Alice's mother rushed over, pushing me aside and standing by her daughter's bed.

Without even looking at Alice, she glared at me with her hands on her hips.

"Who dares to harm my daughter? Alice trusted you the most, and yet you plotted to burn her alive? How could you be so vicious?

"If any of those people dare to touch my daughter again, you and I will have a serious problem."

She still found time to worry about her daughter's innocence.

I couldn't help but furrow my brows.

"Mrs. Archer, Alice always lived off me, stayed with me, and this doesn't count as being her best friend? Besides, she's already dead. How could I want to burn her?" I scoffed.

Only then did she realize her mistake in speaking and shook her head, pushing the funeral home staff away.

"My daughter will be buried, not cremated. Just go."

The funeral home staff grumbled and drove away.

Only then did Sanford breathe a sigh of relief and neatly cover Alice with the sheet.

Alice's mother also sighed with relief and began complaining to me again.

"It's all your fault. If it weren't for you, Alice wouldn't have died. If only she had listened to me and come home earlier to get married, none of this would have happened. It's all because you encouraged her to be independent."

I was indeed wrong to inspire an ingrate.

My life had just begun, and I had worked hard to buy a house for myself.

But she had insisted on moving in with me.

Yet her mother blamed me for corrupting her.

I pretended to cry with a grievance, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Archer. I just wanted Alice to rest in peace sooner."

She was sweating profusely, gasping and cursing, "Rest in peace, my foot."

I snatched the handkerchief from Sanford's hand and handed it to her to wipe her sweat.

She used it and then collapsed into the chair.

Sanford's sweat crawled across his forehead as he looked at me.

"Mrs. Archer seems to be overwhelmed with grief," he stuttered

Seeing that I wasn't suspicious, Sanford sat down to catch his breath, feeling like he had exhausted all his intelligence in this lifetime.

I helped Sanford up from the ground.

"Mrs. Archer has collapsed. You should hurry and call the doctor."

He dared not move, urging me, "Or should I watch Mrs. Archer while you go call the doctor?"

Seeing my hesitation, he reluctantly went to find someone else to help.

While he was away, I dialed the cemetery's phone number.

This cemetery had a good location and had someone who could handle the burial.

It was on his family's land.

Sanford pretended to go out for a stroll, returning to ask me anxiously after seeing me hang up the phone.

"Who did you call?"

I calmly replied, "I've thought about it. We should respect Mrs. Archer's wishes. I've found a burial plot for Alice. Everything concerning the coffin and the burial plot won't cost you a cent. After all, we were best friends."

Sanford panicked and paced around, occasionally glancing at the unconscious Alice and her mother.

"Alice was your best friend. Is it necessary to rush her burial like this?"

I looked at him disapprovingly.

"Sanford, you're weird. Alice has been dead for so long. Every time I try to arrange her affairs, you hinder me. Alice once said her family was poor and she wanted to stay in this big city. I'm just fulfilling her wishes."

As time passed, he became as restless as a cat on hot bricks.

He attempted to up Alice's mother.

Suddenly, he noticed something and pointed to Alice's bedside, where her pale hand hung down.

"Look, Alice seemed to move."

I screamed in cooperation, "Sanford, are you crazy? How can a dead person move? This is your clinic. If someone who has been issued a death certificate comes back to life, you and your friends who issued the certificate could be sued by her family."

Sanford opened his mouth wide, unable to come up with a rebuttal for a long time.

The people from the cemetery arrived. Without anyone hindering them, they carried Alice into the car and drove away.

We headed straight for the suburbs.

I glanced at my watch and Alice, holding back the urge to laugh.

The day I met Alice in my past life, I was amazed that after ten years, she hadn't changed a bit.

There were no wrinkles in sight, and she looked rich.

The girl who once vowed to establish herself in the big city had resorted to drastic measures to live the life she desired.

I wanted to ask how she managed to come back to life, but she met me without a hint of surprise, as if everything was expected.

She pointed disdainfully at a ring on my stall.

"Oh dear, old friend, how did you end up like this? Wasn't your marriage going well?"

Her mocking laughter still echoed in my mind.

She flaunted, "I faked my death on purpose, just to trick you into marrying that fool. The good life is always meant for me."

I turned to look at Sanford beside her and burst into tears.

He could have simply broken up with me instead of trapping me in the mountains.

'Why did he do this to me? Just because I was kind to him?' I thought.

They took away my house and burdened me with half a million in debt.

My parents searched for me in vain for years, only to pass away later.

I lived in a remote, impoverished village, bearing children in despair.

Whenever I tried to escape, the villagers would come to beat me. That was the life meant for Alice.

She leaned in, smirking triumphantly at me.

"You know, I couldn't move at the time, but I was conscious, listening to you cry before me. It almost made me throw up my dinner, hahaha."

As I collapsed, she stepped back with Sanford.

"Oh my, don't dirty my shoes, old lady. Let's go."

As they walked away, I closed my eyes for good. I was not even 40 years old back then.

While I was lost in thoughts, Alice's finger twitched.

It seemed like she was conscious until she had to be buried.

The effect of the sedative would not last much longer.

I called out to the driver. "Sir, please drive faster. I'm a bit scared. Several people in the hospital just tried to take my best friend away. She swore never to return to her hometown. I have to fulfill her dying wish."

The driver floored it out of town, speeding at 120 miles per hour straight towards the mountains.

I glanced at the popping veins on Alice's neck and whispered, "I know you're not dead. I know you set your eyes on Sanford and conspired with him to deceive me into marrying that village idiot. That's your fate. If you had spoken up, I could have helped you, but you chose to make me suffer. So, don't blame me for being heartless now, Alice. I've never failed you."

I patted her shoulder and waved the handkerchief from earlier.

"Rest assured, I'll find you a good burial place," I said.

As she drifted into unconsciousness, Alice made a faint struggle.

She didn't want to die, but she couldn't shake off this drowsiness.

My phone kept vibrating. Those calls were from Sanford and Alice's mother.

I was a good person focused on fulfilling my best friend's wish. I didn't have time to answer the phone.

The cemetery was up in the mountains, and a fierce wind was blowing.

I felt like even the heavens were on my side.

I found the person in charge.

"It's almost noon, and the weather's turning. Please bury my bestie quickly," I said.

The guy in charge was slick, and I knew the rules.

I tipped him, and he quickly showed me the spot that had already been dug.

Even the coffin had been prepared.

I slipped some cigarettes to the guys helping carry Alice.

"My bestie was always by my side. She bled out in that accident, and I just want her to rest in peace, away from any more bumps," I sobbed.

The wind died down, but a big rain was on its way.

Without further ado, they lifted Alice straight from the stretcher and into the coffin.

It was cold in the mountains. Everyone wore gloves, unaware that the stretcher carried a living person.

And so, she was placed into the lacquered coffin.

I stood nearby, watching as they slowly lowered the coffin into the earth.

"Rest in peace, Alice. I got you the best coffin. Don't worry. I'll help take care of your mother," I murmured.

Everyone present was moved by my actions.

They carefully pushed the coffin lid down, almost sealing it shut.

The rain fell harder. Sanford arrived with Alice's mom in tow.

They were a mess, covered in mud.

"Stop! You can't bury her."

Sanford rushed over to stop the coffin from being sealed.

"You can't bury her. My daughter must be buried as I take her away. Who agreed to bury her?"

I knelt in the mud, pleading, "Mrs. Archer, Alice was bound by you her whole life, forced to marry some village fool. She didn't want to go back. Let her rest here."

The staff looked at each other. With the rain pouring, any delay would fill the coffin with water.

Visitors mistook the scene for a movie set and started filming.

Sanford and Alice's mom tried to intervene, their faces contorted in anger, freezing the staff into inaction.

Suddenly, Alice's mom slipped on the wet mud and fell onto the coffin, accidentally sealing it shut and knocking herself unconscious.

As Sanford tried to pull her away, he inadvertently collapsed a nearby earth mound.

Mud and rain instantly sealed Alice's coffin lid tight.

"Ahh!"

"Ahh!"

Everyone turned to look at Sanford.

Only I stared fixedly at the freshly dug grave.

In that moment of sealing, Alice must have been awake. If not for their delay and the rain, she might not have been sealed in so tightly.

But the coffin was now filled with rainwater, and the dense mud made any struggle unheard.

Someone pointed at the grave, saying, "What a tragic death! With this heavy rain, the body will rot quickly. But did I hear someone inside screaming?"

Passersby shivered and rubbed their arms.

I glanced at Sanford, suppressing my disgust as I rushed into his arms.

"I've lost my best friend forever."

Ignoring Alice's mom on the ground, he desperately began digging with his bare hands on the grave.

But with the heavy rain and the muddy terrain, he couldn't find the exact burial spot within moments.

"Dig it open quickly! Hurry!" he said, trembling.

He wanted to continue digging but didn't know where to start. He was overwhelmed.

The staff watched him with pity and tried to comfort him.

"Are you her husband? Please take care. If you keep going like this, she won't rest in peace. Trust us. Once the rain stops, we'll sort everything out," they said.

I patted his shoulder. "Yeah, Sanford, trust them. These people here are professionals; they'll arrange everything, including the tombstone. Don't act like this, or people might mistake you for Alice's boyfriend."

I looked at him teasingly, but no one noticed my expression in the heavy rain.