I had clearly died. Why had I come back to life again?

When I saw my corpse on the ground, I realized that I hadn't come back to life. My soul had just left my body.

My soul was being attracted by some kind of force, and I arrived at the Lovean Sea.

This was the place where Ansel had bought a house six years ago with the first sum of money that he had received as a fund manager. It was the house that we'd lived in after getting married.

It had minimalistic decor, which was my favorite.

There were big gardens in both the front and the backyard, and they were filled with the pink roses that I'd loved.

However, we had only moved into the new house for six months when Ansel's rival set a trap for him. He lost so much money that he became bankrupt.

Ansel's mother, who was also my mother-in-law, was diagnosed with kidney disease.

All we did every single day was to hide from debtors. We lived like a family of rats who could never see sunlight.

I could not endure it and brought up the topic of divorce.

After that, Ansel sold the house and found a guarantor so that he could borrow the money to pay off the loan sharks.

He left New York with his mother.

Now that he had returned again six years later, he had become a finance giant on Wall Street.

The door was locked. Although my soul could go right through it, I wanted to try opening the digital lock.

I entered the date that we had started dating, and the door unlocked.

I was both happy and sad.

I was happy that Ansel still remembered the day we had begun our relationship, but I was sad that I was no longer the person by his side.

I had just sat down on the sofa when I heard the sound of brakes.

Before long, Ansel walked in, carrying a drunk Anne. He headed to the bedroom.

He had just pulled the blankets over her and was about to leave when Anne turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pleaded, "Ansel, don't leave. Could you stay and sleep with me tonight?"

There was a drunken lilt to her voice, and the bright red spaghetti-strap dress she was wearing made her look very seductive.

Ansel hesitated and nodded.

Anne drunkenly began to undo Ansel's shirt buttons and belt. Their clothes slid off onto the floor as they undressed.

My eyes were stinging, and my heart felt as if needles were being plunged mercilessly into it. I turned around hastily to leave.

I did not want to keep watching.

I comforted myself. They were about to get married and become a lawfully wedded couple.

They were doing what all married couples did.

Why should I be upset?

Besides, I was the one who had mentioned divorce first.

I wiped my tears dry and told myself to stop crying.

I had to wish Ansel the best.

I roamed around the other rooms in the villa. They were still furnished in the same way they had been back then.

Apart from the addition of Anne, it still felt like the house Ansel and I had lived in after marriage.

Why did I still feel as if I were the mistress of this house? That was far too greedy of me.

I sighed and got ready to leave.

Ansel came downstairs, carrying a large cardboard box.

I stood on my tiptoes and saw that it contained all the presents I had given him.

There was a razor, matching jackets, matching mugs, and all kinds of little trinkets.

What was he doing? Was he going to throw them all out?

Was he going to wipe away all traces of me from his life and his memories?

However, if he had decided to forget me, why had he bought that house back?

He took out a lighter from the box. It was covered with sparkly decals, and it was the first birthday present I had ever given him.

He lit a cigarette and stared at the lighter for a long time. I had no idea what he was thinking about.

After a long time, he took out his phone and opened WhatsApp.

I stood curiously behind the sofa and sneaked a peek at his screen.

His chat with me was right at the top.

The last time we had spoken was six years ago, on the 26th of July. It was the day we had broken up.

He opened the chat window: "I'm about to get married. This home still has your things. I've packed them up, so come and get them."

After he sent the message, there was no reply for a long time.

He began getting impatient, so he sent another message: "I'll give you two days. If you don't come and get them, I'll toss them out so that they don't take up space."

I looked at the trinkets in the box. They weren't valuable, but they were proof of all our years together.

We had known each other for over a decade.

Those things were evidence of how our love had lasted for over ten years.

He had once taken great care of those things. He kept them in a cupboard in his study, and no one was allowed to touch them.

Now he wanted to throw them out.

He wanted to forget me completely and wipe me out of his life.

I reached out to try to touch the matching rings that I had once given him, but I couldn't. My finger went through the box, and I could not touch anything.

Ansel stared at his phone screen until the sun rose, but there was no reply from me.

He began to look more and more grim. He picked up the box and stood up abruptly.

"Julie! You really are ruthless. You won't even reply to a message!"

I looked piteously at him. "Ansel, I'm already dead, and my phone broke three years ago. It's not that I'm not replying to you. I can't."

Ansel might have thought that I had blocked all methods of contact with him because I no longer wanted to pay any attention to a loser like him.

After all, I had said many nasty things to him when we'd broken up.

He looked furious as he carried the box to the trash can outside and threw it in without a second thought.

The porcelain cups shattered, and the pink blanket that I had knitted myself became stained with mud.

My heart twisted when I saw the proof of the love that Ansel and I had once had being abandoned like that.

I felt as if needles were being driven into my heart, and it hurt so much that my breathing became labored.

Tears slid unbidden down my face.

Wasn't I already dead? Why could I still feel pain?

The sound of Ansel closing the door woke Anne.

She was wearing a lacy nightdress, and she took Ansel's arm affectionately. "We're going to take wedding photos today! Let's hurry and set off."

The two of them left after getting dressed.

In the studio, Anne changed into a pink, gauzy gown that swept along the floor. Ansel wore a white suit.

The photographer guided them into posing in several intimate ways.

The last photo was of the two of them kissing.

I did not want to watch any longer. Watching more would just be torture to me.

Anne posted their photos on Facebook, and soon, there were over ten thousand comments.

"Anne is so pretty! A woman like her, who can start from scratch with Ansel, is what you call a good woman!"

"Anne is much better than Ansel's selfish ex-wife!"

"Callous people like Ansel's ex-wife are sure to die young!"

Ansel saw the last comment and was about to press the button to report it, but then he changed his mind and liked it instead.

He stared at the screen and muttered, "Julie, do you think you can just disappear? Let me see how long you'll keep hiding.

"If you can divorce me, why can't you come and see me?

"I want to ask you if you regret divorcing me now that you can see how much I've accomplished, and if you regret abandoning me during the darkest time of my life!"

I stood behind him, reading the comments that were cursing me and telling me to go and die.

There was a lump in my throat, and I wanted to cry.

I didn't regret divorcing Ansel, nor did I regret abandoning him.

If I could go back in time, I would do the same thing.

After leaving the wedding studio, Ansel went to the office. He was very busy for several days and did not go home.

The news of his marriage to Anne began to grow in popularity on the Internet.

More and more people were paying attention to the love life of Wall Street's top finance giant.

More and more people were also growing to like Anne, the woman who had stayed with Ansel during the lowest point in his life.

I was abused harshly as his ex-wife.

One day, he suddenly received a call from the police, asking him to go over. Anne had been stalked and harassed by someone.

When Ansel saw the person who had been harassing Anne, his temper flared at once.

I stood there in shock.

The person who had been stalking Anne was Jake Dursley.

He was the man who had pretended to be my boyfriend in front of Ansel back then.

Ansel punched him without a second thought.

"How dare you stalk and harass my fiancée? Do you have a death wish? How could Julie have seen anything in a jerk like you?

"Oh, I get it. Now that she sees that I've succeeded and I'm about to get married, she told you to come and bully my fiancée, didn't she?"

Jake was a whole head shorter than Ansel, and there was no way he could win in a fight against him.

He was beaten up so badly that his entire face was bruised.

I rushed over to pull them apart, but I could only watch as my hands went right through their bodies. I had no effect on them at all.

"Stop hitting him, Ansel! Stop! Jake, can't you run?"

I couldn't stop them, nor could they hear me.

In the end, it was the police who separated them.

Jake panted as he sat on the floor. "I wasn't stalking her or harassing her. I just wanted her to delete those comments under the photos that she posted on Facebook, and she refused to do so! I had no choice but to keep pestering her!

"Ansel, you're also to blame for Anne's indulgence of those people who are cursing and abusing Julie in the comments, aren't you?

"You're not worthy of being a man! You're so petty! You actually allowed them to curse Julie. No wonder she divorced you! You're not worthy of her!"

"You're not worthy of her!" Jake yelled.

Ansel was thoroughly infuriated by what he had said.

He kicked the chair aside in anger and raised his fist to hit Jake. "How am I not worthy of her?

"During my darkest moments, she divorced me and aborted our child to be with you! She betrayed our love!

"She was the one who left, not me!

"Jake, go home and tell Julie that I'll treat her the same way she treated me back then! Tell her to wait and see!"

After that, Ansel and Anne left together.

Jake was detained for stalking.

As he watched Ansel leave, Jake sneered. "Ansel, you'll find out the truth one day, and you're going to regret it!"

Ansel did not hear him.

I followed and left with him.

Anne took out her phone. "Maybe we should delete these photos."

Despite what she had said, she looked very reluctant to do so.

Ansel hesitated. "You don't have to delete them. Keep them."

Ansel drove Anne home, but he did not look as if he intended to get out of the car.

Anne looked pitifully at him. "Can I stay with you? I'm scared of being alone at home. I'm afraid that there'll be other nasty people following me."

Ansel shook his head. "I'm going home to pack up. You can move in after some time. The security in this neighborhood is very tight, so there won't be any nasty people."

Anne wanted to say something else, but then she nodded and got out of the car, because she had seen the impatience in Ansel's face.

When Ansel returned to the Lovean Sea, he stood beside the trash can at the entrance. The cardboard box that he had thrown out a few days ago was no longer there.

He looked conflicted.

He was the one who had thrown it away. Why was he upset?

"Why are you staring at the trash can? It's so cold outside. Come in, quickly."

It was my mother-in-law, Emily Patterson.

"Mom, why did you come back so suddenly? You should have told me. I would have gone to the airport to pick you up!"

Ansel stubbed out his cigarette and got out of the car.

Emily frowned. "I know the way home. I don't need you to come and get me.

"You've been back for over ten days. Why didn't you bring Julie home? I miss her!

"Didn't you tell me that you and Anne were just friends and that you didn't have any feelings for her? Why have you announced that you're going to get married?

"If you marry her, what's Julie going to do? Don't you want Julie anymore?"

When I heard Emily's concern for me, I burst into tears. I wanted to hug her and tell her that I missed her so much.

When I saw her rosy complexion, I felt reassured.

She was much healthier now compared to six years ago, when she had been unconscious and swollen all over because we'd had no money for her dialysis.

It was a pity that she did not know that I missed her.

Ansel remained silent at Emily's nagging. Finally, he went to the study. When he saw that Emily was drinking out of the handmade cup that I had given her, he could not help complaining.

"Mom, stop talking about Julie. I hate her!

"She divorced me and abandoned both of us back then. What use is it for you to miss her now? She's probably off having fun somewhere. Why do you want to go looking for her? Do you want to be abandoned by her again?

"Besides, she was the one who abandoned us first. You didn't even scold her, and now you're complaining that I'm not bringing her home? Be reasonable!"

Emily blocked his path angrily and said sternly, "Ansel, I adopted Julie and brought her home when she was six years old. She lived with us. She's such a kind child. She must have had a reason for abandoning us during that difficult time!

"Julie grew up with you and was always following you around. You were her world, and after she grew up, she married you and became your wife. You loved her so much, and she loved you. Shouldn't you try to investigate why she divorced you so suddenly?

"Julie's such an obedient child. I won't believe that she's as callous and cruel as they say she is on the Internet!

"Tell Anne to delete those negative comments at once!"

Tears rolled uncontrollably down my cheeks as I listened to Emily.

For so many years, she was the only one who could understand my suffering.

I said silently, "Mom, you treat me so well. You're willing to believe that I did all of this because I had a reason, but I'm dead now. I can't take care of you properly anymore.

"Thank you for looking after me for so many years."

Upon hearing what Emily had said, Ansel's expression of anger turned to hesitation, and he looked conflicted.

He knew that she was right and that what she had said made sense.

After a long moment of silence, Emily told him, "I don't care how busy you are. Go and bring Julie home tomorrow. I miss her.

"I've been feeling uneasy for the past two weeks. It feels like something bad has happened, and I'm worried that something has happened to Julie.

"I'll only feel reassured when I see her!"

Ansel nodded and took out his phone to send me a message: "Julie, Mom misses you very much… I miss you very much too…"

He typed out the last few words but deleted them again and changed them: "Can you come and see her tomorrow?"