in his tracks.
He turned back, his gaze falling on my father with icy derision.
After a long silence, Steven finally said with icy detachment, "Excuse me, but who are you referring to?"
It seemed he had totally forgotten about me and my father.
In that instant, a thousand tiny needles of pain pricked at my soul.
However, I supposed it wasn't surprising he'd forgotten me. After all, it had been seven years.
Even if he hadn't forgotten me, all that was left in his heart must have been hatred by then.
My father froze, utterly stunned.
Mocking whispers and scornful glances rippled through the crowd.
"I thought he actually knew Mr. Lowrey! Turns out he's just trying to ride on his coattails."
"Exactly! Look at how shabby he is. No way Mr. Lowrey would know a guy like that."
"Whoa! Absolutely no shame."
My father's weathered face turned deathly pale with humiliation.
He was once a respected figure, but then he took a devastating tumble from his high perch.
By the time my father was finally released after years behind bars, I was already gone.
My sister, devastated by grief, then got into a terrible car accident, and she had been lying in a coma for years.
Her life was sustained only by continually pouring a fortune into her care.
Over the years, my father had exhausted every possible source of loans. By then, there was simply no one left to turn to.
To him, dignity and pride were luxuries he could no longer afford.
Seeing that my father had finally fallen silent, Steven pulled open the car door and was about to get in.
Right then, however, in full view of everyone, my father suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Mr. Lowrey, I'm begging you! The Taylor family is begging you!"
He had truly reached the end of his rope.
The hospital had issued an ultimatum. If he didn't pay the medical bills, they would discontinue my sister's treatment.
I'd never seen my father so humble. The sight sent a knife twisting through my heart.
At that moment, as nothing more than a soul, I was utterly helpless. I couldn't even reach out and help him up.
Numerous cameras zoomed in on my father, capturing his most humiliating moment.
Steven watched impassively. Only after the reporters had gotten their fill of the spectacle did he finally mutter something to the bodyguard beside him.
In no time, the bodyguard strode over, helped my father to his feet, and led him to stand before Steven.
Though my father's face was still ashen, a surge of hope flashed in his eyes, quickly followed by a rush of excitement and surprise.
"Mr. Lowrey, please... I'm begging you. Lend me 30,000 dollars. Susanna's sister is critically ill. I swear I'll repay you as soon as possible—"
Steven let out a low, derisive chuckle and cut him off.
"Lend you money? Perhaps. But only if Susanna comes and kneels before me. Then I'll consider it," he scoffed.