Chapter 1

Three years after breaking up with Chris, I fell from a high-rise building and was dumped in the wilderness.

Chris returned to the country, and his car nearly ran into my lifeless body.

My grandmother, delirious, accused him of hit-and-run manslaughter.

Chris hired the best lawyer, proved his innocence, and went on to have my grandmother sent to prison for extortion.

Once everything was settled, his friends threw him a dinner party to help him shake off the bad luck he'd run into as soon as he got back.

During the dinner, someone suddenly remarked, "What a coincidence—the victim, Natalie James, was actually your ex, Mr. Grant."

The wine glass slipped from Chris's hand, shattering against the floor.

His face drained of all color.

*****

On the third day after I was abandoned in the wilderness, my grandmother finally found me.

As dusk settled over the lonely, desolate wild, she crouched beside my still, cooling body, her expression lost in an eerie, unsettling daze.

"Natalie, get up... get up." Her voice trembled.

"Come home with Grandma..." she whispered.

She'd been searching for me day and night for three days, nearly losing her mind in the process.

It was like she couldn't even see that I was already gone.

My soul floated above, watching her gray hair and her trembling, aged hands reaching out to pull me up.

I couldn't move, and all she could do was worry herself sick.

My eyes burned with tears, and I desperately wanted to comfort her.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make a sound. Then, I heard the distant rumble of a car engine.

This place was so desolate that cars rarely passed by.

My heart suspended in my throat as a desperate hope rose—maybe whoever was coming could help my grandma.

A black sedan rounded the corner, shrouded in the heavy fog and fading light.

Only when the car was a few paces away did the driver finally spot my grandmother and slam on the brakes, screeching to a halt.

The car doors opened, and two men stepped out—one from the front, one from the back.

It was too dark to make out their faces, and without looking any closer, my only desperate thought was for them to help my grandma.

The middle-aged driver stepped out from the front, walked over to my grandmother, and carefully assessed the scene.

He tried to make out my face, but it was smeared with blood and mud—he couldn't see anything.

He gave up and turned to the younger guy who'd just gotten out of the back seat. "Mr. Grant, it's just an old lady and a body."

When I heard the name Grant, something in my chest tightened.

When I turned to look, I finally saw his face in the darkness.

Chris Grant—the guy who vanished overseas right after we broke up, and hadn't set foot back here in three years.

And now, unbelievably, he was standing right here in front of me.

My heart twisted up for a second, and I couldn't even tell what I was feeling—it was hard to breathe.

Chris seemed to be in a rush. He barely glanced over and said coolly, "Call the police, let them deal with it. Let's get out of here."

He was standing so far away in the dark, he couldn't even see my body clearly.

Or maybe, even if he could, he probably wouldn't even recognize me now.

He turned to get back in the car.

But my grandma's expression suddenly changed. She stumbled up, hurried toward him, and clung desperately to his sleeve.

Her aged voice trembled, "You... you hit my granddaughter! You can't leave!"

Chris stopped in his tracks and turned around.

He slowly lowered his gaze to his sleeve, which my grandma was gripping tightly, now smeared with mud.

He frowned, then looked up at the old woman, her face full of anger and pain.

He let out a soft, mocking laugh, like he found the whole thing ridiculous. "Ma'am, what did you just say?"

My grandma's face was twisted with panic and anger, and with nobody else around, she looked totally lost. "You hurt my granddaughter! You need to take her to the hospital right now!"

Chris's face was etched with sheer revulsion. Just as he was about to speak, a gentle woman's voice came from the back seat, "Chris, are you okay?"

The hostility on his face faded a bit, and his tone softened. "It's fine. We're heading out now."

With a cold, dismissive flick of his hand, he brushed her fingers off his sleeve.

Then he opened the car door and got back inside.

My grandma, frantic, tried to stop him, but the older man stepped in and held her back.

He clearly thought she was just trying to scam them, so he didn't bother being polite anymore.

The older man scoffed, "The car didn't even touch anyone. And look at this body—it's been dead for quite some time.

"Ma'am, if you're going to pull this kind of stunt again, at least pick a body that looks more believable next time."

My grandma caught a word in his sentence, her face freezing for a moment before she snapped back to herself.

She stumbled back to my body, crouched down, and with trembling hands, checked for any sign of breath.

There was no breath left in me. I'd been dead for a while.

Her lips trembled, and after a long moment, she finally broke down, wailing in grief.

"It was you! You're the ones who ran her over and killed her, and now you're trying to get away with murder!" she screamed.

Chris held a business card between his fingers and flicked it out the car window.

His voice was cool, laced with calm mockery, "The police will be here shortly.

"If you still want to press charges against me, feel free to reach out anytime."

*****

The car sped away.

My grandma stumbled after the car, chasing it down the road, screaming and crying like she'd lost her mind.

Chris glanced in the rearview mirror.

Maybe he was looking at my grandma, maybe at the body on the ground—hard to tell.

The darkness blurred his face, and whatever emotion he had was lost in the night.

After the car had driven a good distance, he suddenly spoke up. "That old lady... she looks kind of familiar."

The older man driving replied, "I think that's Ms. James's grandma."

The car fell silent for a long moment, and Chris's expression seemed to freeze.

He probably didn't even remember who I was. After a long pause, it finally clicked for him.

A mocking smile crept onto his face, mixed with barely concealed hatred. He let out a cold, low laugh. "Oh, no wonder."

He was convinced my grandma was just trying to scam him.

And in his memory, I was someone he couldn't stand.