I didn’t wait for Grace. Instead, I ran into a serial killer.

He wasn’t after money or desire; he only wanted my life.

I begged desperately, struggling and crying, asking him why.

He sneered, then smashed my head hard against the ground.

“Why?”

“Because you deserve it. You deserve to die!”

“You ruined someone’s family, and now you’ll pay!”

From his broken words, I slowly pieced together what had happened.

Zachary had spread rumors online, claiming I abused my power and bullied others.

He broke his leg on the way home from work.

He said I pushed him down the stairs on purpose because I was in a bad mood.

He cheated, and when his wife confronted him,

he claimed that I was jealous of his looks and hired people to humiliate him.

On top of that, he even wrote—

“The lady of that house glanced at me, and he thought I was trying to seduce her.”

“He not only threatened to kill me, but said he’d destroy my whole family.”

“I was terrified and didn’t know what to do.”

“Do the poor really deserve to be trampled like this?”

His story was full of flaws. Few people should have believed it.

But Grace stood up for him.

She said I had been spoiled and willful since childhood, growing worse with age.

Relying on the Whitman family’s power and her favor, I had done many evil things.

She even provided piles of so-called evidence.

I knew she was angry over our breakup.

I knew she never truly wanted me dead.

But it was this so-called evidence that cost me my life.

The murderer, who saw himself as justice incarnate, chose to avenge Zachary.

He grabbed my throat and snarled,

“I never kill the innocent. But you—your crimes are unforgivable!”

“Tonight, I’ll let you taste what it’s like to be humiliated and crushed!”

He didn’t kill me right away.

Instead, he tortured me slowly.

He smashed both my legs with a hammer.

He said he wanted me to feel the deepest pain before death.

So I could keep repenting in hell.

Blood streamed across the ground and into the silent night.

In the deserted villa, no one could hear my screams.

In fact, I once had a chance to live.

Because that day was my twentieth birthday.

Grace had promised me,

“I know your birthday is the day you miss home the most.”

“So I’ll spend every birthday with you.”

“Samuel, I’ll never leave you alone.”

When the clock struck twelve,

Grace knocked on my door, carrying a cake.

Inside it was a carefully prepared gift.

Hidden inside was the ring she planned to use to propose to me.

She wanted to apologize and make up with me.

But by then, nearly every bone in my body was broken.

I couldn’t open the door for her.

I couldn’t accept her love anymore.

The murderer saw Grace through the peephole and smiled cruelly.

“You rich people—every one of you is rotten.”

“If she hadn’t indulged him, he wouldn’t be so arrogant.”

“If she dares step through this door, I’ll kill her too and bury you together!”

He stood by the door, axe in hand, ready to strike at any moment.

If only I had asked her for help, then…

I believed she would have rushed in without hesitation to save me.

But I didn’t dare take that risk.

She was still young.

She still had a bright future ahead.

She had already given me the happiest twenty years of my life.

She had already sacrificed everything for me.

I couldn’t be so selfish as to let her die for my sake.

So, at the edge of life and death,

I chose Grace.

With my last bit of strength, I shouted at her,

“Grace, don’t come looking for me.”

“I’ve… fallen in love with someone else.”

There was a three-second silence outside the door, followed by even fiercer pounding.

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you!”

“You’re still angry about that, aren’t you?”

“Samuel, open the door! Let me explain!”

“I was just angry that day. I never wanted to break up with you!”

“I’m sorry. Open the door! Open it and let me in, please!”

The security camera showed Grace’s face.

Her nose was red from the cold, and the tears on her lashes had frozen.

Yet she stood stubbornly before my door.

It was minus twenty degrees Celsius, the wind cutting like knives.

A winter night in Harrington.

Cold enough to freeze a person to death.

Cold enough to freeze even the warmest heart.

Still, she stood there.

Not taking a single step back.

Until dawn came and snow turned her hair white.

Until Zachary arrived and pulled her into his arms.

He kissed her tear-stained face, warming her frozen heart.

Holding her hands, he kept repeating,

“It’s okay, Grace. It’s okay. You still have me.”

“Actually, I knew about Samuel’s affair long ago. I was afraid of hurting you, so I never said anything.”

“Let’s go home. Let’s go home, okay?”

“I’ll stay with you, help you get through this, help you forget Samuel.”

In Zachary’s embrace, Grace slowly lifted her head.

She looked in my direction one last time.

Then she smashed the cake in her hands against my door.

She swore she would never see me again.

She cursed me, wishing I would live forever in regret and pain.

I said nothing more, only stared at the screen as she faded into the distance.

She and Zachary leaned on each other, walking toward the rising sun.

While I was left behind in that cold, endless night.

Not long after, Grace and Zachary got married.

They fell in love naturally and stayed together for life.

They became a model couple in their circle.

I was dismembered by a murderer, my body dumped in the wild.

I became a lonely ghost in the back mountains.

The memory ended, and I was about to sigh.

Suddenly, a hurried shout came from behind me.

“Captain Whitman, the body has been found!”

“All the features match the post. It’s been sent to forensics. Should we arrest the poster now?”