I stood, staring blankly from the stairs and utterly devastated.

I watched as the piano John had given me was carried out, still remembering how his smile had glowed so tenderly under the sun.

He was eleven, and played a duet with me.

The dim floor lamp standing at the corner was dragged out too.

I weaved the lampshade as a gift to John, and I remember cutting my finger and bleeding profusely.

When John found out, he flashed a pained smile as he patted my head, "You're so silly. I forbid you from getting hurt because of me from now on."

That was when Alfie came over, keeping his head lowered as his expression was slightly hesitant. "Are we really going to burn all of it, Mr. Garnett? All these items embody your memories with Ms. Smith since childhood."

John's breath clearly left his lungs.

However, he promptly turned away, not looking at the stacks of my possessions sitting in the backyard as he snorted coolly, "Don't give me that crap. Or are you taking her side? If she could leave so quickly, why should I be considerate toward her?!"

"Burn them all!"

-

After the inferno died came a raging downpour.

With the nourishment from the ashes of my possessions and my corpse, the black roses bloomed devilishly, albeit with a faint stench.

I only felt exasperated—after a month since my death, love and hate no longer concerned me.

However, I was tied to this world by a grudge, preventing me from reincarnating.

But John didn't care if I lived…

In fact, he was sitting in his study, taking a deep puff on his cigarette.

His Adam's apple rolled slightly as smoke swirled out of his mouth.

Soon, he growled, "Alfie, did you record a video of Claire's possessions when you burned them? Upload it to our group chats. Don't compress the video quality—let her see it in 4k."

Alfie scowled, hesitating as he spoke, "Mr. Garnett, Ms. Smith might really be in trouble. We had specialists access her phone, but it's been turned off for so long, and the last known position was this villa…"

John's eyes narrowed, but soon chuckled as he snuffed out his cigarette on an ashtray. "So she's right here? That means she was hiding here all this while… Trying to keep an eye on me and Lara?

"Seems to me that she's not just jealous—she really lost her mind, hiding just to do something so unseemly!"

Alfie hesitated again before speaking, "Mr. Garnett, I don't think it's that simple. Ever since we started monitoring Ms. Smith's accounts, there haven't been any transactions at all…"

John tapped his fingers on the desk, irritable and growled coldly, "She's the one who planted the black roses, didn't she? Always playing such nonsensical tricks just to get me to go looking for her… Just to make me cave to her whims!

"Go! Bring some men with you and search every inch of this villa. If she's really in this villa, make her kneel before Lara and apologize!

"Also, dig those black roses out, root and all. The very sight of them irritates me!"

-

Thirty minutes later, Alfie rushed into the study, clearly panicking. "Mr. Garnett! We've searched the whole villa, but there's no sign of Ms. Smith! But… But…"

John clicked his tongue, pursing his lips as he narrowed his eyes sharply. "But, what? Speak properly!"

Alfie took a deep breath, and did his best to finish his sentence. "We found Ms. Smith's clothes and phone in the soil beneath the black roses… along with a human skeleton!"

The entire room was suddenly deathly silent, until John sprang to his feet in shock, "What?!"