Five years after my death, Fletcher Reynolds fully recovered from his illness and finally clawed his way up to become a billionaire.

He showed up at a press conference with his new flame, answering questions from reporters.

“Mr. Reynolds, word is that when you were diagnosed with leukemia, it was your fiancée who donated the bone marrow to save you?”

“That’s right.”

Fletcher took the microphone. “But at the lowest point of my life, that cold-hearted woman aborted our child and left me. It was June who stayed by my side day and night, never leaving me for a moment. That was when I decided I would spend the rest of my life with her.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire city of Bayshore swooned over the perfect love story between Fletcher Reynolds and his childhood sweetheart, June Balfe.

And they all cursed me as the villain—saying I deserved to be struck by lightning.

They said I was inhuman, that I abandoned my sick fiancée, got rid of our baby, drained him of money and fled overseas.

After the press conference, June noticed he wasn’t looking well. Putting on her most understanding expression, she asked,

“Fletcher, are you thinking about Ashley again? She left so suddenly back then… maybe she had her reasons.”

“Don’t mention her!” Fletcher gritted his teeth. “If I ever find her, I’ll skin her alive.”

Floating above them, I let out a bitter laugh.

Fletcher, I’m afraid you’ll never get your wish.

Because I died five years ago—right there on the operating table, donating bone marrow to you.

***

Whenever Fletcher came home in a foul mood, he’d lock himself in his study.

He’d take it out on the wedding photo in front of him, stabbing it over and over until it was full of holes.

“Where the hell are you hiding, Ashley? Why won’t you come out and face me?!”

His voice was hoarse as he spoke to the smiling face in the photo.

“I stood in front of the press. I have wealth you couldn’t even imagine now… why won’t you come back to me? Well…you probably know that if you did come back, I’d never let you go.”

He’d already raided his liquor cabinet, drinking himself into oblivion.

The small knife in his hand slashed the photo again and again.

From afar, the wedding photo was nothing but a sheet of holes—except for one thing: my bright, smiling face, left untouched.

As Fletcher once explained, “I’m afraid I’ll forget what Ashley looks like. If I run into her one day, I might not recognize her—and I won’t forget what she did to me.”

Fletcher had never stopped hating me.

He would give anything to watch me die with his own hands.

“Fletcher.”

June walked in, carrying a bowl of hangover soup.

She found him half-drunk, her brows knitting in concern as she held his shoulders.

“Why did you drink this much again?”

Her gaze drifted to the shredded wedding photo and she pressed her lips together.

“That was the last one. It’s time to throw it away. Fletcher, our wedding’s next month. You promised me—you’d let Ashley go and let yourself go too.”

Over these five years, Fletcher had ordered copy after copy of that wedding photo—filling even his office with them.

When people saw it and asked who the woman was, he would always answer darkly, “An enemy.”

In his circle, most people thought he and his childhood sweetheart June were a match made in heaven.

But only a few knew the truth…

That his hatred for me came from love.

The deeper he had loved me back then, the deeper he hated me now.

He hated that I broke our wedding vows.

Hated that I aborted the child we’d both been waiting for.

And hated most of all that I never even said goodbye—just vanished into thin air. Which is why, for the past five years, Fletcher had been pouring a fortune into a private search team.

All for the sake of finding one person—me.

Fletcher closed his eyes and stayed silent for a long time.

“All right. Throw it away.”

“June,” he said, “from now on, I’ll marry you and I’ll never mention Ashley again.”

June smiled, took his hand and gently pressed it to her cheek like a kitten curling up for warmth.

“I knew you’d work through it. We’ll have our own life, our own marriage… and our own children.”

That night, June had changed into a brand-new piece of lingerie she’d just bought and even dabbed on perfume.

But before she could throw herself into his arms, Fletcher’s phone rang.

It was his assistant, sounding breathless with excitement.

“Mr. Reynolds, we’ve found news about Ashley again!”

Fletcher’s expression instantly darkened, his grip tightening on the phone. He shot to his feet.

“What did you just say?”

Even I, floating nearby, was stunned.

I’d been dead for five years.

How could they possibly have news about me?

Could it be… they’d discovered where my body was buried?

Before I could react, a gust of wind seemed to sweep through as Fletcher grabbed his coat and bolted out the door.

Behind him, June’s anxious voice called after him—but no answer.

I drifted along behind him.

Fletcher quickly met up with his assistant.

Panting, the man said, “Mr. Reynolds, I saw Mrs. Rey—oh, I mean Ashley. It’s just… she’s not doing well. She’s working as a housekeeper in a hotel.”

Fletcher’s face turned stormy, but his words were short and sharp.

“Take me there. Now.”

After ten years together, I knew Fletcher’s body language too well.

His whole frame was taut—he’d been waiting for this moment for five long years.

When the assistant moved too slowly, Fletcher cut him off impatiently.

“Forget it. Just give me the address. I’ll find her myself.”

With supposedly my address in hand, he tore into the hotel like a man possessed, searching every floor, every bathroom.

On the 22nd floor, he finally spotted a woman bent over, scrubbing a toilet.

Fletcher froze, his breath coming hard.

“Ashley!”

His voice was hoarse, laced with a cold, bitter laugh as he seized her wrist.

“You took my money, got rid of our baby and walked out on me—and now you’re living like this. Don’t you regret leaving me?” His eyes burned red as he stared at the back of her head.

But when the woman turned around, I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

It had been a false alarm.

The face was completely unfamiliar.

Fletcher stood stunned for a moment, the light in his eyes dying out.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“I thought you’re someone I know.”

The truth was, in the five years since my death, whenever news about me faded, another rumor would pop up.

The first year, someone claimed that after aborting the baby, I bought a plane ticket overseas and married a local.

Fletcher was still in the hospital then—he crushed a glass in his bare hand when he heard.

Before he’d even recovered enough to be discharged, he ordered his assistant to buy a ticket so he could fly overseas immediately.

He followed every lead he could find, scouring every possible place.

In the end, he came back empty-handed.

But after that, whenever another rumor surfaced about me marrying that man, his brow would crease and he’d pay close attention.

The second year, someone claimed they’d seen me in Paris, taking tourist photos at the Eiffel Tower.

Fletcher immediately canceled an important meeting, booked a ticket and flew straight there—only to come back empty-handed again.

In the third year, someone claimed they’d seen me working as an escort in a private club overseas.

In the fourth and fifth years, every time there was news—any whisper—about my whereabouts, Fletcher would rush to the location and investigate it himself.

This time was no different.

He truly believed the rumor might finally be real.

But instead of finding me, he was met with a stranger.

When he got back, he flew into a rage.

“How could you give me such a false report?!” he roared, hurling a glass to the floor.

His assistant went pale, trembling.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Reynold. I should’ve looked into it more carefully,” he stammered. “She was using the same phone as Miss Ashley and her face looked somewhat similar to hers, so I thought she was—”

“The woman in the wedding photo in your office…” The words slipped out barely above a whisper.

Fletcher’s expression eased slightly. In that moment, he realized it wasn’t entirely the assistant’s fault.

The man had only been hired in recent years. He had never met me before, so mistaking someone else for me was understandable.

Fletcher took a deep breath, slumped into his chair and sank into thought.

“Ashley, what kind of game are you playing? Are you toying with me on purpose—keeping me chasing, just so you can feel satisfied?” He slammed a fist into the wall.

It took a long time before he managed to pull himself together.

“Just wait,” he growled, “I will find you—dead or alive. And when I do, I’ll make sure you see… me leaving you, the same way you left me!”

By the time Fletcher got home, it was already past midnight.

The lights were still on. June sat on the couch, eyes red from crying, waiting for him.

As soon as she heard the door, she threw herself into his arms.

“Fletcher, where have you been?” her voice choked with hurt.

A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes. He took her hand and said, “June, I told you not to wait up for me. You should have gone to bed.”

“You went looking for Ashley again, didn’t you?” she demanded.

“Fletcher, it’s not that I don’t want you to remember her, but have you forgotten? She walked out on you at your lowest point and took every cent you had left to save your life. She doesn’t deserve forgiveness!”

Her eyes were wet with tears threatening to spill.

“Have you forgotten what you said to me five years ago when you woke up? You told me you’d forget that woman—and marry me.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

Fletcher’s brows furrowed slightly.

“I know when I had nothing, you emptied your savings for my treatment… you even gave me your bone marrow. I promise I will marry you. It’s just…” he faltered, voice low, “I still don’t understand why Ashley was so ruthless. Why she just… left without a word.”

Watching the pain and confusion knot his face, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.

But I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell him the truth.

Because I was already dead.

All I could do was cling to my resentment, using the faint thread of awareness I had left to watch it all unfold.

That night, I saw Fletcher take out the necklace he’d had made for me five years ago and fasten it gently around June’s neck.

Then he pulled her close—and kissed her.

“June, I know you’ve loved me with all your heart these past five years. Don’t worry—our wedding will still take place next month, just as planned.”

Reassured, June’s expression softened.

“Then I want you to promise me—don’t go looking for Ashley anymore. Once we’re married, I’ll give you a child and we’ll live a happy life as a family of three…”

With that sweet dream in her mind, June drifted off to sleep in Fletcher’s arms.

But as soon as she fell asleep, Fletcher’s eyes flickered with thought.

He gently moved her off him, got up and went downstairs.

Dialing his assistant’s number, he said, “You said the hotel housekeeper was using Ashley’s phone?”

The next day, Fletcher received the complete information on the hotel housekeeper.