My body lay on the ground, completely shattered and looking nothing like me anymore.

Meanwhile, my soul floated mid-air, looking down at my body from above.

I didn't feel sad or any sort of anguish, moreso a sense of release.

After floating in the air for god-knows how long, Jamie arrived at the scene of the explosion along with a team of police officers.

One of them said, "We discovered some gunpowder at the scene, so it seems like the perpetrator made the bomb themselves, but we still can't lock in on the identity of the victim."

Jamie furrowed her brows tightly as she stared at my body, and at that moment, a strange sense of anticipation welled up within my heart—would she recognize me? And if she did, would she feel any sort of regret?

I stared at her eyes, wanting to see the slightest flash of recognition, but she stood up the very next moment without any sort of notable change in expression. "Seems like it was a man. From what's left of his clothing, he was probably between his twenties to his thirties, so we can do a check in that range.

"For now, let's just carry out an autopsy."

My heart sank when I realized she didn't recognize me, but I suppose that was to be expected. She didn't care about me anyway, so how could she know it was me?

After all the inspection was said and done, my corpse was brought back to the precinct. My soul drifted along, settling in the backseat of Jamie's car.

She sat in the passenger seat while her subordinate, Truman, drove.

"By the way, did you have your phone turned off just now, Jamie? The chief couldn't get to you so he called me instead!"

Jamie frowned, as if she was reminded of something unpleasant.

"Well, you have Caleb to thank for that. I already told that nuisance of a man to stop calling me during work hours, but he never listens!"

I'd already gotten used to her cruel remarks towards me, but seeing the annoyed, borderline disgusted expression on her face still felt like a giant hand gripped my heart tight, making it impossible to breathe.

Truman sighed. "Caleb's just worried about you, Jamie. Don't be mad at him."

She only responded with a 'hmph', not saying anything. Then, she took out her phone, and my message was the first thing that popped up.

My chest tightened. Would she notice that something was wrong?

But her face twisted with annoyance. "This is his idea of caring? Not seeing each other ever again, he said!"

Then, she tried calling my phone, but of course, I could no longer answer.

Seeing the call fail to go through, her expression became even darker. "Alright, is that how you want to play it? Fine! Leave, and never come back!"

With that, she blocked my number without the slightest hint of hesitation, the thought that I might be in trouble not even passing her mind.

My heart was in so much pain at this point that it became a dull ache instead, and I was no longer able to muster up any emotion.

I should have known.

Jamie never cared for me, even from the start. She was never willing to spend even the slightest bit of time, energy or care on me.

Now that I was dead, was there really any use clinging onto these unrealistic expectations?

I followed along as my corpse arrived at the precinct and was pushed into the autopsy room by Jamie. I hovered behind her, watching as she cut my body open.

Even then, I still held onto the fantasy that she'd recognize me, but she never did.

Soon, the autopsy results came out.

"The deceased was around twenty-six years old. Judging by the wounds, the perpetrator hated him deeply, torturing him extensively before finally killing him with the bomb.

"Also, the victim only had one kidney. We'll probably be able to find a clue about that if we check hospital records."

At those words, the room fell silent.

Torture, explosion, and the lack of one kidney. Just one of these descriptions was alarming enough, but now they were all used to describe the same person.

While my heart no longer beat in my chest, my kidney was still working just fine—It had been donated to Lucas about a year ago, after all.

Back then, Lucas had suffered sudden kidney failure and desperately needed a transplant.

Coincidentally, my kidney was completely compatible with his, so I was practically forced into the operating room by Jamie as a result.

Now, as she cut open my body, she couldn't even recognize me.

After hearing the forensic doctor's report, Truman frowned and looked closely at my body. "Poor guy… Let's get this case solved quickly so he can rest in peace, yeah?"

Later, in the courtyard, Truman chatted with Jamie. "Jamie, couples always argue! If your husband's upset, just play nice with him, won't you?"

Jamie scoffed. "Like that would work. He'd only start causing more of a ruckus! Just today, he called me while I was at work and threatened me, so he's probably going to act dead the next time!"

What she didn't know was that I was truly dead. Somewhere in my heart, I wondered if she would feel any semblance of regret for what she was saying at that moment once she found out.

That being said, I truly didn't care anymore. All I wanted was to be able to leave her completely.

Seeing that she wasn't listening to reason, Truman could only sigh softly.

The police then started to investigate reports on missing persons and hospital records, and after a few days in the office, Truman compiled a list of missing men who seemed to fit the bill—one of whom was me.

However, Jamie only took one look at my document and placed it aside, before carefully inspecting the other documents in the list.

Right at that moment, her phone rang. It was a call from her childhood friend, Lucas.

"Jamie, when are you coming home? I couldn't find you when I went to see you today!"

The exhaustion on her face from staying up all night melted into a smile. "I'm a little busy now, so I'll go back and be with you later, okay?"

Lucas' voice was almost like a child whining. "But Jamieee, I want to find a horror movie! Without you, I'm too scared. You always used to stay by my side, remember?"

In response, not only did Jamie not get angry at him for bothering her during work, she even started to comfort him instead. "I'll bring you on a trip after I finish dealing with this case, alright?"

Seemingly carelessly, he asked, "Oh, what is it about?"

"A man was blasted to death by a bomb after being kidnapped, so we're checking his identity now. We suspect that he's crossed the perpetrator in some way, see?

"Anyway, I won't tell you much about the details. You'd be too scared to fall asleep, knowing you."

I couldn't help but scoff at the ironic scene that was playing in front of me. She was even worried about scaring Lucas, but wasn't willing to spend a few seconds thinking about my whereabouts.

She'd always treated him and me completely differently, after all.

After hanging up the phone, she continued going through the documents with Truman, finally finishing late into the night.

At the end, none of the files really seemed to fit the requirements, and the investigation came to a standstill. Everyone sat in silence, wondering what to do next.

Jamie stared at the corpse for a long time, before turning to Truman. "Send out the victim's description to the TV station, maybe someone hasn't reported a missing family member yet."

The others nodded and quickly contacted the local TV station, and within ten minutes, the information was broadcast across the city.

Not long after, Jamie's phone rang again. Then, I was lingering beside her in a haze, dull and unresponsive, until the voice on the line jolted me awake.

It was my father's voice, frantic.

"Jamie, Caleb has been missing for days! The description you released matches him perfectly!"