They gave Chloe all their tenderness and love.

And neither my biological parents nor Daniel Reed knew that I was already dead.

Thinking of this, I clenched my fists tightly, the pain and suffocation in my chest threatening to tear me apart.

Half a year ago, when I thought I was being welcomed back by my real parents, I believed what awaited me would be love and atonement.

But instead, I became Chloe Miller’s living substitute—bearing her burdens, suffering in her place, and in the end, not even leaving behind ashes of my own, as she personally scattered them to the wind.

Even then, she refused to let me go.

Wearing the wedding dress that should have been mine, she married my fiancé.

She even went out of her way to gloat in front of my photograph.

“Emily Carter, what makes you think you could ever beat me?”

“Mom and Dad are mine, Daniel is mine. Even in death, you’ll only ever be Ryan Brooks’s woman. You’ll sleep underground forever.”

Throughout the ceremony, Daniel’s eyes scanned the guests, but he never found me. His brows furrowed in frustration.

Hidden in a quiet corner, he called me again and again.

“Emily, answer the phone.”

No one picked up. He quickly typed out a text instead:

“Tell me, where are you?”

“Don’t tell me you’re still at Ryan’s place. I’ve sent people to check several times—he swears he sent you back already.”

“But you never returned to the Miller family. Where did you go? Today’s my wedding day—why aren’t you here? Are you… still mad at me?”

But there was never a reply.

Daniel frowned, distracted, but still forced himself to smile while drinking with Chloe and their guests.

When the wedding ended, everyone offered them their blessings.

Yet that night, Chloe sat alone in the bridal suite, staring at her stomach, tears silently rolling down her face.

“Daniel, I don’t want to have a baby. I’m scared that after giving birth, my body will never be the same.”

“And I heard childbirth can cause cancer, or amniotic embolism. I’m terrified…”

Daniel pulled her into his arms with pity.

“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart.”

His voice was full of indulgence. “Now that Emily has fulfilled the marriage alliance, Ryan must be bored of her. It’s time to bring her back and let her carry the child for us through IVF.”

When he said this, there wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

But my heart turned utterly cold.

I raised my hand to touch my chest, only for it to pass straight through—I was already dead, and long without a heart.

Daniel did begin searching for me.

He spent a fortune hiring private investigators, sent out bodyguards, combed through surveillance footage…

But all of it was in vain.

“How strange. Emily’s a living person—how could she just vanish into thin air?”

Chloe, casually doing her nails, spoke lazily:

“Daniel, maybe she secretly ran back to the countryside. She always complained that the Miller family was cold and heartless, that it wasn’t her home.”

Her words struck him.

The next afternoon, he led a group of men back to the countryside cottage where I used to live.

His steps creaked against the cobblestone path leading to the little house.

“Emily!”

Daniel frowned, calling my name. But the next moment, his eyes fell on the overgrown weeds around the cottage, his gaze flickering with something complicated.

The bodyguards exchanged uneasy looks.

“Mr. Reed, it doesn’t look like anyone’s lived here in a long time.”

“Would Miss Emily really be here?”

Daniel Reed frowned, silent.

Even he wasn’t sure if such a desolate, broken place could still house anyone.

But he had already searched everywhere else.

If she wasn’t here, then he truly didn’t know where Emily could be.

“Emily Carter, I don’t care if you’re still sulking or not—come out now, or I’ll really get angry.”

Daniel’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried a commanding force that made me shiver involuntarily.

When we were together, I had always feared his anger.

Every time he used such words to threaten me, I would instantly become obedient and compliant.

I never thought that even in death, those same words could still affect me.

But I could no longer appear before him in the form of the living.

And still, I despised myself. After all the harm he had done me, why did I still remember him?

From the very beginning, Daniel had approached me with a plan.

He deliberately drew near, stirred my heart, confessed to me—

all just to bring me back to the Miller family.

“My name’s Emily Carter. When my mom was pregnant, she loved peaches, so she named me Emmy.”

That was how I had introduced myself the first time we met, carefree and defenseless.

A few months later, he told me I was the long-lost daughter of the Miller family.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. From the very start, I never wanted to be their true daughter.

I was happy just being Emily—living in my little countryside cottage, planting flowers, fruits, and vegetables.

But Daniel looked at me with feigned difficulty and said:

“I’ve always wanted to marry you, Emmy, but my parents don’t accept who you are.”

“Only if you become the Miller family’s eldest daughter will they welcome you.”

For the sake of marrying him, I swallowed my pride.

I never imagined I was walking straight into his trap.

Until one night, when I got up by chance and overheard him talking with Chloe Miller in the next room.

Her eyes red, Chloe clung to his waist.

“Daniel, you used yourself as bait to lure her… don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her?”

Daniel hugged her back, a doting smile on his lips.

“She’s just some country girl. How could I possibly like her?”

“She’s not even worth a finger of yours. If not for needing a stand-in for this marriage alliance, I wouldn’t have spared her a glance.”

“Just endure a few more days. Once Emily marries Ryan Brooks in your place, we’ll get married.”

So when Daniel came looking for me now, it wasn’t because he regretted or wanted to apologize.

He only wanted to drag me back to continue serving as Chloe’s substitute—to bear children for her.

They searched every corner of the cottage. Inside, it was empty, even the paint peeling off the walls.

Clearly, no one had lived here for a long time.

After waiting so long without finding me, Daniel’s patience began to run thin.

“Get out here, now!”

“Even if you were healing from injuries, it’s been long enough. How much longer do you plan to hide?”

He had long heard of Ryan Brooks’s violent temper—how his three previous wives had all divorced under his abuse.

Daniel assumed I had returned here just to recover from the beatings.

I drifted bitterly behind him.

My ashes had already been mixed with dirt and buried beneath the cobblestone path.

Every step they took trampled on my remains.

But Daniel remained oblivious.

He kept his head down, still sending me messages.

“Emily, I’ll give you five minutes. Come out immediately.”

“If you don’t reply soon, I’ll have your little cottage blown up so your foster parents won’t even have ashes left.”

I floated nearby, looking at the empty chat screen with a bitter smile.

Oh, Daniel Reed…

I’m already dead. If anyone really replied to your messages, now that would be a ghost.

But to my shock, the next second, a reply popped up.

“Stop looking for me. I will never go back with you.”

The veins on Daniel’s forehead pulsed violently.

He instinctively clenched his phone, though even he couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or fury.

Even I was stunned.

Who was pretending to be me, answering Daniel’s messages?

Just as Daniel was about to call, an old woman stepped out from the neighboring yard.

“Who are you looking for?”

She was hard of hearing, so her voice was loud. But the moment she heard the bodyguards mention “Emily Carter,” she trembled all over, slammed the door shut, and didn’t look back.

Seeing this, Daniel quickly chased after her.

“Ma’am, do you know something? Where is Emily?”

From inside came the old woman’s trembling voice:

“Don’t ask me. Emmy is dead, she’s been dead a long time…”

Daniel’s body stiffened instantly.

“Old lady, what nonsense are you spouting?”

But there was no more sound from within.

The truth was, Mrs. Thompson—the neighbor—knew very well that I was dead.

When Chloe Miller’s men had dragged my half-dead body to the town entrance and set me ablaze, it was Mrs. Thompson who had been forced to hand them the torch.

Now, her words made Daniel uneasy and confused.

Behind him, a bodyguard sneered:

“Mr. Reed, she’s probably just a crazy old woman. You can’t trust what she says.”

“And didn’t Emily just text you? How could a dead person send messages?”

Daniel nodded, his expression easing.

“You’re right.”

He turned and left with his men, while behind the door Mrs. Thompson shook violently, tears streaming down her face as she muttered over and over:

“I’m sorry, Emmy. I’m so sorry. They threatened my grandson. They said if I didn’t burn you, they’d break his legs…”

“It’s Grandma’s fault. Forgive me…”

I drifted not far away, shaking my head, wanting to reach out and comfort her.

Grandma, it’s not your fault.

The true culprits were the ones who wanted me dead.

Thinking of Chloe, I clenched my fists and returned, intending to frighten her.

And there she was, clutching the very phone that had once been mine—

pretending to be me as she typed messages to Daniel.

Memories I had almost buried came surging back.

Two months ago, Ryan Brooks had beaten me within an inch of my life, then tossed me to a group of vagrants to be violated.

Afterward, he had me dumped back at the Miller family’s door.

But Chloe intercepted me.

She publicly claimed I had gone missing, while secretly bribing professional killers to drag me to that countryside cottage.

“Emily, why should you be the true daughter? You never should have appeared in front of our parents. You never should have lived in this world.”

“Now I’ll send you where you belong.”

Towering above me in high heels, she looked down with contempt.

She reveled in watching me kneel and beg for my life.

In return, she only inflicted harsher torment and revenge.

She forced someone close to me to burn me alive, then scattered my ashes.

After covering her tracks, she confiscated my phone.

And for these past two months, she had been secretly holding it, reading Daniel’s endless texts to me.