I shouted for help, and the passerby started walking toward me. It wasn't until she stood right in front of me that I realized it was Indigo, whom I hadn't seen for years.
Seeing me covered in blood, she first clicked her tongue and then remarked, "Violet, it's been a while. Never thought you'd end up worse off than me."
Indigo called an ambulance for me, but it was already too late. By the time I was taken to the hospital, I had lost too much blood, and the doctor pronounced me dead.
Upon learning that Indigo was my next of kin, the hospital handed over my body to her.
Indigo showed no interest in me. Instead, she searched through my pockets for my phone, wallet, and bank cards. Anything of value, she took it all.
She easily unlocked my phone using facial recognition and proceeded to transfer money from my digital wallet.
After emptying my phone of all funds, perhaps out of boredom, she began scrolling through my chat history. It was only then that she discovered I had married, and to a wealthy husband at that.
Indigo touched her face, which was identical to mine, and a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
She was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. It might not be such a bad idea if she could take my place and extract money from Brice to pay off her debts.
Thus, she hastily disposed of my body, concealed the news of my death from everyone, and simply became me.
As for me, I turned into a wisp of spirit after dying and stayed by Indigio's side, watching everything unfold before my eyes.
…
Snapping back to reality, I saw Indigo glance at the burn on her calf from the hot water and raise an eyebrow.
Then, echoing Brice's words, she looked at Amber and said, "I'm fine. It's just a burn. I know you didn't mean to. But even though it's a minor injury, it still needs to be treated at the hospital."
Brice immediately knew what she was implying. He took out his phone and transferred ten thousand dollars to her.
"I've wired you ten thousand dollars. Go get it treated at the hospital yourself."
Upon hearing the notification of the transfer in her digital wallet, Indigo smiled and said, "Alright, honey. I'll take care of it myself at the hospital."
A puzzled frown appeared on Brice's forehead when he saw Indigo agree so readily.
Indigo turned and left the apartment, but she didn't go to the hospital. Instead, she took the ten thousand dollars Brice had transferred and immediately used it to pay off her debts.
I had no idea how much money Indigo had actually borrowed over all these years. But if things continued this way, Brice would surely be bled dry.
However, I wasn't worried about him. On the contrary, I was looking forward to the day Indigo emptied him completely.
At that thought, I couldn't help but find it all bitterly amusing. The old me would never have stood by and let Indigo ruin Brice.
Yet now, I felt utterly calm about it.
…
When I snapped back to reality, it was already evening by the time Indigo finished paying off her debts. She wandered around outside for a while longer and didn't return home until 8:00 pm.
However, Indigo's timing couldn't have been worse.
As she pushed the door open, she stumbled upon Amber nestled in Brice's arms. The two of them were wrapped in an unmistakably intimate embrace.
Upon seeing Indigo, Brice and Amber immediately pulled apart.
As for me, I couldn't help but let out a cold chuckle. This was far from the first time I had witnessed Brice and Amber making out.
In the past, Brice at least knew to be discreet. But now, he couldn't even be bothered to pretend.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. Please carry on. I'll leave right away."
Seeing the scene before her, Indigo began to close the door again as she spoke. She was still counting on Brice to pay off her debts, so she knew better than to upset him. At least, she still had that much sense.
Unexpectedly, Brice moved faster than Indigo could shut the door. He grabbed her arm and said, "Don't take this the wrong way. Amber and I aren't what you think we are. She was feeling a little dizzy just now, and I was just worried she might fall. So, I…"
For a moment, I almost thought I had misheard.
Brice, who had always called me a shrew and unreasonable, actually took the initiative to explain his actions with Amber.
Indigo didn't seem to mind at all. There was even a smile on her face. "It's okay, I understand. I hope I didn't disturb you two."
As she spoke, Indigo turned to close the door and leave again.
Suddenly overcome with an inexplicable anger, Brice grabbed her and asked, "Violet, aren't you jealous?"
"Why should I be?" Indigo sounded almost puzzled. "If you really like Amber, I'd actually be happy for you."
Indigo kept talking, completely oblivious to Brice's darkening expression.
Before she could finish, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and demanded, "Violet, shouldn't you be jealous and making a scene? Or are you just playing hard to get?"
Indigo found his words utterly baffling. And she wasn't the only one; I felt just as bewildered.
After all, Brice used to despise my jealous outbursts. Yet now, with Indigo transformed into the perfectly tolerant, magnanimous wife he always wanted, he was the one falling apart.
"I'm not. Brice, you're overthinking it. I'm genuinely happy for you. Whether it's Amber or any other woman, as long as you like them, I won't mind you bringing them home," Indigo said calmly.
Brice furrowed his brow deeply, trying to detect something else from Indigo's expression. "You really won't mind."
"Really."
I thought Brice would immediately feel happy upon hearing that. But instead, an icy, chilling expression crept on his face. In fact, he looked anything but pleased.
Ignoring the cold, unsettling look, Indigo spoke up again. "I won't disturb you two anymore. But Brice, if I'm going to stay somewhere else, I'll need some money for a hotel. Could you transfer some money to me?"
Brice's expression grew even more menacing. "Money, money, money. Is that all you care about lately? Want money? Fine. Here, take it and get out!"
He pulled a bank card from his pocket and impatiently threw it in Indigo's face.
Indigo, however, didn't get angry. Instead, she simply picked up the card and turned to leave.
As I looked at Brice's expression, I couldn't help but feel strangely amused.
Ever since Amber returned from abroad, he had poured all his attention onto her.
As for me, his wife of seven years, I was completely neglected. Even when I questioned him about his relationship with Amber, he always insisted I was being unreasonable.
Now that Indigo was pretending to be me and "I" was no longer making a fuss, he actually seemed unhappy about it.
…
That night, Indigo lay on the hotel bed, staring at the bank card Brice had given her. She turned it over and over in her hands.
"Since Brice is so wealthy, I wonder how much I could get if I divorced him," Indigo muttered to herself..
The next day, she began calling lawyers to inquire about divorce proceedings.
For several days in a row, Indigo didn't return home. Then, on the seventh day, she suddenly received a text message from Brice.
"I'm out of condoms. Bring some over for me."
Not only was Brice doing that sort of thing with Amber, but he was intentionally telling "me" about it.
Before, if it had really been me on the other end of that call, I would've cursed him out and slammed the phone down. If that didn't vent my anger, I'd have another big fight with him that involved kicking and punching.
But now, with no feelings left for him, I simply felt calm enough to laugh.
Indigo, however, wasn't me. In her world, the only goal was to obey as much as possible in exchange for more money from Brice.
As expected, she did as she was told.
After buying a box of condoms, Indigo delivered them to the hotel Brice had specified. She knocked on the door, and it opened quickly from inside.
When Brice saw her, he froze for a moment.
"You actually came?" he asked dazedly, looking somewhat stunned.
His voice was quiet, so quiet it was hard to tell whether he was speaking to Indigo or just muttering to himself.
Indigo ignored his question and only asked, "Any other requests? If not, I'll be going now."
At that, Brice seemed to snap out of his daze. Seeing Indigo poised to walk away, he suddenly grabbed her hand.
"Violet, why have you become like this?"
Indigo didn't answer his question. Instead, she asked him, "And the money for the condoms…"
Brice frowned. "Money, money, money. Is that all you care about?"
"Yes. Don't worry. As long as you give me money, I won't bother you and Amber. You two can be together without any worry. If the price is right, I'd even agree to divorce you."
Finally, Brice sensed something off about "me". His tone was filled with doubt as he looked me over from head to toe.
"Violet, you weren't like this before. Where did the you I used to know disappear to?"
Hovering in the air above, I let out a cold laugh.
Did he really not know that I had died a long time ago?
Perhaps afraid of her identity being exposed, Indigo tried to leave.
"If there's nothing else, I'll get going now."
Brice tried to pull Indigo back but ended up grabbing her shirt instead. The collar was yanked from her shoulder, revealing smooth skin where the birthmark on my left shoulder should have been.
Naturally, Brice noticed this immediately. He stood there dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word.
"You—"