7

The woman who walked in was Nora Wells, my best friend from high school.

Though we didn't end up attending the same university, we had stayed in touch over the years.

Nora had been standing outside the door, listening to everything they were saying about me, and by the time she entered, her eyes were red with anger.

I floated toward her, feeling a lump in my throat, and gently wrapped her in an embrace.

I thought she would keep my secret.

But to my surprise, she was so enraged by their insults that she spilled it!

Adrian froze, his brow furrowing.

"What did you just say? Who died?"

Nora's fingers trembled as she pointed at Adrian, her voice shaking with fury.

"Violet was a fool! She really believed you'd love her forever, even till the end! You didn't just betray her—you ended up with Bianca! You don't deserve her love!"

Adrian's gaze turned icy as he slowly stood up and walked toward Nora.

His presence was so commanding that the room fell silent.

But Nora wasn't intimidated, glaring back at him without flinching.

Sensing something was wrong, I floated in front of her, trying to block Adrian, but it was no use.

He stepped up to her, his voice low and menacing.

"What did you just say? Who's dead?"

Nora's face went pale, and just as she was about to answer, Adrian's phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and quickly answered it.

I was close enough to hear the voice on the other end—it was his assistant.

"Mr. Steele, we've managed to contact the author of the novel!"

I saw Adrian visibly relax, though a deep disdain quickly returned to his expression.

"Arrange a meeting as soon as possible!"

Hanging up, Adrian waved his phone dismissively at Nora, a sneer curling his lips.

"Violet is really pathetic, isn't she? Getting all of you to come crawling to me, begging for pity. I can't wait to see what else she's planning."

Nora, still furious, tried to speak. "No! Violet really—"

But Adrian shot her a cold look, turned on his heel, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

8

I followed Adrian as he walked out, his figure tense and cold, disappearing down the hotel hallway in quick strides.

He got into his car but sat there for a while without starting the engine.

Hovering beside him, I noticed his empty gaze staring off into space.

After a few moments, he muttered under his breath, "Damn it."

Then, with a sudden burst of frustration, he started the car and sped off, the force jolting me around inside.

Thank God I was just a spirit, or I definitely would've been sick.

When the car finally stopped, I recognized the place—it was my house.

He came to my house?

Could it be that Nora's words had gotten to him after all?

Was he starting to wonder if I was really dead?

Uneasily, I floated behind him as he knocked on the door.

No one answered.

He hesitated for a second and then pulled out a key to my house from his pocket and unlocked the door.

Just as he stepped inside, my grandmother walked out of the kitchen, holding a dish in her hands.

When she saw Adrian, she wasn't surprised at all.

With her usual warm smile, she called out, "Adrian, you're home from school so early! Go wash your hands. Dinner's ready!"

My grandmother was having one of her spells again.

It was only now that Adrian seemed to realize something was wrong with her.

He checked every room in the house, confirming that I wasn't there, before walking into the kitchen.

Using a tone from our school days, he asked, "Granny, where's Violet?"

My grandmother's busy movements suddenly halted.

She murmured my name softly, her eyes clouding over.

Then, as if remembering something, she rushed over to Adrian, grabbing his hand in a panic.

"Violet hasn't been home in so long! Did you two fight? You have to help me find her!"

Adrian pressed his lips together, muttering a few words to comfort her before heading into my room.

The room was spotless, everything neat and tidy.

It looked as though no one had lived there for a long time.

He walked over to my desk and picked up a framed photo.

In the picture, I was sitting on the grass, laughing with joy, my eyes sparkling with happiness.

Adrian absentmindedly brushed his fingers over my face in the photo.

But then, his expression froze.

His eyes darted to the other photos on the desk, quickly scanning them all.

Finally, he realized what was wrong—all the photos had been turned black and white!

"What the hell is going on?" Adrian's grip tightened around the frame, his pupils shaking with disbelief.

"Violet... what happened to you?"

9

Adrian didn't stay long at my house after receiving a call from his assistant about a last-minute meeting with the author that same night.

In a rush, he left, and I had no choice but to follow him to the arranged location.

When a young woman appeared, the light in Adrian's eyes dimmed instantly.

"You wrote this book?" he asked bluntly.

The girl shook her head. "Not exactly. I was just the ghostwriter."

I silently sat next to Adrian, gazing at the girl across from him.

I sighed softly.

The truth was, I had asked her to ghostwrite the book and even signed over the rights.

At that time, I was in no condition to finish it myself.

"Who's the original author?"

Adrian's hands tightened, a flicker of hope in his eyes.

The girl shook her head again.

"I don't know. We communicated online. She told me the entire story, and I wrote it. For the sake of the overall flow, I had to simplify some parts."

Adrian hesitated before finally speaking.

"Can you... can you tell me the story? Why did the heroine... break up with her boyfriend?"

The girl, thinking he was someone interested in buying the rights to the novel, didn't hold back and recounted everything I had told her, down to every detail.

As she spoke, the memories came flooding back to me effortlessly.

Adrian had a congenital hearing impairment in one ear, but his family was too poor to afford treatment.

My family was struggling too, and the only way I could afford to buy him a hearing aid was by working long, exhausting hours in a bar.

Somehow, Bianca found out. She hired four men to drag me out of the bar and had me raped.

She took photos, laughing as she did, and used them to blackmail me into leaving Adrian.

It wasn't the photos that broke me—it was the overwhelming sense that I had become tainted, unworthy of him.

I couldn't selfishly tie Adrian down anymore.

I agreed to leave him.

But I never told Adrian the truth because I didn't want him to seek revenge on Bianca.

Her family had money and power, and I couldn't let him take that risk.

I acted like nothing happened, handed him the hearing aid I had saved so long to buy, and said with forced indifference,

"Sorry, Adrian. I don't want to live this hard life anymore. Let's break up."

We had just graduated then, and life was indeed tough.

Adrian was stunned at first, but then he immediately tried to reassure me.

"Violet, trust me. Things will get better soon! I've got an opportunity to work abroad! Just hold on for a few more years, and once I've made enough money, everything will be okay!"

He hugged me tightly, promising over and over that we'd have a happy future together if we could just endure the hard times.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to savor his embrace, to believe in that future he spoke of.

But it was only wishful thinking.

If Bianca hadn't done called someone to rape me, I would have waited for him.

But what was done was done, there was no turning backs in life.

I forced back my tears and pushed him away, pulling out the one-carat diamond ring I had borrowed from Nora, flashing it before his eyes.

"There's a guy—a senior—he proposed to me. I said yes. So, Adrian, we're done."

Adrian stood there, stunned, staring at the ring, refusing to believe what I was saying.

Not until he saw me get into the luxury car that had been arranged to pick me up did he realize what was happening.

He chased after the car like a madman as I sat inside, tears streaming down my face, my body racked with unbearable pain.

But I had underestimated Bianca's hatred. She didn't just want me gone.

She wanted me completely erased.

"What happened next?" Adrian's voice was hoarse, and I could see the pain in his eyes as he asked the girl.

"What happened after the heroine tricked her boyfriend into breaking up?"

The girl sighed.

"The heroine left everything behind to confront the villainess, but she never expected to be pushed down the stairs. That evil woman's family had money, so they covered it up easily."

She continued, "She was left paralyzed, her life slowly withering away. The only thing keeping her alive was her love for the man she couldn't forget.

But in the end, she saw on his Instagram that he had gone abroad with the villainess, and they were together. The heroine, broken in body and spirit, finally died in her hospital bed, trapped in her memories."

The story was brief, but it hit Adrian hard.

His body went rigid, his pupils trembling as if he had forgotten how to breathe.

It wasn't until the girl finished telling the whole story that he managed to open his mouth, though no words came out.

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke again, his voice eerily calm, yet trembling ever so slightly.

"So... Violet really is dead."

10

After learning the truth, Adrian locked himself in his room for three whole days.

Bianca, sensing something was wrong, rushed over to find him. "Don't listen to Violet's friend! She's just spouting nonsense!"

But Adrian never opened the door. He screamed at her to leave.

He lay there on the bed, deflated like a balloon with all the air sucked out.

Silent and still, in a way that made my heart ache.

This was exactly why I didn't want him to know the truth.

I didn't want him to turn into this lifeless shell because of me.

My soul hovered beside him, unable to do anything but watch as he clutched a photo of us, tears streaming down his face.

"Violet, do you know? In these five years, I never forgot you."

His voice was barely a whisper, and his tears soaked the pillow beneath him.

Then, as if remembering something, he slowly got up and pulled out a suitcase from deep inside the closet.

I floated over and saw it was filled with gift boxes, each one carefully marked with a date.

The dates were my birthdays.

"For five years, every birthday you had, I bought you a gift. But I never gave them to you. I hated you for abandoning me, for being a shallow woman who only cared about money. But no matter how much I hated you, I could never forget you..."

Adrian's silent tears stirred an overwhelming pain in my heart.

I wanted to reach out, to stroke his hair, but my hand passed through the air, powerless.

He pulled out a small box from the suitcase.

Inside was a diamond ring.

"I even bought you a bigger ring," he whispered, his voice trembling.

"I thought if I got you this, you'd come back to me. But I was wrong. Money didn't matter to you at all... You were never that kind of person. I was the fool all along!"

He slapped himself hard across the face.

He had hit himself so many times over the past few days that I'd lost count.

He clutched his head, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Violet, please come back... I miss you so much, Violet, I miss you so much..."

Watching his misery tore me apart inside.

I never imagined my death would cause him this much pain.

11

Three days later, my grandma came to Adrian's house and knocked on the door.

"Adrian! Adrian! It's me! Open the door, I made your favorite food!"

Adrian finally responded at the sound of her voice, slowly getting up to open the door.

In just three days, he looked like he had aged ten years.

As expected, my grandma was confused again.

When she saw Adrian, she smiled warmly and held up the food container in her hand.

"I made some food for you! I noticed you haven't been coming over lately, so I brought it to you."

The moment Adrian saw my grandma, his tears started falling.

He pulled her into a tight hug, crying like a child.

"Granny, I was wrong about Violet! I was so wrong about her! I shouldn't have doubted her love for me! It was all my fault! What do I do, Granny? Violet's gone... she's gone and she's never coming back!"

For a brief moment, my grandma's eyes cleared, and she dropped the container.

Pork ribs spilled out everywhere, filling the room with a rich aroma.

"Adrian, so... you know, don't you?"

Her voice trembled, but it was calm.

"Adrian, don't be like this. Violet didn't tell you because she didn't want you to suffer."

Adrian's sobs grew heavier as he leaned against her shoulder.

I floated behind them, remembering the last time I had seen Adrian cry—it was many years ago.

It was New Year's Eve, the first time I had brought Adrian home to meet my grandma.

He was nineteen at the time.

My grandma had prepared nineteen gifts for him.

She said, "Adrian, you've had it rough all these years. But now you have a family. Violet and I, we're your family. These gifts are my way of making up for all the blessings you missed. I wish you and Violet happiness, forever and always."

Adrian had looked at the gifts and started crying.

He hugged both me and my grandma tightly, his voice choked with emotion.

"Granny, Violet... thank you for being my family. I'll always take care of you, Granny. I'll take care of you and Violet, and we'll be together forever."

But there was no such thing as "forever," was there?

Life's journey hadn't even reached its halfway point, and I had already left them behind.

Tears welled up in my grandma's eyes too.

She rubbed her temples, looking at Adrian with red, tear-filled eyes.

Her mind began to slip again.

She thought I had been the one to upset him.

Quickly, she started wiping Adrian's tears, her voice worried. "Adrian, what happened? Did Violet upset you again? I'll make sure she knows! Let's go home and talk to her together!"

Adrian, with tear-streaked cheeks, nodded obediently, his voice hoarse.

"Okay, Granny... let's go home."

12

Bianca's downfall came swiftly.

Adrian didn't recklessly confront her like I had feared.

Instead, he used his expertise to meticulously uncover every flaw in Bianca's family business.

Tax evasion, shoddy products, fraud, extortion, even hiring hitmen...

Each offense was enough to bankrupt her family and ruin Bianca's reputation.

And that was just the beginning.

The day Bianca's family home was seized, she went to a bar to drown her sorrows.

She hooked up with a few men who, after getting her drunk, dragged her away.

By the next afternoon, Bianca was found dumped in front of a motel, naked.

Photos and videos of her debauchery from the night before were plastered all over the internet.

The public tore into her relentlessly, and every time she dared to step outside, she was wrapped up in layers to avoid recognition.

But it was as if someone was always watching her. Whenever she showed her face, she'd be mobbed by angry crowds.

Eggs and vegetables flew at her from every direction.

Frustrated and enraged, Bianca tried to strike back, but she was penniless.

Desperate, she turned to seducing men, hoping to scam money from them, moving on from one target to the next.

But one day, she crossed the wrong man.

After that, Bianca vanished.

Not long after, a photo surfaced online. Some claimed it was her.

Her limbs had been severed, and she was trapped in a jar, left as a grotesque spectacle for people's amusement.

Her eyes, once filled with arrogance, were now hollow and numb.

It was both satisfying and tragic to see her brought so low.

Adrian closed the webpage, refusing to look at that vile woman any longer.

On the day of my death anniversary, he posted a photo on Instagram.

"My wife, Violet. Separated by life and death. Wait for me."

The picture was a wedding photo, photoshopped from the pictures of us.

He gently stroked the image of me with a soft, warm gaze.

"Violet, wait a little longer. We'll be together soon."

Adrian hired the best doctors to treat my grandma, but she shook her head and refused.

"I prefer staying in this haze. If I'm too clearheaded, I'll remember that Violet's gone. I don't want to get better. I don't want to remember."

Respecting her wishes, Adrian let her live in that state, where she oscillated between confusion and clarity.

He even moved into my grandma's house, living in my old bedroom, so he could be close to her and take care of her.

Five years passed this way, and my grandma eventually passed away.

Even in her final moments, she clung to Adrian's hand, murmuring.

"Adrian, why hasn't Violet come yet? I miss her so much..."

Adrian gently held her hand, his voice soft and calm.

"She'll be here soon. I miss her too..."

With a smile on her face, my grandma finally closed her eyes.

Adrian took care of everything, handling the funeral arrangements in silence.

He buried my grandma's ashes alongside mine, beneath a tree in our hometown.

Then, he sat beneath that tree, opened a bottle of poison, and downed it in one gulp.

"Violet, I wronged you in this life. I don't ask for your forgiveness. I just hope I can die here, with you and Granny. In the next life, could you give me one more chance? Let the three of us live together, happily, for a long, long time."