Five years after my death, my wife, Charlotte Blake, once again asks me to take the fall for Leo Cane, her first love, in his drunk driving case.

She barges into my home with fabricated evidence but finds no trace of me anywhere. Left with no other choice, she knocks on my neighbor's door.

My neighbor tells her something unexpected.

"Shane Foster? He's been dead for a long time. I heard the victim's family from the case he was convicted for wasn't satisfied with the verdict.

"They abducted him the day he got out of prison and tortured him for three days straight."

Charlotte refuses to believe it. She furiously accuses me of making up any lie to escape responsibility.

She storms at the neighbor, shouting, "You think I don't know Shane paid you to cover for him?

"Tell him there's no use in hiding. If he doesn't contact me within three days, he won't get a single cent of child support for that bastard."

But she doesn't know that the person Leo killed in that drunk driving accident is the very "bastard" she keeps referring to.

Charlotte Blake sat at the dining table, absent-mindedly poking at her food. Her mother, Margaret Carter, assumed work was wearing her down and put a spare rib on her plate.

Just then, Charlotte's phone buzzed. It was her secretary again.

"I'll take this call," she said, stepping out onto the balcony. She lowered her voice and said, "Go ahead."

"Ms. Blake… We still haven't located Shane Foster. No one answered the door when we went to his last known address, and his former supervisor said he'd never returned to work after his release."

"What the hell am I paying you for?" Charlotte spat through gritted teeth.

"A grown man doesn't just disappear. Keep digging. Check every place he goes and question all his friends and coworkers."

The person on the other end responded hesitantly. Charlotte hung up and took a deep breath, then turned to meet Margaret's questioning gaze.

"Lottie, what's wrong?" her mother asked. "More trouble at the company?"

"Ah… Yes. It's nothing, Mom. Just a small issue. I need to go back to the office and handle it."

Charlotte forced a smile, picked up her bag, and stood to leave. Her father, Richard Blake, lowered his newspaper and frowned.

"Is this about Leo Cane again?" he asked. "I've told you to stay away from him. All these years, he's done nothing but cause you trouble."

"I know, Dad. It's really not about him. It's the company project," she said, brushing him off with a wave.

Charlotte didn't even finish her meal as she slipped on her shoes and headed out the door. The moment it closed behind her, the smile fell from her face. She pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number, her voice softening the moment the line connected.

"Don't worry. It's going to be fine. I'll find Shane. He can't hide forever."

She listened for a moment, then replied, "Yes. All the evidence is ready. He'll have to admit it."

The person on the other end spoke again, and her tone grew even gentler. "I promise you, nothing will happen to you."

I hovered behind Charlotte, listening as she spoke softly to the person on the line, and couldn't help but laugh. No one else could draw such gentleness from her, except Leo, her first love. I could tell her frantic search for me was really for him.

Half an hour later, she appeared in front of the old apartment building, her heels clicking sharply against the pavement. She knocked on my door, but no one answered. Undeterred, she knocked a few more times, and still—nothing.

"Shane! Get the hell out right now. Quit playing dead," she shouted. "You really think you can hide from me? I'm telling you, you…"

The loud pounding of the door immediately drew the neighbors' attention. Suddenly, the door across the hall creaked open. One person peered out with a frown.

"Who are you looking for? No one's lived here for years."

Charlotte sneered. "I'm looking for Shane. Is he hiding inside?"

My neighbor paused, taken aback. "You mean Shane Foster? He… He passed away five years ago."

"Passed away?" Charlotte's expression froze, then she scoffed. "Who are you trying to fool? A man like him would never have the guts to die."

"It's true," my neighbor said earnestly.

She went on, "I heard the victim's family from the case he was involved in was waiting for him the day he was released. They took him and… Well, he was missing for three days.

"When they found him, his body was beyond recognition. By the way, what's your relationship with him? How could you not know something that serious?"

Everything my neighbor said was the truth, but Charlotte didn't believe a word of it. In her mind, I was a coward, so why would she accept such a story?

She folded her arms, rolling her eyes dismissively. "Pretty convincing story. How much did he pay you? Is it really worth covering for him like this?"

"What's your problem? I'm just telling you the truth. I have no reason to make this up," my neighbor shot back.

"Truth? I'd be a fool to believe you." Charlotte took a step forward, her voice turning shrill. "Tell Shane that there's no use in hiding. If he doesn't contact me within three days, he won't get a single cent of child support for that bastard."

My neighbor was rendered speechless. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Charlotte had already turned and walked away. The sharp, angry clicks of her heels echoed through the stairwell as she rushed away.

However, the bitter truth would always escape her. The person Leo had killed that night in a drunk-driving accident was in fact her own child, the one she had scorned as a bastard.

I watched from above as Charlotte stormed into her flashy sports car. The engine roared, shattering the evening's silence.

She didn't even glance at the old neighborhood I'd lived in for years. With a sharp turn of the wheel, she sped toward the upscale apartments on the west side of the city. I knew she was going to find Leo.

The scenery outside the window blurred into streaks of color. I had no choice but to follow, tethered to her motion by a force I couldn't break.

Five years had passed, and I thought I'd grown numb to her life. But watching her rush with such desperate urgency to another man, the old wound tore open afresh. A familiar, crushing ache tightened in my chest right where my heart used to be.

Charlotte's car stopped in front of a brightly lit apartment building. She didn't wait for the elevator doors to fully open before forcing her way out.

When the doors parted, Leo was already standing in his doorway, still in his bathrobe. Upon seeing her, his brow immediately furrowed with concern.

"Lottie, how did it go? Did you find Shane?" he asked.

Charlotte threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Her voice came out muffled, thick with tears.

"No. That asshole is hiding somewhere. Even his neighbor is covering for him, saying he's dead."

Leo's eyes flickered for a moment before his expression softened with concern. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. "You've gone through so much for me, Lottie."

"Don't say that," she murmured, leaning into his embrace.

Her voice softened as she continued, "For you, it's all worth it. Don't worry. I'll make him come out. This time, he has to take the fall."

I was forced to follow them into the absurdly lavish apartment.

I watched as Leo fetched a glass of water for Charlotte with attentive care. Seeing her nestle in his embrace and place her trust in him sent a pang through the part of my chest where my heart no longer beat. There was a time when I was the one she depended on.

At that instant, memory came flooding back like a broken dam. I knew everything about Leo.

He was Charlotte's first love, the one who had been a part of her adolescence and college years. They were madly in love and were inseparable.

However, the Blakes were too sharp to be fooled by Leo's charming exterior. They saw straight through to the idleness and unrealistic ambitions beneath.

Her parents could tell he was clinging to their daughter for her inheritance. They vehemently opposed the relationship and even threatened to disown her.

In the end, they went to Leo and offered him a sum large enough to set him up for life. Their only condition was that he leave her and never return. Tempted by the money, he took it and left without looking back.

When Charlotte learned about that, she collapsed from grief. After that, she seemed to have lost all faith in love or in the idea of marriage. That was when she chose me.

At the time, I was only a junior project manager at her company. I was a man of few words who proved himself through action.

I knew Charlotte was choosing me out of spite, but I agreed anyway because I genuinely loved her. After we married, I cared for her attentively and cherished her every day.

I remembered all her preferences and woke early to make her breakfast. I waited outside her office when she worked late, and stayed up all night when she was sick. When she was in a bad mood and snapped at me, I never talked back.

Eventually, she started smiling at me. She ate the meals I made and came running when I picked her up from work.

Sometimes, she'd even nuzzle my shoulder before falling asleep and murmur groggily, "Shane, you're the best."

Later, Charlotte became pregnant. When I found out, I was overjoyed.

Every night, I'd read to her growing belly and solemnly tell her, "Baby, I'm going to give you and Mommy the best of everything in the world."

She'd stroke her slightly rounded belly with a somewhat distant expression, but at least she smiled.

I thought my turn at happiness had finally come. But it all shattered the day Leo secretly returned to the country. Instead of building a life abroad, he'd only gotten himself into a mess and came crawling back to hide.

He found Charlotte and tearfully told her how much he'd missed her all these years. He even said he'd tried to come back several times, but someone had always stood in his way.

Leo strongly implied that someone was me, and she believed him. She didn't care that I had just stayed up all night to prepare soup for her.

Charlotte pointed a finger at my face, her voice sharp with accusation. "I can't believe you're like this. Are you really so jealous of my happiness?"

I had no way to defend myself. Charlotte hated me so much that she wouldn't even look at our newborn daughter.

"Seeing her just reminds me of you. It makes me sick," she spat.

She sent someone to take the child away. I ran out after them and fought to take my wailing daughter back into my arms. From then on, I raised my child alone in a home that no longer felt like mine.

It wasn't until one day that Leo drove and hit someone while under the influence.

Charlotte came to me with red-rimmed eyes and begged, "Shane, just this once. Please help him… I've taken care of everything. You just need to serve three years. When you get out… When you get out, we'll live a good life together. Okay?"

I looked into her tear-filled eyes and knew it was a trap I was walking straight into. But I still nodded because I loved her.

I thought I could win her back. I told myself I was only serving for three years. Still, I never imagined that meeting would be our final goodbye.

"Daddy…"

A soft voice pulled me back from my memories. I looked down and saw my daughter's small, translucent form hovering beside me. Her big eyes were fixed on the two figures below, who were embracing.

"Why… Why does Mommy always stay with that man?" she asked.

My throat tightened. I reached out to touch her head, but my hand passed through empty air.

"Because… She is happier when she's with him."

She looked at them, confused.

"But you're the one who's always been nicest to Mommy."

My daughter was right. Even a child could see the truth Charlotte refused to believe. She only believed in that man who'd repeatedly abandoned her, used her, and ultimately caused the death of her own child.

Leo was kissing the top of Charlotte's head, his voice tight with worry.

"Lottie… What if Shane really is dead? Won't I be—"

"Don't be ridiculous," she cut him off, her tone resolute.

"Someone like him values his life above everything. How could he possibly be dead? He's definitely going into hiding.

"Besides, that bastard is still in my hands. He wouldn't dare disobey me now."

I looked at Charlotte's confident profile and felt a hollow, bitter laugh rising in me. This was the woman I had loved enough to die for. Even after my death, I was nothing but a coward she could use and manipulate at will.

Charlotte still didn't know that the "bastard" she was using to threaten me had already been killed by Leo on a cold, rainy night.

The next day, Charlotte, who had been so confident and self-assured before, waited in vain for any response from me. I had been hovering outside her office window since dawn, watching her tap her phone impatiently for the third time as her expression darkened.

"Shane, how dare you ignore me..." She slammed her phone face down on the desk, her chest heaving. "So you finally grew a backbone, huh?"

Charlotte thought that withholding our daughter's child support money would make me cave like before and that I'd show up obediently. But now, every threat she sent went unanswered.

By afternoon, she couldn't sit still anymore. She grabbed her car keys and rushed out.

I followed her as she drove all the way to the north side of town, to the place that had once been our home. Since we separated and I moved out alone with my daughter, I hadn't returned.

Charlotte parked the car and stared at the familiar villa, her expression somewhat distant. The roses in the garden had long since died, leaving only a few stubborn weeds leaning in the dirt. Even the swing was rusted, creaking softly in the wind.

She stood there for a long time before using the spare key to unlock the door. A cloud of dust greeted her as she opened it.

The living room was exactly as we'd left it, only covered in a thin layer of dust. My old grey sweater was still tossed over the back of the couch. Our daughter's cartoon character cup from when she was little sat on the dining table.

Charlotte walked in slowly, her fingers unconsciously tracing a line through the dust on a side table. Her gaze settled on a framed photo on the wall. In it, she was smiling faintly, while I looked at her as if she were the only light in the room.

She quickly looked away, as if the image burned her eyes. But everywhere she looked, she found traces of the life we'd built together—the book I'd never finished, my everyday glasses, the art on the walls, and the custom tea set I'd commissioned just for her.

I had put every piece there for her.

Charlotte walked over to the crib and picked up an old, worn rabbit plush I'd given her years ago. She stared at it for a long time, then her eyes welled up with tears.

As if coming out of a daze, she set it down abruptly and went downstairs. She sat down on the living room couch and dialed my number again.

The phone rang for a long time before disconnecting automatically. Undeterred, she tried again and again. Finally, clutching her scorching phone, she began to murmur softly into the unresponsive phone.

"Shane, I know you can hear me. Just come out and stop hiding." Charlotte paused for a beat. She lowered her voice, making it sharp and almost commanding.

"Answer the phone and… Apologize to me for what happened back then. Also, admit you blocked Leo from coming back to find me. Just say you were wrong.

"I'll forgive you. I won't even make you take the fall for him anymore. I'll find someone else… Just say you're sorry."

As she said that, her voice wavered and trembled with urgency. "Please… Just answer the phone."

I hovered before Charlotte, watching the tears in her eyes and her tightly pressed lips. It was absurd, almost laughable.

I'd never stopped Leo from coming back. He was the one who'd taken money from the Blakes and run off to enjoy himself, only coming back to find her after things went wrong.

So why should I apologize? Besides, how could someone who'd been dead for five years answer the phone? How was I supposed to do so? When no reply came, Charlotte's tone grew brittle with impatience.

"Shane Foster! This is your last chance. You—"

Before she could finish, the call disconnected since no one answered. She stared blankly at the dark screen, then suddenly raised her hand and smashed the nearby lamp to the floor.

"Fine. Have it your way. Let's see how long you can keep hiding."