Chapter 3

George arrived at the office and dove right into his work for the day.

When George was in a bad mood, his favorite way to cope was to throw himself into work to distract himself.

He took a sip of the coffee on his desk and immediately frowned. "What is this? Is this really how you make coffee?"

The new assistant, scolded for no apparent reason, lowered her head in apology.

As she left, she muttered under her breath, "I followed Chloe's notes."

"Come on, it's not my fault. You messed up the water temperature for this coffee." I drifted over to glance at the coffee, and a surge of grievance washed over me at once.

"What notes?" George heard her muttering, and his brows furrowed.

Two minutes later, an orange notebook landed on George's desk.

"Chloe left this for me before she left," the assistant said.

Seeing George's expression turn stormy, the assistant quickly slipped out and thoughtfully closed the door behind her.

George paused for a moment, then finally opened the notebook.

It was crammed with notes about his preferences, from the way he liked his important documents sorted to the kinds of plants he wanted in his office.

I leaned over his shoulder, admiring my own handiwork.

Back when we first started dating, I asked him to hire me as his assistant, so I could be around him more.

I stayed his assistant right up until we got married. But the day Nova had her accident, he lost it and threw me out of the company.

"So, are you feeling moved? How about giving me my stuff back now?" I said.

The notebook was hurled at the wall, knocking down a glass picture frame.

Even as a soul, I couldn't help but jump in shock.

George didn't even bother grabbing his jacket. He snatched his keys and rushed out to drive home.

*****

Back at the Green residence, inside George's bedroom, I drifted in after him and watched as he opened a drawer and took out another notebook like the one from before, only the color was different.

The earlier one was orange, while this one was pink.

I was surprised. I had always been forgetful, so I got into the habit of jotting things down and keeping a diary.

When I moved from the Lewis residence to the Green residence, the only thing I brought with me were those notebooks.

I always thought I'd lost this pink one somewhere, but he had it all along.

George flipped open the notebook and saw the same handwriting as that on the orange one, and the familiar titles on every page, except this time, instead of his name, it was Julian Morgan, Chloe Lewis's fiancé, or, well, ex-fiancé now.

George furiously tore the notebook to pieces, tossing the scraps all over the floor. He sneered, "Chloe, is this how you butter up every guy you meet?"

My heart hurt so much. I tried to gather up the scraps, but I couldn't even touch them.

"Seriously, what are you doing?" I yelled in my head. "There were all my beauty tips, makeup tricks, and outfit guides in there, stuff I've been jotting down since I was a kid."

I was devastated, but George answered his phone, not even bothered. "He's awake?"

*****

Sinorian Convalescent Home was one of the Morgan family's properties. After Julian was seriously injured in Aeliwood and fell into a coma, he'd been kept here ever since he was brought back home.

George stood by the hospital bed, his gaze icy as he looked down at the man lying there.

Julian smirked, "You really do hear things fast, Mr. Green."

"Enough with the small talk. How did Nova get hurt?" George pressed.

Julian was already torn up inside from losing Nova. He frowned at George's question. "Mr. Green, don't you think you're a bit too interested in my wife?"

He'd long heard that George was into Nova. Whenever love rivals met, things got heated.

"Everyone says Nova lost her life trying to save someone in a wildfire while you two were traveling in Aeliwood, but I can't help feeling there's something else going on," George said.

Julian's brows furrowed. "What are you trying to say?"

"I have reason to believe you and Chloe conspired together and used the opportunity to have Nova killed," George said coldly.

I was standing in the corner of the hospital room, quietly studying the fish in the aquarium.

When George said that, I was stunned, looking at him in disbelief.

So that was why he had been acting this way toward me. He thought I was involved in Nova's death.

Confused, I pressed my hand to my chest. I was already dead, so why did my heart still ache?

Honestly, I wasn't the only one totally confused. Julian looked as lost as I was.

He snapped, "What are you even talking about? I was right there with Nova when it all went down. We were both trying to save people, and I got hurt so bad I ended up in a coma until now."

"Oh yeah? Then explain this." George flung the shredded notebook straight at Julian's face.

Julian looked at the scraps in his hand, instantly recognizing the handwriting, and made a face. "Seriously, you call this proof?"

"You and Chloe were engaged. If you two weren't already scheming together, why else would she try so hard to win you over?" George shot back.

"Me? Colluding with that pretty-faced idiot who's got nothing going on upstairs?" Julian snorted, as if he'd heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

"As for this?" Julian said, pinching the shredded notebook between two fingers. His expression was pure disgust, as if he'd picked up something infectious. "Don't you know? She's always been like that, groveling and fawning over everyone, desperate to please.

"Back when the Lewis Group was in trouble, and they wanted to marry into the Morgan family, her folks told her to butter me up. And she did, always at my beck and call, never daring to say no."

Julian's lips curled into a smirk as he remembered something funny. "One winter, I had someone dump her into the fountain pool and told her to stay put until I was satisfied.

"And she actually did it. She sat there, soaking wet, shivering, the whole time.

"The next day, a janitor found her and took her to the hospital. I heard she was swollen up like a marshmallow."

To Julian, Chloe was nothing more than George's wife now. Putting her down gave him the same twisted pleasure as mocking George.

Julian tore open the wounds I'd tried so desperately to hide, using the cruelest words imaginable.

I was shaking uncontrollably, forced to stand there and endure every cruel insult he hurled at me.

Instinctively, I wanted to hide behind George, wishing he'd step in and shield me, like he used to.

But as soon as I moved, that cold, disgusted look on George's face came rushing back to me.

"I almost forgot that you have already thrown me away," I murmured.