After three years of pretending to be dead on livestreams, I finally earned enough money to treat my daughter.

I was about to go home and tell my wife and daughter when I overheard a call between the platform administrator and my wife.

The administrator said humbly, “Chairman Morgan, Mr. Wells’s livestreams have generated tens of millions in revenue over these years.

“The company withheld ninety-five percent of it. Should we keep withholding more?”

Stacy fell silent for a moment before answering, “No need. Three years of testing him is enough. He barely moves year-round. He even developed muscle atrophy and didn’t tell me.”

John’s voice came through the phone next. He said, “Stacy, Sam can even pretend to be dead, so what if this is an act too?

“Besides, Emma’s already used to Sam being gone, so she probably won’t accept having a dad again anytime soon.”

After some hesitation, my wife said indifferently, “If that’s the case, then withhold it for another six months.”

I smiled and tossed the diagnosis report confirming amyotrophic lateral sclerosis into the trash.

There was no need for them to test me anymore.

I no longer needed to pretend.

I had just stepped out of the company when the administrator called.

“Sam, what are you doing?

“The numbers these past few days are terrible, and the viewers keep asking what happened to you. You must come back and start streaming again!”

I felt the numbness spreading through my right leg, and I said calmly, “Mr. Green, I want to resign.”

Mr. Green froze.

I could picture his stunned expression.

For the sake of money, I had been the most hardworking employee in the entire company.

I streamed for more than twelve hours a day. I played a corpse on camera, and while I was streaming, I could not move at all.

I ate and slept in that cramped streaming room for three years without change.

However, though I still greatly needed money, I was claiming that I wanted to resign.

“You said what? Resign?” His voice shot up.

“Sam, your daughter’s medical fees need to be paid, no?”

I did not want to argue with him, so I ended the call.

My daughter’s medical condition… Yes, I had pushed myself for three whole years so that I could treat her.

Yet, all of it felt like a joke.

I leaned against the wall, and my legs felt weak from the numbness.

I called Stacy. I wanted to tell her that I had resigned and that I no longer wanted to live like the walking dead.

I wanted to ask her if she could come and take me home.

Instead, the mechanical voice answered from the phone, “The number you have dialed is busy…”

I called her again and again, and every attempt ended with a busy tone.

After more than a dozen attempts, she had not answered once.

I let out a bitter laugh and put my phone away. It was pointless to keep humiliating myself.

Today was my daughter’s birthday, and I had chosen her favorite strawberry cake from the bakery.

I hailed a cab and gave the driver my home address.

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror and hesitated to speak.

Perhaps my face looked too haggard, or perhaps the stale smell that clung to me after years of acting as a corpse in a sealed room made him uncomfortable.

The car moved smoothly, and the scenery outside slipped past the window.

I looked at my reflection in the window and found it frighteningly unfamiliar. Even I felt unsettled by it, like the reflection itself would bring me bad luck.

I had believed that if I earned enough money, I could restore my daughter’s health. Then, the three of us would live as a happy family.

I had forgotten that the human heart could change.

Perhaps some people never even had a heart to begin with.

The cab stopped at the familiar neighborhood gate.

I paid and dragged my uncooperative legs toward the apartment.

When I stood before the familiar door, I found a new door sign on it, and the lock had been changed.

I knocked tentatively, and a young couple I had never seen opened the door.

The woman eyed me warily. “Who are you looking for?”

My stomach dropped, and my throat went dry. “Is this not Stacy’s home?”

“Oh, the ones who lived here before? They sold the place to us six months ago.”

The man studied me curiously. There was a child in his arms.

Sold?

I swayed and stumbled back a step.

She had moved. Why didn’t she inform me of such a major development in her life?

I forced myself to remain steady. I apologized to the couple before walking away in a daze.

Where could I go?

With no other choice, I turned to Stacy’s friend for help.

After I got Stacy’s new address from her friend, I headed there.

I took a cab to the villa in Galaxy Bay, and the lights shone across the neatly trimmed lawn.

Something pulled me toward the tall window, and I looked inside.

In the warm light, Stacy watched Emma with quiet tenderness.

My best friend, John, gently placed a birthday hat on Emma’s head.

A three-tier birthday cake sat on the table.

The three of them laughed with such ease, and they looked like a happy family.

John stood in my place while wearing a designer suit I had never seen before.

The watch he was wearing cost what I earned in an entire year of playing a corpse on camera. He looked as if he were Emma’s father.

I stood outside like a gutter rat, and I could only gaze at the happiness that should have belonged to me.

Inside, John said something to Stacy with a smile, and her expression darkened at once.

“It’s Emma’s birthday. Don’t bring up that man.”

My six-year-old daughter looked up, and her young voice carried a cold edge.

“Uncle John, don’t talk about him. It’s my birthday, and talking about a corpse brings bad luck.”

Her disgust cut straight through me, and tears slipped down my face in huge torrents.

Three years earlier, Emma had been diagnosed with a rare blood ailment, and the doctor said the treatment would cost several million dollars in total.

An ordinary family could not afford that.

Stacy had held me and said she felt useless because she could not gather that much money.

I told her I would take care of everything.

So I accepted livestream work where I pretended to be a corpse.

All I had to do was lie motionless in different coffins, and curious viewers would send tips.

At first, the income was decent. Then, the money dwindled.

I thought it was because the platform had more competition, and I raised my stream duration from eight hours to twelve and then to sixteen.

I believed that if I worked harder, I could collect enough money.

I did not know that all of it had been a carefully crafted trap.

My sacrifices and my failing body were the only things that were real.

My thoughts settled, and the villa door opened.

Stacy came out with a bag of trash, and she was humming like she was in a really good mood.

She raised her head and saw me standing in the shadows.

Her smile froze, as if I were someone who should not have appeared.

She rushed over and pulled me into a corner of the yard. She started questioning me at once.

“What’re you doing here?!”

I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood and forced the welling tears back.

I raised my head and tried to act as if nothing had happened.

“I went home and saw that the place had been sold. Your friend told me you’d moved here.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you moved?”

Stacy’s expression was painfully awkward, and her eyes darted away from mine.

“Well, the old place had bad luck, so I sold it. You were staying at the company, and I didn’t get to tell you.”

She stumbled over her explanation, and she pretended to show concern.

“You should’ve called me to let me know that you were coming home. I could’ve picked you up.”

I met her gaze calmly and said, “I called you more than ten times, but you didn’t answer.”

Stacy could not keep her expression composed. She was speechless for a long moment.

John emerged with Emma. When he got to us, he wrapped an arm around Stacy’s shoulders.

He spotted me and showed the perfect amount of surprise.

“Hey Sam, what’re you doing here?”

When Emma saw me after such a long period of separation, her first reaction was not joy. Instead, she looked afraid like Stacy did.

Emma hid behind John and pointed at me while shouting, “Mom! Uncle John! Didn’t you say Dad was already dead? Why’s he here? Today’s my birthday, so did he come on purpose to ruin it?!”

She pouted and stared at me with resentment filling her eyes.

“You’re a bad dad! You’re not welcome here, so leave!”

My heart felt as if it were being battered. The pain made me think it would suddenly stop beating.

Had they spent the last few years telling my daughter that I was dead?

I forced back my tears and smiled stiffly.

I handed the strawberry cake I was holding to Stacy.

“I know it’s Emma’s birthday, and I just wanted to see her once more. I’ve seen her now, so I won’t stay any longer.”

After speaking, I straightened my back, which was close to hunching, and left without looking back.

I dragged my heavy body and went to the hospital again.

The attending doctor frowned deeply while looking at my latest test results.

“Mr. Wells, your condition isn’t very promising, and we can only try to slow the progression of your illness.”

I listened calmly, but inside, I was mostly numb.

Perhaps after pretending to be dead for three years, I had grown numb to death itself.

“I understand, doctor.”

When the company settled its final payment with me, I did not transfer every cent to Stacy like I used to.

Since she had deceived me, I wanted to keep this money for myself.

I would use it to buy myself a little more time to struggle on.

I was discussing a specific treatment plan with the doctor when someone suddenly kicked the ward door open.

Stacy stormed in angrily, and without a word, she grabbed me and dragged me into the hallway.

Her grip was shockingly strong, and my wrist throbbed with pain.

“Sam, how dare you show up at the hospital?!” she shouted while pointing at my face.

“If you hadn’t suddenly gone home, would Emma have been frightened into a flare-up?!”

“She’s running a high fever, and it won’t come down! The doctor said it’s very dangerous! Are you happy now?!”

My first thought was that my daughter was sick, and my heart clenched as I instinctively wanted to see her.

However, when I remembered the disgust and hatred in her eyes earlier and remembered her calling me a bad dad, I forced down my anxiety and concern.

I slowly raised my head and looked at Stacy coldly.

“Then let’s get a divorce. Since none of you want to see me again, wouldn’t you get exactly what you want if I disappeared?”

She froze for a moment as if she had not expected me to say that, and then a mocking smile spread across her face.

“Divorce? Sam, what trick are you playing this time? You’re tired of me, so you want to use divorce to threaten me and squeeze more money out of me?”

She paused as something seemed to occur to her.

She continued, “Why did you quit your job? What about Emma’s future treatment costs? Are you abandoning her?”

She actually had the nerve to bring this up.

I only felt that those words were incredibly ironic. The anguish I had buried for three years erupted completely in that moment.

“Stacy, stop pretending. I know you’re the chairwoman of the Morgan Group, Chairwoman Morgan. I know how you tested me for three years. You pretended to be poor with an ordinary person like me. That must’ve been exhausting, right?”

She was rendered speechless at my words. She instantly flew into a rage.

“You…” She pointed at me and could not speak for a long time.

“Since you already know who I am, do you still want a divorce?”

She steadied herself, and her gaze turned dark.

I nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, I want a divorce.”

She laughed suddenly, and the sound was full of disdain.

“Enough, Sam. Drop that whole push-and-pull act of yours.

“You pretended you didn’t care about my money, so I’d feel guilty and give you more, right?

“Your plan failed! Listen up. I’m divorcing you immediately, and you’re leaving with nothing!”

Hearing how badly she misunderstood me, I no longer had the strength to argue.

That was fine.

I did not want to say another word and calmly grabbed the divorce agreement I had prepared long ago from my bag.

I handed it to her.

“Sign it.”

The smile on Stacy’s face froze instantly as she stared at the black-and-white agreement. Her eyes widened.

“You’re serious?!”