I watched as Katrina died right before my eyes. Grief and sadness enveloped me even while hatred filled my heart. I was so angry that my whole body shook.

The second Katrina took her own life, the last shred of love I had for Samantha died.

Even though she had caused all this, Samantha was expressionless. She only looked down at the ground and left with a huff.

When she walked past Katrina’s body, she even cursed me once again. “You’re truly a cold one, Aiden. Your wife’s dead, but you still haven’t even shown up. Don’t forget that you still have a daughter in kindergarten.”

I gritted my teeth when I heard her. She really was determined to ruin my entire family.

I had died years ago, so how was I supposed to show up?

After Katrina took her life, the landlord considered the place unlucky and threw out all the things in the apartment. He also changed the locks.

When my daughter, Madison, came home from kindergarten and found out that Katrina had died and that she could not enter her own home, she had no choice but to wander the streets.

Late that night, Samantha found Madison on the streets. She went up and stopped her.

“Maddie, I’m Grandma. You met me over Christmas, remember?”

Madison looked up at Samantha and considered for a long time. Then, she suddenly smiled.

“You’ve come to get me, Grandma!”

Madison had no clue that the woman calling herself her grandmother had caused her mother’s death. She was even more ignorant of what would happen to her next.

Acting all sweet and nice, Samantha bent down and took a piece of candy from her pocket. She put it into Madison’s mouth.

“Tell me, Maddie. Where’s your father? Where’s Aiden?”

When she heard my name, Madison’s face turned pale. She knew that I had died, but she did not know where I was buried. She only knew that she was not allowed to say my name, or Katrina would start acting up again.

“I don’t know, Grandma. I don’t know anything!” Madison was so frightened that she stumbled a few steps back. She looked at Samantha in horror and even spat out the candy in her mouth.

“You really set things up well with your mom, huh? You’re really determined not to tell me anything about Aiden, are you?”

Samantha scoffed and showed the picture of Katrina’s corpse to Madison on her phone.

“This is what happened to your mother. If you keep hiding the truth, I’ll make sure you end up just like her. You only have one more chance. Tell me, where is Aiden Harding?”

Madison was very smart. She had already realized that there was something very wrong here. Thus, she immediately ran off.

However, she was only six years old. How could she outrun a full-grown adult? Madison was soon caught.

“Help! Someone save me! They killed my mother!” Madison yelled and sobbed.

It was late at night, and the streets were empty. Some cars would fly past on the road, but that was it. There was no one to hear Madison’s cries.

Samantha gripped Madison by the neck and threatened, “Who cares if I killed your mother? If Aiden doesn’t show up, you’ll be dead too! I’ll kill anyone I have to for Anthony!”

Anthony was the only person who occupied her life and her heart. It was as if I were not her son, even though we had lived together for twenty years.

As I watched Madison shake and cry in terror, I wanted badly to rip Samantha apart.

However, I was already dead and could do nothing!

In her panic, Madison grabbed Samantha’s hand and bit it. The pain made Samantha shove Madison away.

Right then, a huge truck came barreling right into Madison. In an instant, Madison’s small body became like that of a broken-winged bird as she fell to the ground.

I panicked as I looked at the pool of blood and stumbled toward Madison.

“I was wrong. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have maintained any bit of love for them. I caused your deaths!”

I knelt on the ground and cried. On this day, I had watched both my beloved wife and daughter die.

I had died three years ago, so why was I being forced to see all of this?

I recalled the night of Samantha’s birthday three years ago.

To marry Katrina, I had cut all my ties with my family. I started my own family and got a small home. We lived humble but happy lives.

The week before Samantha’s birthday, Anthony suddenly texted me, saying that Samantha had forgiven me long ago, even though she never mentioned it. He hoped that I could come home and spend Samantha’s birthday with her.

Even though Katrina was worried, I drove three days alone to reach the Harding family home.

I stopped at the entrance to the building, and before I could even open the car door, the world suddenly shook. Before I could react, I watched as the buildings before me collapsed one by one.

The neatly laid out buildings instantly became ruins, and cries and shouts for help rang out.

My hand shook as I opened the car door. I ran toward where I knew my old home was.

With the help of the rescue team, I found Samantha under a huge piece of rubble. Her face was covered in blood, and she was unconscious. I used all my strength to remove the piece of rubble, and the rescue team hauled Samantha out.

Before I could retreat to safety, there was another shockwave rumbling under my feet.

Unfortunately, the second earthquake shook loose a steel girder from above. It descended rapidly and ran me through, going straight through my heart. Fresh blood blossomed on my shirt.

The instant I died, my mind was filled with memories of the time I spent with Samantha. In every memory, I was being scolded or beaten, and it was all because of Anthony. I could not find a single happy memory.

In the end, I thought of Katrina and Madison, who both loved me. I grieved over never being able to see them again.

At the same time, I hoped that Samantha would treat Katrina and Madison well because I had saved her.

I never expected that Samantha would not even try to contact or learn any news about them.

Worse, three years later, she would kill Katrina and Madison in an attempt to save Anthony. I had given my life for Samantha, but it had done nothing to get even a shred of love from her.

Suddenly, Samantha’s icy voice pulled me from my memories.

“Good job going into hiding so well, Aiden. Don’t blame me for being

ruthless and not helping this girl. Let her die out here on the street.”

My eyes bulged as I stared at her in disbelief.

The truck driver had already driven off, but Madison was still alive. Why would no one save her?

Without hesitation, Samantha turned away, got into her car, and drove away.

I was only a ghost. There was nothing I could do. I could only watch helplessly as Madison stopped breathing.

Hatred and grief smothered me. I yelled at the sky as if deranged. I asked the universe why it had treated me this way.

There was a flash of white light, and I was forcefully pulled back to Samantha’s side.

Samantha was looking at my canceled phone number with hatred on her face.

Even though Katrina and Madison were dead, Samantha had yet to give up on finding me.

She first went to the hospital to visit Anthony.

Anthony was lying in bed and playing a game on his phone. When he saw Samantha enter, he immediately started putting on a show, acting weak and fragile.

“Is Aiden still unwilling to come and help me? I knew he always hated me. It’s all my fault that I’m in bad health, and you were forced to put all your attention on me. It’s justified for him to feel slighted by that.”

Seeing that Anthony was sad, Samantha quickly reached for his hand and reassured him.

“How could any of this be your fault, Anthony? We had him because we wanted him to take care of you. Without you, he would never have been born. He should be thanking you.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find Aiden and make him donate his kidney to you. Your father’s last wish was that I take good care of you.”

Anthony sighed deeply.

“If Aiden’s unwilling to help me, just forget about it. There’s no way he would want to help me. He nearly killed me when we were younger. If you hadn’t gotten home in time, I probably would have died long ago…”

Samantha’s gaze became cold and hateful at the mention of that incident.

“Aiden was always a bad seed. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have allowed him to live until now. He’s not worthy of touching you, let alone hurting you!”

That incident was a nightmare for me. As I thought about it, I felt my insides churn with pain and hurt.

That year, I had gotten the best grades in class. For once, Samantha surprised me and promised to take me to an amusement park.

Seeing that I was so excited that I could not sleep, Anthony mocked me and laughed. “Do you really think you’ll be going to the amusement park with Mom tomorrow?”

I only thought that Anthony was jealous, so I did not pay the comment much mind.

The next day, after Dad had gone to work and Samantha had gone to buy breakfast, Anthony tricked me onto the balcony with the excuse of watering the plants. He stepped onto a stool to reach the railing.

His timing had been perfect. Just as Samantha came home, Anthony fell from the second-floor balcony.

I rushed up to try and grab him, but I failed. Yet doing so made it seem to Samantha, who was looking up from downstairs, that I had pushed Anthony off.

Panicked, Samantha rushed Anthony to the hospital. Luckily, he had only broken a bone in his leg.

That day, not only did I not get to go to the amusement park, but I was also beaten viciously by my parents. They kept scolding and cursing me as they punched me.

“If anything happens to Anthony today, you’ll be dying along with him!”

No matter how I tried to explain, they were dead set on the idea that I was a bad seed.

From that day onward, I knew that my parents were not just biased. Rather, they had never cared about me at all.

After visiting Anthony, Samantha’s thoughts refocused on finding me.

She started slandering me online, making up stories that I was an evil villain.

She put a photo of my identification online, along with all of my personal information. She claimed that I was neglecting her, my elderly mother, and my older brother, who was waiting at the hospital for me to save him. She claimed that I had driven Katrina into committing suicide and left my young daughter to become homeless.

The next day, a number called Samantha’s phone.

Samantha looked at the familiar number and scoffed.

“Finally showing yourself, are you, Aiden?”

However, the person on the other end of the line was a man she did not know.

“Mrs. Harding, I heard that you’re looking for Aiden. Don’t you know that he passed away? He saved you in that earthquake three years ago. But a steel girder pierced him through, and he died of blood loss.”