Chapter 1

After staying up late to take care of my husband and child, nearly dying from exhaustion, I overheard two ghosts chatting.

An old lady said, "This woman is so foolish. Her husband spent all their savings on his mistress. But she even stayed up late to make lunch boxes for him to save a few bucks on takeout, and now she's worn herself out."

An old man replied, "Exactly. What's the point of having so much money when you're dead? No one even knows about the hundred pounds of gold bars I hid in the attic at 18 Willow Lane. Such a waste."

The old lady sighed, "Tell me about it. We both died with money left behind. There are still 2 million dollars in cash lying around in my house on Maple Street."

*****

My eyelids fluttered.

The old lady suddenly drifted right over to me.

She muttered. "Huh? Looks like she moved. She's not dead?"

A bone-chilling gust of wind blasted across my face. I clamped my eyes shut, too terrified to move an inch.

The old lady muttered under her breath.

"Figures, she's still kicking." The old lady snarked.

The old man sneered, "But she won't last long.

"Keep running herself ragged like this, maybe she makes it tonight, but she'll probably drop dead next month." The old man scoffed.

"Works harder than a mule, eats less than a stray cat, and barely sleeps four hours a night. Her body's not gonna hold out.

"Women are just clueless, honestly," the old man added.

The old lady jumped right up, refusing to back down.

"Well, that's just because her husband is all the same. Always claiming he's pulling night shifts on Saturdays, but really he's sneaking off to meet his side chick." The old lady shot back.

"He even makes his wife pack him a midnight snack to take, and his mistress still finds flaws with the food. Ugh, seriously, it's enough to drive me nuts," the old lady grumbled.

The old man reached out, tugging her away.

"Alright, don't get too close. If you end up dissipating the last thread of her life energy, the reapers are definitely coming for you. Let's scram," the old man urged.

The old lady muttered. "How weak can she be? If one puff from me could kill her, that's on her, not me. The reapers can't blame me for it."

Still squabbling, the two ghosts drifted out of the room.

The cold, damp feeling in the room slowly faded away. I forced my eyelids open and stared up at the ghostly pale ceiling for a whole minute until my head finally cleared up.

Last night at midnight, just like he always does, Eric Johnson said he had to go to the office for the night shift. He asked me to get his midnight snack ready.

Sophie had come down with a fever lately, so it was just me hauling her to the hospital for IVs, and honestly, I was exhausted down to my bones.

After getting the kids to sleep at nine, I did two hours of housework and just fell asleep when Eric woke me up for his night shift. I couldn't help feeling a bit resentful.

I just lay there, not moving an inch.

"Just order takeout yourself tonight. I seriously can't even drag myself out of bed to cook for you," I said, barely holding onto my composure.

Eric's expression went cold.

"I work so hard, even doing night shifts. You just stay home and make excuses when I ask you to cook. Are you even trying to make this marriage work?" Eric complained.

My head was splitting, and my body felt like lead. I didn't even have it in me to argue, so I just managed a weak wave, utterly spent.

"It's not that I'm refusing, I seriously feel awful. Sophie's had a fever these days, and I've been handling everything alone," I said, voice barely hanging on.

"Enough," Eric barked, not letting me get a word in.

He cut me off, sounding as fed up as ever.

"You think you're the only one working yourself to the bone? What about me?" Eric grumbled.

"I'm out before the sun's up and crawl home after dark, even have to do night shifts all Saturday long. What do you think I'm doing it for? It's all for our stupid family," Eric complained.

"And after everything I do, I don't even get a proper meal from you?" Eric huffed.

Hearing Eric say that, most of my resentment faded away right then and there.

We were college classmates, both from pretty ordinary backgrounds. After Sophie was born, his parents had to keep working back in their hometown, so they couldn't come help with the baby.

So I had no choice but to quit my job and take care of Sophie all by myself.

Every cent the family needed depended on Eric alone.

Eric worked himself to the bone, even volunteering for night shifts every Saturday just to earn an extra 3 hundred dollars.

He had worked hard during the day and even stayed up late on Saturdays. I worried about his health and always prepared a midnight snack for him to take, trying to be thoughtful.

Trying to survive as a broke couple in this big city was seriously tough. If we didn't stick together, we'd never manage to keep our heads above water.

Seeing my face soften up a bit, Eric relaxed his tone too.

"Babe, you know how gross takeout is, especially in the middle of the night. There are barely any proper places open at those hours. It's all nasty gutter oil and sketchy shops," Eric grumbled.

"If I get food poisoning from that crap and my health takes a nosedive, what's gonna happen to our family then?" Eric added.

I nodded, forcing myself to sit up, even though every bone in my body screamed for rest.

"Alright. I'll cook for you. So, what do you want to eat tonight?" I asked, trying not to let my exhaustion show.

Eric immediately started listing dish after dish, none of them quick or simple.

Running on fumes, I stumbled around the kitchen for over an hour before I finally finished cooking and packed it all up for him.

As soon as I watched Eric head out the door, I crashed to the floor, losing consciousness instantly.

I had finally woken up, and by then, it was already completely light outside.

I lay there on the icy tiles, the chill crawling up my back, making my heart feel like it was about to freeze solid.

I recalled what those two ghosts had said just now.

So, Eric wasn't really working overtime last night. He was messing around with some other woman.

I just couldn't believe it.

Eric and I had been together since college, ten years, all those memories. No way could he be the kind of guy to do something like that.

My hands were trembling as I grabbed my phone, desperate to call someone from Eric's office and check if he really pulled a night shift.

I started frantically scrolling through my contacts, only to realize that since Eric switched jobs, I didn't know a single person at his new company.

I didn't even know what his company was called.

My child was only two years old. In those two years, I hadn't slept through a single night, with endless housework, diaper changes, and late nights. I couldn't spare any thought for anything else.

Everything just started to feel overwhelming.

I stood there frozen with my phone, and then it suddenly hit me. The old lady had talked about 2 million dollars stashed in cash.

If I could really find that money on Maple Street, that means everything those ghosts said was the real deal.