Chapter 3
My thoughts snapped back, and my soul drifted back to my grandma's side.
The police had already arrived and were checking my body.
My grandma stood off to the side, her voice full of panic as she kept talking. "That man hit my granddaughter and fled the scene!
"Officer, he committed a hit-and-run murder!
"Oh, and his business card—it's still here!"
Her voice trembled violently.
Her wrinkled face was soon streaked with tears, overwhelmed by grief.
One of the officers crouched down next to my body, checked it over, then leaned in and whispered to his partner, "Doesn't look like it."
The blood on my face had already dried, and I looked pale and lifeless—nothing like someone who'd just died in a car accident.
And there was barely any sign of a major crash at the scene.
My grandma could tell from their attitude, and her breathing grew rapid and shaky.
"It was him! He really hit my granddaughter with his car!" Grandma cried out.
She started gasping for air. Before long, her face turned a suffocated, cyanotic purple as she clutched at her chest in agony.
The officers took the business card, tried to calm her down, and dialed up Chris.
"Mr. Grant, we need you to come down to the station.
"No, no, you've got it wrong—we're not arresting you.
"We just need you to help us remember what you saw when you first found the body," the officer said.
Chris sounded a little irritated, but said he'd come anyway.
The police took my grandma and my body to the station.
About ten minutes later, Chris pushed open the door and walked in.
He was holding hands with a young woman—the same one who'd been sitting next to him in the car.
She was wearing a diamond ring, and it matched the one on Chris's ring finger.
So, she was either his fiancée or his wife.
She looked a bit uneasy, and Chris spoke softly to comfort her. "Don't worry, Sophie. I'm fine."
My heart gave a sudden, sharp pang, and a wave of bitter, aching sadness crashed over me.
So, she was Sophie—the one Chris would always make exceptions for.
With a face like that, it's no wonder Chris only ever had eyes for her all these years.
I was never much of a beauty when I was alive, and now, with my face smeared in blood and mud, I looked downright unsightly.
I instinctively lowered my head, my fingers curling up.
Turns out, even in death, a ghost could still feel so painfully small and inadequate.
When Chris walked in, one of the officers stepped forward. "Mr. Grant, let me show you the body, and could you tell us what happened when you found it?"
*****
My heart leapt into my throat.
I didn't even know if Chris would recognize me lying there.
But right then, Chris just cut in coldly, "Why should I look at a corpse that has nothing to do with me?"
The officer nodded awkwardly, jotted down a few details, and let Chris leave.
As the door swung open and Chris was about to leave, my grandma broke down and cried out to him in anguish.
"Aren't you afraid you'll get what's coming to you? What if someone you love gets hit by a car too?"
She truly wasn't in her right mind anymore.
Chris stopped in his tracks and turned around, a cold, threatening smile flickering in his eyes.
He took two steps closer to my grandma and suddenly asked, "You claim the victim was your granddaughter. Then tell me—what's her name?"
My grandma opened her mouth, but couldn't get a word out.
She was so confused, she couldn't even remember my name.
Chris just assumed she was flustered and hiding something, and with a slow, mocking smile, he continued.
"You better be careful. If you pin a living person's name on a dead body, sometimes the living end up dead too."
He was a lawyer, so of course he didn't buy into that old-fashioned superstition.
An elderly woman like my grandma, however, was bound to take such things to heart.
My grandma stammered for a long while before finally forcing out, "It's Natalie... My granddaughter's name is... is Natalie Turner."
It was like she was ripping open old wounds, her voice trembling with every word.
But Chris just gave her a knowing smile and let out a laugh. "Are you sure your granddaughter's last name is Turner?"
He had no clue that not long after we broke up, my dad got remarried.
I stopped using my dad's last name and started going by my grandma's instead.
My grandma nodded desperately, looking totally lost. "Yeah, Turner, Turner, that's it."
Chris looked like he thought saying anything more to her was just a waste of time.
After a brief pause, he smiled at the officer and said, "I've changed my mind.
"I'm happy to cooperate fully with the investigation about this old lady's accusations against me.
"My lawyer will be here shortly. But once the case is wrapped up and I'm officially cleared..."
He paused, his eyes drifting lazily over to my grandma.
"Then I can press new charges against her for false accusations and extortion, right?"