After arguing with my wife, I left home. While she was passionately kissing her first love in the car, they got into a car accident.

Looking at the disfigured man lying in a pool of blood, Nicole sneered and cursed, "What a bad luck!"

When her first love needed a blood transfusion due to internal injuries from the accident, she anxiously called me on the phone.

"Matthew, you really are such a hypocrite. One moment you're comforting me and the next, you're not even picking up the phone!" she said angrily.

What she didn't know was that the man they hit was me!

I had thought that my death would set her free, but I never imagined she would collapse in tears over my cold, lifeless body.

——

Nicole, covered in sweat, anxiously paced the hallway with her phone in hand, her eyes filled with urgency.

After several missed calls, she could no longer hold back and opened WhatsApp to send a voice message: "Matthew, are you dead? You won't even answer the phone!" she shouted.

Hearing her harsh words, a sudden pain struck my heart. So, it was me she had been calling all this time.

But didn't she know? I was already dead.

I stepped forward, trying to grab her arm, wanting to ask if she would be sad if I died. But my hand passed right through her arm, unable to hold her back.

I watched helplessly as she, filled with worry, walked into the hospital room. Following her inside, I saw Theo Manson lying on the bed and my hatred grew even deeper. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have reached this point.

"He still hasn't answered the phone? Looks like I'm going to die," Theo said weakly, placing his hand on his stomach, his voice filled with exhausted despair.

"No, the doctor has gone to get more blood. Rhesus-negative blood isn't as scarce as before. You'll make it through," Nicole reassured him, her tears falling onto the edge of the bed as she kept comforting Theo, saying I would show up.

A cold smile crept onto my lips. If it weren't for your thrill-seeking, things wouldn't have come to this. Just then, Nicole's phone rang.

She excitedly wiped away her tears, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes and she said, "It's the home phone. Matthew's phone must have run out of battery and he's calling from the house phone. I'll tell him to come over right now."

She walked into the hallway with her phone, but as soon as she answered, the sound of our daughter crying came through the line.

Suddenly, I remembered that when I left, our daughter had been sleeping. Thinking I wouldn't be gone long, I hadn't called the nanny.

But now, it had been over three hours since I left. She must have woken up and, not seeing me, started crying out of fear. I wanted to rush forward, grab the phone and comfort her, telling her I'd be back soon.

Before I could act, I heard Nicole's cold voice while she said, "Lindsay, give the phone to your dad. Don't think that crying will make me come back."

"Mommy, I'm all alone at home. I'm scared," Lindsay cried.

But her mom said, "You're lying just like your dad. You're a bad girl. Don't call me mommy anymore."

Hearing Nicole's words, our daughter's already stifled cries intensified and the sound of her sobbing made me desperately wish I could return to her side right then.

But I couldn't. The moment the accident happened, my soul had been tied to Nicole, unable to leave her.

"Nicole, call the nanny. It's too dangerous to leave Lindsay alone!" I desperately yelled at her. Of course, she didn't hear me. She simply put the phone in her pocket and walked straight over to the doctor.

When the doctor announced that the blood had arrived and the surgery could proceed, the gloomy look she had worn for so long finally gave way to a faint smile.

I stood behind her, watching as Theo was wheeled into the operating room. Surely now, she had time to call the nanny.

But instead of calling, she kept sending me voice messages: "Matthew, how could you manipulate Lindsay into lying? You're despicable. If you're not coming to the hospital, there's no need for us to stay together. Let's get a divorce."

The moment I heard her say 'divorce' again, all hope drained from me. Nicole and I had met in college. From the moment I first saw her, I liked her.

I knew she had a boyfriend at the time, so I could only silently stay by her side. Just when I thought I would never have a chance with her, she broke up with Theo.

She started drowning her sorrows in alcohol, drinking every day at the bar. I stayed by her side, hoping to win her heart. By the time we graduated, she had gotten drunk and was blocking the doorway to our dorm room.

Her cheeks were flushed and there was a hint of intoxication in her eyes. She looked at me and laughed softly, "Matthew, why didn't you tell me you liked me? I waited for two years and had to make the first move myself."

Hearing her confess to me, I felt as though I'd been struck by lightning. My mind was filled with the fact that she liked me.

When I didn't respond, the alcohol took over and she tiptoed up to kiss me on the lips.

My long-lost awareness finally returned and that night, we let the alcohol fuel our passion, solidifying our relationship.

For the next three years, we became the couple everyone in the company admired. Even my close friends teased us about it.

After we got married, we soon had the fruit of our love and I thought we would continue to live happily, just like before.

But one phone call shattered our peaceful life, Theo, who had disappeared for a long time, got in touch with Nicole. From that day on, her heart was no longer at home.

She often left our daughter behind and went out by herself. When I confronted Nicole about it, she justified it by saying she was meant to be an eagle soaring in the sky, but I had trapped her in a cage.

She seemed to have forgotten that it was her who, overwhelmed by the workplace politics, cried to me. Back then, I told her she could stay home and I would take care of her. I never imagined that years later, she would use that against me.

After realizing how she felt, I hired an additional nanny to take care of Lindsay and even invested more money to support her.

But I never expected that yesterday, after signing a contract and dropping a client off at a hotel, I would run into her and Theo, looking sweet as ever, walking out together.

At that moment, I felt as though a wave of anger and jealousy had grown over my head, but with the client nearby, I swallowed my frustration.

That evening, I came home early, ate dinner and bathed our daughter before sitting on the sofa, waiting for Nicole to return. It wasn't until midnight that the door finally opened. When I saw her stumble in, clearly drunk, it felt like thousands of needles were stabbing my heart.

I kept telling myself that maybe she had been dropping off a client and had accidentally run into Theo. But then I saw the marks on her neck and all of my rationalizations crumbled.

They weren't from me, after all, in the past six months, Nicole had rarely let me touch her.

"Nicole, you're my wife and Lindsay's mother. I hope you can control those feelings you shouldn't have," I said coldly.

I wanted to argue, but when I thought of Lindsay, I held back. What I didn't expect was for my words to enrage her. She threw her purse at my face and retorted, "Matthew, you disgust me. If you can't accept this, let's just get a divorce."

After saying that, she turned and left. Looking at her back as she slammed the door, I felt the sound of my heart breaking. Tears welled up in my eyes and finally fell as I walked toward Lindsay's room.

But when I heard her calling out for her mother in her sleep, I completely broke down. My daughter was only four years old, what she needed most was her mother's presence. How could I let her suffer like this?

After hesitating for a long time, I gently kissed Lindsay on the cheek and headed out. I never imagined that this kiss would be the last, separating us into two worlds, one of the living and one of the dead.

I turned on the tracker and saw that Nicole's car was heading toward Mount Lassen. I planned to meet her and come to an agreement. I didn't care what she did outside, but I wanted her to stay married to me until our daughter turned eighteen.

But the moment I saw the two of them kissing, all of my reason vanished. I wanted to stop them, to make them pay.

I never expected that just as I stopped my motorcycle, they would crash straight into me, knocking me off the road. Due to the impact, my motorcycle veered toward the cliff, while I was flung aside.

The sharp pain knocked me unconscious and when I regained awareness, I found myself floating beside Nicole. I wanted to beg her to take me to the hospital, I didn't want my daughter to grow up in a single-parent household.

But all she cared about was Theo, whose internal organs had been injured by the airbag. Seeing the blood dripping from his lips, she angrily got out of the car and walked toward me.

She kicked my dead body several times, her voice full of hatred, "I was already in a bad mood and you had to show up. It's better that you're dead."

Looking at the venom in her expression, I suddenly felt like I didn't know her anymore. She seemed like a stranger.

Just then, the words "the surgery was a success" snapped me out of my thoughts.

Nicole quickly rushed to Theo's side, took his hand and placed it on her face, her expression full of guilt and she said, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."

Nicole's tears fell again as she spoke and suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind. What if Nicole knew I had died? Would she be even more heartbroken than she was now?

I quickly pushed that thought aside. It was impossible. If she cared about me, she wouldn't have asked for a divorce.

As I forced a bitter smile, my daughter called again. This time, Nicole didn't answer, she hung up instead. My heart tightened. After all this time, didn't Nicole have any suspicion?

Was she not worried about what might happen if our daughter was truly alone at home? Whether it was my nerves or perhaps some divine pity for my daughter, I felt the chains that had bound me loosen a little.

When I got home and saw my daughter's pitiful state, my heart ached. Her face was streaked with tears and sweat and she clutched my clothes tightly, calling out for me. The hatred I felt toward Nicole grew even deeper and I cursed myself bitterly.

To avoid letting the nanny see us and our fights, I had sent her home after my daughter went to sleep. But now, after the accident, a wave of bitterness overwhelmed me.

If Nicole truly loved our daughter, would she have abandoned Theo and come home, just because Lindsay called her 'Mommy'? But there was no 'if.' Nicole didn't believe a word our daughter said.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. Daddy's here to hold you," I said.

Though I knew I couldn't physically hold her, I couldn't bear to see her cry to the point of breathlessness.

As I struggled with how to comfort her, I was stunned to see her arms outstretched toward me and she said, "Daddy, Mommy said I'm a bad girl. I'm so sad. Daddy, where did you go? I'm scared. Do you not love me anymore? I'll stop crying. Please don't leave me."

Seeing that I hadn't picked her up, Lindsay thought I didn't want her anymore and her sobbing grew even more heart-wrenching.

Her cries pierced through me like needles. I had completely forgotten that she could see me. All I wanted was to hold her in my arms, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't manage it.

"Daddy, why can't you hold me?" Her tears suddenly stopped and her eyes filled with curiosity. Seeing that she had stopped crying, I felt a little more at ease.

To avoid scaring her, I forced a smile and said, "Because Daddy's playing a game with you. This is our little secret and we can't tell anyone else, okay?"

She reached out her chubby little hand, but it passed right through my face. Seeing that she couldn't touch me, her lips immediately quivered and it looked like she was about to cry.

I instantly panicked, worried that this would scare her. But to my surprise, the next moment, her bell-like laughter filled the room, "Yay! My daddy can do magic! I'll be good and won't tell anyone."

Children's moods change quickly and soon enough, she drifted back to sleep. I sat beside her, wondering how Lindsay could see me.

It wasn't until the nanny entered the room that I realized the truth. Children under the age of twelve can see things that adults can't. The thought made me chuckle. At least this way, my daughter wouldn't feel too lonely.

When the nanny saw Lindsay lying in bed alone, with no signs of any adults around, her voice was full of concern, "How could Mr. Johnson be so careless, leaving the child home alone?"

She took out her phone and tried calling me, but after hearing my phone was off, she dialed Nicole instead. In that instant, I was back at Nicole's side.

She lay exhausted on the hospital bed, dark circles under her eyes. The phone ringing interrupted her sleep and when she saw the call was from home, her expression turned irritated, "Go ask Matthew. Doesn't anyone understand the rules around here? If they can't handle it, they should leave."

"Madam, Mr. Johnson isn't answering his phone. The child has been home alone all night," said the nanny.

At that moment, Nicole's face lost all its composure. She immediately stood up and rushed out of the room.

Hearing her ask about Lindsay's condition, the worry in my heart eased a little. At least she still cared about our daughter.

"Is Matthew mad and left on his own? Are you sure you want to do this?" Theo grabbed Nicole's hand, his eyes filled with concern.

Seeing his fake expression made me laugh mockingly. If it weren't for him, how would we have ended up here?

Nicole reassured him, noticing the gloom on his face. She knew Theo was thinking about what had happened last night.