After hearing that, my mom let out a sigh of relief.

"Ivy, don't be scared. He can't get in. We put door guardians on the front gate, and there are protective talismans on the yard wall. He can't come in—he's just trying to scare you into opening the door. Remember, no matter what, don't open it."

"Really?"

"Really. Just hang in there. Hide in your room and don't come out. Your dad and I have been pushing Alex's parents. We even paid extra to have him cremated early. They're wheeling him in right now!"

She was afraid I wouldn't believe her, so she started a video call. On screen, staff were dismantling the memorial setup, rolling a gurney over to take Alex's body to the crematorium.

They did the basic mourning rites, then lifted the coffin onto the gurney. But the moment they lifted it, every single one of them froze, staring at each other in horror.

After a beat of shock, they threw open the coffin lid. When they reached inside and felt around, their faces went white.

"Where's the deceased? Where's the body?"

That one sentence sent the room into chaos. My mom jogged over with her phone raised, asking what happened.

The staff looked like they'd seen a ghost. Their voices came out strangled.

"The coffin's empty. The body's gone."

Everyone went still—then another staffer let out a cry.

"There's a trail of wet footprints here. Looks like something crawled out of the coffin. The body walked off on its own?!"

In an instant, the whole group scattered, fleeing outside. And if they were terrified, I was worse—even through the phone screen, I felt my blood turn to ice.

Then the video cut out again. Magnetic interference. No matter how many times I called back, it wouldn't connect. My mom could only send me a panicked voice message.

"Ivy, don't be afraid. Mom and Dad are coming back right now. Whatever you do, don't open the door!"

The moment I heard it, all hope drained out of me. There was a kind of fear like death itself standing at my doorstep.

So the thing outside was Alex's corpse?

Right then, a dull thud came from the yard—like someone landing after climbing over the wall.

A few seconds later, the inner door, which had been left ajar, creaked open. Footsteps approached. They stopped right outside my bedroom.

Cold seeped through the crack, straight into my room. Alex didn't knock, but I could feel him standing there, separated from me by nothing but a thin door.

I was paralyzed with terror. I could only clamp a hand over my mouth, holding my breath, staring at the door.

It didn't move. But water began trickling in from underneath—slow, steady. Outside, I heard dripping, like it was falling off his body. And that smell—damp earth, mud, rot.

Combined with how he died, the fear hit me in waves, each one crashing harder than the last, until I could barely breathe.

He didn't give me a chance to recover. Instead, he laughed—a wet, triumphant sound that made my skin crawl.

"Hahaha… Ivy, I got in. I came to apologize, okay? Don't be mad anymore. If you want to see me, I'll let you. As long as you're not angry. As long as you don't hate me."

"Ivy, open the door. I'm right here."

Thud thud thud—

The knocking was wet, heavy. Each knock landed like a death sentence, pounding straight into my skull. My ears rang. My head spun. I thought I might pass out.

The fear was so intense I started dry-heaving. The sound slipped out before I could stop it—and he heard.

He got excited. The knocking came faster, more eager.

"I heard you. Open the door, Ivy. I'm right outside. Don't you want to see me? Open the door."

My parents were already racing back. They kept sending messages to comfort me, reminding me over and over.

"Ivy, whatever you do, don't open that door. Don't let Alex Fox fool you. He's the one who insisted on diving at Nine Dome Skylight despite everyone warning him. A professional dive team lost members there not long ago—and he's not even certified. He just had to go anyway."

"It's fine, really. You were only engaged. A few years of dating isn't worth throwing your whole life away. Once this blows over, you two will have nothing to do with each other."

"Ivy, don't worry. We're on our way. Almost there."

My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst. I typed out my reply with trembling fingers.

I'd gotten a pretty manicure for the engagement, and my nails clicking against the screen were impossibly loud. Alex heard it immediately. He flew into a rage and threw himself against my bedroom door like a madman.

"Ivy, open the door! Who are you texting? You ignore me, you don't reply to my messages, but you're chatting away with someone else? What am I to you? Have you ever respected me at all? Open. The. Door!"

I screamed, tears streaming down my face, begging him to stop.

But he couldn't hear a word I said. He just kept ramming the door.

Then suddenly—I don't know what he saw in the living room—he kicked over the burning copper basin.

The crash was deafening. His rage exploded.

"Why did you burn everything for our engagement? The clothes and shoes I bought you—you burned them all? Ivy Shaw, what the hell are you doing?!"

He charged at my door again. The flimsy thing couldn't take much more—it was already buckling. With every hit, more water surged from his body, pooling across my floor.

I curled up inside the closet, watching helplessly as he forced a gap in the door, shoved a dripping arm through, and twisted the useless lock open.

Crack—

The bedroom door swung wide. Alex stepped inside.

Panicking, I covered my eyes, too terrified to look. Footsteps approached—closer, closer—until he was standing right in front of the closet.

Just as he reached for the handle, everything went black.

I don't know what happened after I fainted. I only remember feeling so cold, my body soaking wet, like something was holding me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in my own bed.

Mom and Dad were already home, standing by my bedside with tense expressions.

"The footprints confirm it—Alex Fox was here. I came in first and saw a figure climb over the wall and run off."

"Oh God, it really was him? Did Alex know something before he died? About us—"

"Shh!"

Dad's sharp hiss cut her off. The next second, his cold gaze landed on me.

Instinct screamed danger. Before he could say anything, I shut my eyes and pretended to still be unconscious.

Then I heard words that made my blood run cold.