The fact that I hadn't contacted Anthony at all only made him more irritable. And when he realized I still hadn't come home, he sent me a voice message, his tone full of barely contained rage.

"Willow, I'm warning you—if you don't come back right now, don't even think about taking one step out of your room for the rest of your life!"

For the rest of my life… I laughed. It was apparent that it never even crossed his mind that the rest of my life was over.

He probably also never imagined that while he and Maisie were wrapped up in their sweet little romance these past few days, I was right there, practically within arm's reach. My soul and my corpse had been lying not far from him this whole time, sinking into despair, slowly rotting away.

Over time, with Eddie's help, I gradually learned how to enter other people's dreams—they sat closest to the realm of death.

So one night, after Maisie fell asleep, I dragged an indignant Eddie with me and slipped straight into her dream without a second thought. Eddie was angrier than I was after hearing my story, and he swore up and down that he would help me get revenge.

Maisie's dream was pitch-black. Dreams reflected the heart, so her inner world was just as dark and suffocating. When we arrived, she was in the middle of getting cozy with Anthony.

His gaze was deep and tender, and he was sprawled lazily on the couch. His face, usually so cold and distant, was now softened with warmth. When I appeared, he lifted his gaze slightly, the corner of his lips curling into a gentle smile.

I froze for a moment, then quickly realized this Anthony wasn't real. When it came to me, he was never anything but indifferent. The only smiles he showed me were mocking and laced with contempt.

Sure enough, thunder cracked overhead a moment later. Anthony dissolved into smoke and vanished. Maisie finally noticed us; her eyes went wide, and her expression turned blank with shock.

"Vengeful, I'll get revenge for you." Eddie shot me a wicked grin, then grabbed his neck and put on a gruesome show of ripping his head off. Blood poured from all his orifices, and his tongue split in half. His head was removed clean off his neck…

Maisie was so frightened that she immediately started screaming for help, trying her best to scramble away from us. The color drained from her face, leaving her lips bloodless and making her look even paler than me, who'd been dead for days.

I couldn't just stand there anymore. How could I not be moved when Eddie was going all out to get revenge for me?

I immediately stuck out my tongue and zoomed right toward Maisie, twisting my head 360 degrees like they did in horror movies.

Maisie was about to scream some more when she saw my face and froze. "Willow Shore! You're dead! Are you really dead?"

The terror faded from her face. It was replaced by a vague sense of smugness and satisfaction.

I was taken aback. Before I could figure out what her reaction meant, a strong force suddenly shoved me away. Eddie and I fell out of the dream, only to realize that Anthony had noticed something was off with Maisie and woken her up.

His eyes were filled with concern as he looked at her. "Did you have a nightmare?"

His voice was low and soft, and he reached out to wipe the sweat from her brow, his movements tender and thoughtful.

I stiffened when I saw the worry in his gaze. Even if I was nothing but a soul now, my heart still twisted bitterly.

In the past, no matter what I'd been through, Anthony had never once comforted me like that. All he'd given me was impatient mockery of what a drama queen I was.

I knew he had to run Flint Group and was busy with work. That was why, even when he didn't care that I'd been bullied and insulted and when he'd caused me to miscarry in the later stages of my pregnancy due to his neglect, I told myself that was just what he was like to everyone.

It was only now that I realized Anthony could actually be this gentle, this attentive, and this meticulous with a woman. My heart squeezed so tightly that it went numb.

Maisie threw herself into Anthony's arms, clinging to him as she cried her heart out. "Tony, I dreamed that something happened to me and that you fell for Willow all over again. You hated me and didn't want me anymore. Please don't leave me behind for Willow again, okay?"

Her eyes were filled with pleading as she looked up at him. She'd brought me up on purpose and was obviously up to no good.

But for some reason, Anthony didn't immediately deny what she said this time. His expression just turned uglier, and his eyes filled with frost.

Suddenly, I remembered something. He wasn't scary when he yelled. It was when he was calm and radiated that quiet, suffocating anger that he was truly terrifying.

That was what he'd been like on our wedding day. During the ceremony, he hadn't reacted at all when his parents had chased Maisie abroad. I thought he'd finally let her go, but that night, right before my very eyes, he'd strangled the dog that had been with me for years.

I'd screamed at the top of my lungs but could only watch helplessly as my dog stopped struggling and went limp before me.

"Do you now know what it feels like to lose the thing you love most?" Anthony's voice was hoarse when he asked me that, like some judge from hell.

Even now, just remembering it sent a chill through me. My blood turned to ice. That demon from my past slowly overlapped with the Anthony before me now.

I started to wonder if I'd pushed him past his limit again. How was he going to punish me this time?

Was he going to wrap his hands around my throat the way he'd done with my dog? Would he use me to prove to Maisie that he'd never loved me?

Or would it be like before—would he draw my blood to weaken me first before pressing my face to the floor and making me grovel at her feet? Would he tell me that was the price I had to pay for not behaving?

I laughed bitterly. The old darkness crept back over everything, only this time… I felt thrilled. It was like standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, watching a hurricane roar in and thunder splitting the sky, while knowing I was safe inside a glasshouse and smirking at the storm's helpless rage.

If I had the chance, I would love to walk right into Anthony's dreams and taunt him. I wanted to show him that I was already dead. What could he possibly do to me now?

I couldn't help laughing at the thought. But the more I laughed, the faster the tears streamed down my face.

…

I didn't get to do any taunting. For the next two days, Anthony was busy with god-knows-what. He barely spent any time at the hospital with Maisie. Unfortunately for me, my soul was trapped in the hospital, so I couldn't follow him.

But from what I could tell, something was probably wrong with the company. Whenever he did come back to the hospital, he looked like a wreck.

And it seemed I really had pushed him too far. He actually started investigating my whereabouts. It sounded like he'd had people comb through every place I might have gone and reach out to all my so-called friends.

Still, there was no trace of me.

It was almost funny, honestly. Ever since Anthony had locked me up and taken over every part of my life, what friends did I even have left? Everyone knew he couldn't stand me. Those "friends" were terrified of offending him, so they'd cut ties with me long ago.

I sat on the windowsill, happily watching his irritation grow.

"Tony, you don't think Willow ran away, do you? She's always been so resistant to…" Maisie trailed off on purpose.

Anthony's voice was low and icy. "I had people look into it. There's no record of Willow leaving the country."

"She should know you well enough to know how to avoid you." As soon as she said it, Maisie pretended she'd misspoken and hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.

Still, her words made Anthony's expression darken further. He narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to leave, but she hurriedly threw her arms around him to stop him.

"Tony, stop bothering about her," she said weakly. "She's just an orphan. Your family saved her, took her in, and you've always protected her.

"You even married her and gave her a life where she never has to worry about anything. She should be grateful, yet she just keeps dodging and making excuses now that you need her to give just a little bit back.

"She's too selfish, Tony. She's unworthy of you. You deserve someone more considerate, someone who truly loves you and can share your burden…"

Her tone grew increasingly suggestive, her gaze drifting as she boldly leaned in, clearly about to cross a line.

The sight made my stomach turn. I wanted to look away, but the next second, Anthony suddenly pushed her away.

Maisie froze. I was also stunned.

"I'm sorry. I signed an agreement with Willow," Anthony said flatly.

It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. Honestly, I'd almost forgotten what he was even talking about.

When Maisie had first returned to the country, she'd wanted to test Anthony's limits. So, she'd faked medical records and claimed she had leukemia, saying that she needed a bone marrow transplant.

I was six months pregnant when Anthony had me forcibly dragged to the hospital. He made me terminate the pregnancy; our first child was killed before we even got to meet them. Because of that, I finally understood that retaliation was useless. So, I started trying to die.

I starved myself, slit my wrists, and tried every way I could think of to end my life. None of them worked because Anthony wouldn't let me die. He wanted to keep me alive to be Maisie's lifeline.

After my repeated suicide attempts, he finally started treating me more gently, wanting to calm me down and keep me alive. He even did the unthinkable and compromised, sitting down with me to set ground rules. Our final rule was that he would never be with Maisie, and I was forbidden from committing suicide.

I knew this so-called agreement would never hold him, but I had to admit that his brief tenderness at the time had messed with my head. And after torturing myself to the edge of death over and over, I was exhausted. I wanted to live, just a little.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Anthony to break the rules. He continued locking me up, tormenting me, and forcing me to give blood. He violated every rule but the last. I had a feeling he would soon cross that one, too.

So, hearing him now bring up our agreement felt like a cruel joke.

Hearing that, Maisie was so frantic that she was almost driven to tears. "Tony…"

Before she could get any further, Anthony's phone rang. He answered the call.

"Mr. Flint, we've located Willow…"

Anthony didn't seem to hear the hesitation in the caller's voice. He let out a cold, mirthless laugh. "So she finally decided to show herself."

Maybe I was imagining it, but he sounded almost relieved when he said that. His tone made it clear there was no room for argument when he ordered, "Bring her here."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, the reply came. "Mr. Flint, Willow was in a car accident five days ago. She died at the scene. Her body is in the morgue, basement level one, of the hospital you're in right now."