My fiancée is a forensic doctor, and I'm a detective in the major crimes unit. I love her more than life itself, but she only cares about her first love.

To help him wash his hands of a murder, she helps him deal with a corpse. What she doesn't know is that it's my corpse.

When she learns the truth, she breaks down…

My name was Eugene Locke, and I was a detective in the major crimes unit prior to my death. After dying, I became a spirit and followed my fiancée, Ruth Goldman, around.

"Ruthy, I'm in a spot of trouble. Hurry up and come help me!"

When Ruth received a call from Ivan Stuart, she dropped everything and hurried to him. He was her first love, and they were something of childhood sweethearts.

Whenever Ivan asked her for anything, she would agree, no matter what it was.

I'd asked her whether Ivan was all she cared about, but she always said impatiently, "Ivan and I are just friends. Could you stop getting jealous over the smallest things?"

This time, Ivan had murdered someone. He asked Ruth to help him deal with the corpse, and she'd agreed.

What she didn't know was that the corpse was mine.

...

"This is the last time I'm helping you, Ivan!" Ruth wore her gloves and grabbed a tool to smoothen my corpse's fingerprints.

She saw a scar on my corpse's right arm. Afraid my family would recognize me based on that, she used acid to burn it away. Then, she checked my corpse for other recognizable features.

"There's a scar on the left of his abdomen. It looks like it's from a surgery." It was part of Ruth's job as a forensic doctor to state her observations when checking corpses. She did it out of habit.

Ruth and I had dated for a few years but had never slept together. She'd once told me that she was against intimacy before marriage, and I respected that. That was why she had no idea I had scars on my arm and abdomen.

A trace of panic flitted across Ivan's face when he heard her words. He held his breath, not daring to make a sound. He only relaxed after Ruth destroyed the scars with acid.

"He seems to be missing a kidney." Ruth pressed a spot to the left of my abdomen, verifying her guess.

Afraid that she would notice something, Ivan hurriedly changed the subject. "Where should I dispose of the body after you're done with it?"

"Anywhere as long as no one finds it," she said.

He made a sound of acknowledgment. Then, he looked at her and asked, "Are you and your fiancé still having a cold war?"

Ruth snorted. "Why are you suddenly bringing someone like him up?"

Ivan could tell from the look on her face that she and I were still having a cold war. After getting his answer, he didn't say anything else. He'd only wanted to confirm whether Ruth knew I'd gone missing, anyway.

A month ago, Ruth and I had gotten into a huge fight. We'd been in a cold war since. She refused to reply to my messages, no matter what I wrote. She even refused to return to our home.

Ruth got up and removed her gloves after dealing with my corpse. She looked at my head and saw my face had been destroyed beyond recognition. Naturally, she had no idea the corpse was mine.

She asked Ivan, "How much did you hate this guy to make his face end up like that? He's not someone you know, is he?"

These words got Ivan in his weak spot. He smiled diffidently.

"I'm not the only forensic doctor in this city—this is as far as I can help. You should be careful."

"Got it." Ivan nodded. Then, he pulled Ruth into his arms, feeling aroused. "I really missed you, Ruthy. I think about you every day, you know. I'm almost going out of my mind."

Ruth was moved when she heard that. He held her hand and said, "Don't go, Ruthy. Can you stay with me a little longer?"

He leaned in for a kiss. She couldn't resist him and threw her arms around him before my corpse. As they descended into the throes of passion, I charged at them, shouting, "Don't do such disgusting things beside my remains!"

However, my soul went through their bodies. They couldn't hear me, no matter how loud my screams were. I couldn't do anything.

The noises Ruth and Ivan made pierced my ears. I wanted to cover them so I wouldn't have to listen to them, but the noise penetrated my soul. I clamped my ears as hard as possible, but it didn't help.

I couldn't escape, either. It was as if I'd been placed under a spell that bound my soul to Ruth. I couldn't get away from her.

I could only watch as my fiancée, the woman I loved more than life itself, slept with my murderer. I was so disgusted that I wanted to puke.

After retching, I cruelly thought about how Ruth would eventually learn that the corpse was mine. Would she have a mental breakdown when learning she'd slept with her fiancée's murderer and even helped him destroy my corpse?

This thought made a hint of thrill rise in me. It made me feel better, at least.

Ruth and Ivan did the deed beside my remains for over an hour. When she finally went home, she opened the door to find the apartment in pitch-black darkness. She turned the lights on and headed to the kitchen for a glass of apple juice.

When she opened the fridge, she smelled rotting vegetables. She covered her nose and cleaned them out. There was also a bottle of milk inside that was only good for a day. It had been manufactured a week ago.

When Ruth saw that date, she naturally thought of my corpse. It had only taken her a single glance to tell I had died a week ago.

The fact that my corpse had yet to rot was enough to show how much effort Ivan had put into preserving it. She shook her head, not wanting to think about why Ivan had done it.

I watched as she stood before my room. She hesitated for a long time before pushing the door open.

Clean, unfolded clothes were piled on my bed. She folded and put them away, but as she did so, she accidentally made something fall out of my cupboard.

I immediately recognized it as the ring I'd wanted to use when proposing to Ruth. She opened the box and stared at the ring for a few seconds. Then, she snapped it shut, looking irritated as she threw it back into the cupboard. Then, she left the room.

I followed her and heard her mutter angrily, "If you're going to keep this cold war going, you might as well not come home anymore. You can die outside for all I care!"

It was too bad she didn't know I was already dead.

…

The following morning, Ruth was aroused by her phone's ringtone. A street cleaner had found my body and had called the police. They soon arrived at the scene, as did Ruth. She immediately recognized it as the one she'd helped Ivan deal with.

"The body's face has been destroyed, and the fingerprints have been smoothened. We're unable to identify it just yet, Dr. Goldman."

Ruth was relieved when she heard her assistant, Morgan Hall, say that. It was fortunate she hadn't left any traces that could help identify the corpse.

"Bring the body back to the station for now. I'll ask Captain York for more details."

Ruth approached Joseph York, the police captain. He was also my mentor. She wanted to know more about the corpse.

"The corpse has been severely damaged, Captain York. It's going to take a while to identify him through an autopsy. Is there any evidence found at the scene?"

Joseph had no clues. "This isn't the murder scene, and it rained last night. We can't find anything useful—this is a tough case. It doesn't help that Eugene is on a break now!"

Joseph deliberately mentioned me before Ruth. A trace of anger flitted across her face when she heard my name.

"Has he contacted you?" Joseph asked. He knew Ruth was angry with me because of that incident and wanted to help ease the tension.

"I'm returning to the station to get started on the autopsy, Captain York." She turned and left.

Joseph shook his head and sighed. "Oh, youngsters nowadays. I have no idea what goes through their minds!"

After that, he pulled out his phone to call me. "I still can't reach Eugene. Jamie, can you try calling him?"

…

My soul couldn't be far from Ruth, so I followed her back to the station.

"This murderer is really cruel, Dr. Goldman. This victim died at such a young age," Morgan said while looking at my body.

When he saw Ruth was ready to start the autopsy, he stepped aside to make way for her. "We have to seek justice for this victim, Dr. Goldman!"

Ruth was holding a scalpel, ready to start. Her hand trembled at Morgan's words.

I noticed her eyes were slightly red. She was probably sad that she'd helped Ivan escape persecution.

What would she think once she learned the body before her was mine? She would probably be happy, right?

Her mother had died because of me, after all…

...

A month ago, our precinct worked with the state authorities to crack down on illegal activities. I'd worked overtime for a month. I was so busy that I'd even forgotten Ruth's mother, Tracy Moore's birthday.

Tracy understood the responsibilities that came with the nature of my job. She'd felt bad for me for working overtime for a month, so she'd cooked chicken soup and brought it to the station so I could have it.

After she called me, I was about to head outside to bring her in when a couple of the police officers on duty nabbed a runaway criminal. They brought him in, wanting to interrogate him.

I joined them for the interrogation, forgetting about Tracy. Once the interrogation was over, I saw Ruth charge at me, looking furious.

I remembered she didn't need to work overtime because there weren't any urgent cases. What was she doing at the station in the wee hours of the morning?

I could tell something was wrong and was about to ask her what had happened when she slapped me hard. "Do you still remember that you made my mother wait for you?"

Only then did I remember Tracy was waiting outside the station for me.

"I'm so sorry! I honestly forgot about her. I'll apologize to her right now!" I was about to run outside when I saw Ruth remaining where she was.

I wanted to ask her what was wrong when Joseph came in, looking grim. "Come with me, Eugene, Dr. Goldman."

We followed Joseph into his office. Only then did I learn that Tracy was dead.

"Tracy's dead? What happened?"