Chapter 2

I used to be a lawyer when I was alive. I only ever trusted laws and facts and never believed in spirits.

But now, after I died, I actually found myself floating in the air, watching everything that happened.

I watched as my mom fought through her overwhelming grief and stood up unsteadily.

Before she left, she pulled out her phone and took a picture of my body while talking softly to herself, "Don't be sad, Olivia. I'll take you to see Edward and Lily one last time."

She still felt bad that I only got to see them on TV before I died.

My life had been nothing but chaos these past few years, and she'd worried herself sick over me.

With my death, nearly all her hair had gone gray.

*****

After the press conference ended, Edward headed home with Sophie and Lily.

It was already evening by the time their car approached the villa gate.

My mom stood quietly in the shadows outside the fence.

Edward didn't pay any attention to her. He assumed the house staff would chase the stranger away.

But as the car slowly passed by with the window down, a shaky, rough voice drifted inside. "Are you Mr. Edward Grant, Olivia's ex-husband?"

Edward glanced out the window. He looked surprised for a split second before pure disgust washed over his face.

The driver stopped the car.

Edward said nothing, simply staring coldly at my haggard, hunched mother.

My mom had aged so drastically that he couldn't recognize her at first glance.

She wasn't even fifty, but she looked worn out enough to be seventy.

My mom stood there nervously rubbing her hands together.

Her eyes were shadowed with dark circles. With trembling hands, she scrolled through her phone, found my last photo, and carefully handed it to Edward.

"M-Mr. Grant, I'm Olivia's mom," my mom said in a low voice. "I need to ask you a favor."

Edward's expression turned even colder, the disdain in his eyes more obvious.

Sophie saw the photo and let out a frightened scream.

It was a picture of my body right after I died, mangled and covered in blood, a terrifying sight to see.

Edward frowned and patted Sophie's back to calm her down.

Following Sophie's gaze, he glanced at the photo himself.

When he saw it clearly, he was momentarily stunned, his expression frozen.

We'd loved each other and been married for years. He was all too familiar with my face.

For a split second, Edward seemed to realize that the person in the photo looked a little like me.

But with the face so badly burned and limbs missing, he couldn't be sure.

He stared quietly, a mix of shock and unclear emotion flashing in his eyes.

It was like a crack snaking silently across a sheet of frozen glass.

After a long silence, he snapped out of his daze and looked coldly at my mom. "Who is this?"

My mom's hands shook violently by her sides. She looked utterly torn and pained before she answered in a trembling voice, "It's Olivia."

Edward's hand froze mid-pat on Sophie's back.

His face turned dark and gloomy.

But he quickly regained his composure and let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh. "Typical of her. She's as vile as she's always been."

He thought I'd sent my mom with a doctored, similar photo because I was too guilty to face him, or I was simply trying to mess with him.

He refused to look at the picture again and told the driver flatly, "Drive in."

My mom panicked at his reaction. Desperate, she grabbed onto the half-open car window.

"Mr. Grant, please don't go. This is not Olivia," she rushed to say. She couldn't bear to lose my last chance of seeing them, so she clung to the window, refusing to let go.

The car started moving and dragged my mom hard onto the ground.

Her face scraped against the concrete and started bleeding badly.

But she ignored the pain completely, scrambled to her feet, and stumbled after the car. "It's not Olivia, I swear. Please, I'm begging you. Help us," my mom shouted.

The driver, startled, slammed on the brakes.

My mom struggled to run forward with blood all over her face.

By now, she was sure Edward hated me far too much to even glance at my dead body.

Her hands clenched tightly at her sides, and with a desperate, pleading look, she finally tried a different tack. "Please, don't be angry. It's one of Olivia's friends.

"I'm begging you to help me. Please fix this body. I'll accept any terms you set."

Edward let out a cold chuckle. "There are dozens of morticians she could go to, yet she sent you to me, a surgeon, to restore a corpse. She certainly knows how to push people around."

My mom parted her lips and struggled to find her words for a long time.

She wasn't good at lying, so she kept her head down, avoiding his gaze. "Morticians handle corpses every day. It doesn't feel right. I'm begging you for your help."

Edward scoffed. "So you think morticians carry bad luck? What makes you think doctors don't find corpses unsettling either?"

Blood blurred my mom's vision, and she roughly wiped it away.

She wasn't good at asking for help, and she was totally at a loss.

All she could do was beg, repeating the same words over and over. "Please, help me. I'll meet any request you have."

Edward watched her with unmasked mockery. After a long pause, he curved his lips into a cruel grin. "Any request? Then I want Olivia dead. Can you make that happen?"