Chapter 2

The air in the city hall felt like it had frozen over.

The wedding candies scattered across the floor now felt like the biggest joke of all.

Edward was like a man drowning, desperately clutching at the last straw.

Edward said, "Check it again. I want you to run the search one more time.

"It has to be a name mix-up. Or maybe the system's glitching."

He slammed his ID down on the counter again, so hard the glass buzzed.

Edward shouted, his voice raw with desperation, "Charlotte is dead. I saw the rescue team dredge the river for three days.

"She can't be alive. Absolutely impossible."

His voice was completely unhinged, nothing like the dignified Mr. Grant everyone was used to.

The clerk frowned, pushing Edward's ID back across the counter with obvious distaste.

She said coldly, "Sir, please mind your manners.

"The system shows your ID number is identical to your spouse's.

"And according to the latest update, Ms. Charlotte Grant reactivated her identity and obtained a certificate of being alive through an overseas consulate just yesterday afternoon.

"The data syncs in real-time. There's absolutely no mistake.

"If you don't believe me, go to the police station and check for yourself."

The overseas consulate.

Proof of life certificate.

Those keywords lodged in Edward's mind like nails, impossible to ignore.

Edward reeled back two steps, almost crashing into the couple behind him.

Tina's face turned as pale as a sheet.

Her hands trembled as she tried to make a call, but she couldn't even unlock her phone.

"Edward, what should we do?" Tina asked.

Tina's voice was trembling, and her eyes were full of tears. Her tearful, pitiful expression only made Edward feel more frustrated.

"Go," Edward said.

Edward clenched his jaw, forcing the word out through gritted teeth.

"Where are we going?" Tina asked, her voice trembling.

"We're going to get to the bottom of this," Edward said.

Edward grabbed Tina's wrist, his grip so tight it felt like he could crush her bones.

They hurried out of the city hall, embarrassed and disheveled, as everyone pointed and gossiped about them.

Just moments ago, they were basking in attention; now, all that pride had turned into humiliation.

As soon as they got in the car, Edward frantically dialed the number that had been disconnected for three years.

A mechanical voice said, "Sorry, the number you dialed is no longer in service..."

The cold, mechanical voice made Edward slam his fist against the steering wheel.

"Damn it!" Edward spat.

The car's engine roared like a wild beast as Edward floored the gas, tearing off down the road.

He didn't head to the office, and he didn't go home.

Instead, he sped like a lunatic straight to the old villa we once called home.

The house halfway up the mountain; ever since I died, Edward hardly ever went there.

He told everyone it was too painful to go back, but honestly, he just thought the place had bad vibes.

The car raced up the winding mountain road, engine roaring.

Flashes of the past three years kept running through Edward's mind.

If Charlotte wasn't dead, then where had she been all this time?

And why did she have to show up today, of all days, right when he was registering his marriage?

Charlotte was doing this on purpose.

She was definitely doing it deliberately.

Even after dying, Charlotte still found a way to reach out from hell and grab him by the throat.

After the fear, a tidal wave of rage crashed over him.

"Charlotte, you'd better hope I never catch you," Edward said.

Edward's eyes burned with fury, veins popping on his hands as he gripped the wheel tightly.

Tina rode shotgun, keeping completely silent, not daring to utter a single word.

She could feel it deep down. Charlotte, the woman she thought she finally moved on from, had never truly disappeared.

The car slammed to a stop outside the villa.

Edward rushed out, his hands trembling as he fumbled for the fingerprint scanner.

The door swung open.

The house was eerily silent, every piece of furniture shrouded in thick dust covers.

The air was heavy with the stale, musty odor of a place long abandoned.

Edward rushed through the living room, the bedroom, and even the walk-in closet, searching frantically.

There was no one.

Nothing. Not a single trace.

Everything looked exactly the same as it had three years ago, even the half-used bottle of skincare on the dressing table was still sitting right where it left.

"No one's here..." Edward said.

He slumped onto the edge of the bed, breathing heavily.

Edward said, "I'm just imagining things... There's no way she could come back."

Tina followed him in, cautiously scanning the room.

Tina said, her voice shaky, "Edward, maybe... maybe it's just someone messing with us?

"Or maybe someone's using her identity?"

Edward jerked his head up, hope sparking in his eyes.

Edward said, "Yeah, that could be it.

"With all the crazy hacker stuff nowadays."

Just then, a sharp, unexpected noise came from the living room.

It was the unmistakable sound of an old landline phone.

That phone hadn't made a peep since the house lost power and internet three years ago.

Edward's face suddenly turned ashen, the color draining away in an instant.

He and Tina exchanged a look, both seeing pure terror reflected in each other's eyes.

The ringing kept going, echoing through the empty villa like a death knell.

Edward swallowed hard, forcing himself to his feet as he made his way toward the living room, every step weighed down by dread.

His hands were trembling, but he had to answer.

He had to know—was it a person, or a ghost?

Edward picked up the receiver, his voice so rough it barely sounded like him as he answered, "Hello."

But there was nothing, just silence on the other end.

All he could hear was a soft, steady breathing, almost hypnotic in its rhythm.

"Who the hell are you?" Edward asked.

Edward raised his voice, trying to muster some courage.

"Say something. Quit acting like some creepy ghost," Edward said.

Still, only silence.

Just as Edward was on the verge of breaking down and slamming the phone down, a voice finally came through the receiver.

It was soft, eerily calm, and carried a coldness that seeped right into his soul.

I asked, "Edward, were the wedding candies sweet today?"

Edward slammed the receiver down on the table with a force that echoed through the room.

He recoiled in shock, stumbling back several steps until he crashed into the wall, as he had just seen a ghost.

That voice, he would know it anywhere, even if he were dead and gone.

It was Charlotte.

It really was her.

She wasn't dead. She was out there somewhere, watching his pathetic display with that cold, distant stare.

"Edward... who was that?" Tina asked.

Tina was petrified, hiding behind Edward, trembling uncontrollably.

Edward didn't even spare her a glance.

He stared at the phone like it was a snake flicking its tongue, dangerous and unpredictable.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

The clear ring of the doorbell was more jarring than thunder, slicing through the silence.

Edward and Tina both jumped at the sound.

Who could it be?

Was Charlotte really just on the other side of that door?

Edward took a deep breath, grabbed a golf club from the entryway for protection, and cautiously made his way toward the door.

He looked through the peephole, heart pounding.

There was no scary ghost woman out there, just a courier in uniform, cradling a black box in his hands.

"Is Mr. Grant home? I've got a same-day delivery for you," the courier called out.

Edward yanked the door open and snatched the box out of the courier's hands.

"Who sent this?" Edward asked.

The courier shrank back at Edward's wild-eyed glare. He said, "I... I don't know, sir. The order just said to leave it at the door."

Edward didn't even let him finish; he ripped the package open on the spot.

Inside the black box was something just sitting there, perfectly still.

It was a watch, a Patek Philippe.

It was the same watch I lost in that accident at sea three years ago, the anniversary gift Edward gave me for our fifth year together.

The hands were still moving.

There was a card tucked underneath the watch, nothing but an address and time printed on it.

It read: [Tomorrow night at 8 PM, Grand Regency Hotel, charity gala.]

Edward clenched the card so hard his knuckles turned white.

This wasn't just a notice.

This was a challenge, a direct call to battle.

Charlotte, who used to be so meek around Edward, never even daring to raise her voice, was now staging the boldest comeback anyone could imagine.