As I spoke, the air in the room went down to freezing point.

Johnny's expression changed a few times, before he put on an awkward, forced smile. "What are you saying, haha…"

"Then let me do it," I said, reaching to snatch the phone back.

As soon as I did, however, Johnny took a few steps back and raised his hand as far as he could. "Please stop joking around, Luna. Shouldn't you ask Mom's opinion about this?"

Oh, so he was calling in the cavalry.

My mother-in-law, Lily, was what one could call an all-rounder.

She was someone who could put on a facade of civility one day and curse your entire family while causing a scene the other, and as such was infamous in the residential area we lived in.

I didn't say anything to refute his suggestion, however. "Sure, call her now."

Louis was still alive now, after all. If this fact became apparent after the coroner examined his body, they'd even try to save him instead…

But I couldn't possibly have that happen, could I? What I wanted was for him to die, once and for all!

Soon enough…

"Luna, you witch! What did my poor son do to get a wife like you?"

A middle-aged woman barged into the morgue with a face full of makeup and half-done nails with red polish. From the looks of it, she seemed to know about the whole ruse.

Immediately reaching for me, she grabbed my collar angrily. "Hasn't he treated you well enough? How dare you ask for him to be cut up and defiled like he's some sort of lab rat? I'll kill you!"

At the same time, Johnny took the chance to cover his brother up with cloth again.

I didn't say a single word to refute Lily's words, only looking down as I cried. "Mom, you know how careful Louis usually is. Besides, how could someone who races cars as well as him mistake the accelerator for a brake? I'm sure someone must have done this to him!"

Lily didn't seem to be able to argue against my reasoning, so she paused for a bit, the gears turning in her head, before releasing my collar. Then, she rubbed her eyes, finally managing to squeeze out a few drops of tears.

"I understand that you can't accept reality, Luna, but nothing is going to bring Louis back! We have to look forward, right?"

Disheartened, I reached to wipe her tears. "But…"

"Be a good girl and go home, okay?" Lily softened her tone, as if she was talking to a child, and patted my hand. "Just leave the funeral to me and…"

Before she could finish talking, she fainted.

Catching her deftly, I shouted, "Mom!"

That's when Johnny realized I was holding the tissues he tried passing me earlier, and his expression turned steely as he gritted his teeth. "How do you have that?"

"I-It fell out of your pocket just now," I muttered, shrinking into myself as if I was intimidated by his change of demeanor. "I-Is there something wrong with using these…?"

That's right, me trying to snatch the phone earlier was just a ruse. This pack of tissues was what I was actually after.

Realizing that he had overreacted on accident, he squeezed out another smile. "Of course there isn't! I think Mom passed out because she was too sad, too, so why don't you take her home with you? I'll deal with the rest."

With a nod, I conceded. "Alright."

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief and started pushing the bed away, I stopped him, "Johnny, wait."

"What is it, Luna?" He could barely suppress the anger in his voice, but he still made a valiant effort to sound unbothered.

Walking over to him, I wiped his face with the drugged tissues. "You've got blood on your face."

In an instant, his eyes widened. "You!"

In response, I just smirked at him as I emulated the tone Lily had used with me earlier. "Be a good boy and close your eyes, alright?"

As he slumped to the ground, he shot me one last hateful look.

But what about it?

Bending down, I reclaimed my phone and called the crematorium. "Hello? My husband needs to be cremated as soon as possible."

Louis was still unresponsive by the time he was carried into the car, and I couldn't help but scoff.

Back in the day, he did not have a single nickel to his name, unable to afford even a single bouquet of roses, while I was already the top name of the television station.

In an effort to help his career, I had used all the connections I could, and almost got violated a few times in the process.

In the end, he had succeeded.

The first time the company turned a profit, he had hugged me excitedly. "Luna, I must be the luckiest man in the world to have you! From now on, I'll earn lots and lots of money, and give it all to you!"

Naïve as I was, I had believed every single word.

And what had come of that?

He had given all the money he earned over to Lorraine, buying luxury brands and diamond rings for her, and even joined her as they jeered at my appearance that had deteriorated after what he'd done.

"You're so disgusting, Luna. You look like an old rag! If it rained, you'd probably be able to catch a whole bunch of it with the wrinkles on your face!"

"Louis, doesn't she look like a shar-pei dog? You know, the ones that have all those wrinkles?"

"Hey, now that you mention it, yeah! Haha!"

Every word was like a knife stabbing into my heart.

Enduring the pain, I croaked, my voice as hoarse as sandpaper, "W-why did you treat me like this…?"

"It's simple, really." Lorraine gave me a withering look. "Why would he keep someone who has outlived her usefulness?"

Hearing this, Louis raised his eyebrows. "You idiot, hasn't it gone through your thick skull yet? I married you back then because I wanted to use your connections! What, did you think I was a masochist who loved being bossed around like an arrogant woman like you?"

I couldn't believe my own ears. The words froze my heart into ice colder than the snow underneath me.

Lorraine even made a show of wrapping her arms around his neck daintily. "Men hate women who are basically men too, you know? It was a given that he'd like me, since I'm prettier, gentler, and lovelier than you!"

"That's right."

With that, Louis reached and cupped her face, leaning in to kiss her deeply, right in front of my face.

These A-holes!

Even the memory itself was enough to almost make me slap his face once more, but that was when I noticed a slight, almost imperceptible twitch on his face.

Was he about to wake up?

In a rush, I asked, "Sir, how long until we get there?"

"Twenty minutes, at the very least." The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror whilst holding a cigarette in his mouth. "You know, you're the first customer I've seen who's been in such a rush. Usually, they'd want it to go as slow as it could possibly go."

"I have my reasons… This man got a mistress once he became rich, see?" I lowered my head, and faked wiping tears from my eyes. "The moment he passed away, the mistress tried to steal his body away from me multiple times so that she could force me to split her half the inheritance… Sir, have you ever heard of something this ridiculous?"

"How shameless!" The driver immediately spit the cigarette out of the window before stepping hard on the gas. "Don't worry lass, I'll get you there in ten minutes!"

After expressing my gratitude, I noticed Louis' finger twitch, and this time I was certain that he'd already regained consciousness. From the looks of it, he had heard everything I had told the driver earlier, but he couldn't move just yet.

"Louis…" I lowered my head right down to his ear, and smiled. "I know you faked your death, and that you're planning to elope with Lorraine using the money you took from the company… You even wanted me to shoulder your debt, didn't you?

"It's a shame, then, that none of this will become reality… Other than your death, of course."

What did it feel like to be cremated?

I felt like no one would have more of a right to answer that question than Louis… Unless they wanted to be cremated alive too, maybe.

"Hello ma'am. Here are the different plans we've got." The staff handed me a pamphlet as she introduced the contents by memory. "We have the regular plan, the advanced plan, the luxury plan, and the rocket plan. I do need to let you know that the regular plan uses traditional methods and equipment, meaning that our staff would have to flip the corpse with a hook throughout the entire process, so it might not be the best for the body."

That was honestly the one I wanted to pick. Nothing would suit him more than being burned alive while being rotated by a hook!

On the off chance that he woke up immediately because of the pain, however, the consequences would be annoying to handle, to say the least, so I gave up.

In the end, I tapped at the pamphlet. "Let's go with the rocket plan."

I didn't really care about the newest technologies they employed or their funeral package, but I liked that they'd turn the ashes into fireworks. It'd be quite the fitting sight for a celebration, wouldn't it?

"Gosh, you've got quite the eye, ma'am!" The staff smiled brightly and proceeded to let me sign the contract. "For the sake of letting you take a picture with the fireworks, we suggest you carry out the process of cremation at night."

However, I didn't have that much time, so I lowered my head sadly. "Morning will do… I'll take these fireworks and keep them at home. I'm planning on setting these fireworks off once my child is eighteen years old, as a final gift their father gave for becoming an adult.

"That way, my child will know how much their father loved them…"

"Goodness, sweetheart, I'm so sorry…" Seeing me reach down to caress my abdomen, the staff even changed the way she addressed me out of pity.

I turned my face to look outside the window and sighed, trying my best to stop myself from smiling. "It's alright. Just help me get things arranged as soon as possible."

That was because, under the white cloth, Louis' finger twitched a few more times.

The greatest benefit of picking the rocket package, in actuality, was that I didn't need to wait in line.

As Louis was pushed into the cremator, I started to sob again. "My dear, you've always worked so hard for money, so please don't worry about it anymore in the afterlife!"

The staff all commented on how a good wife I was, and even gave me the opportunity to press the button to activate the cremation myself.

"Goodbye, honey."

Have a fun time burning in there, you deserve it!

However, I hadn't managed to press it before Lily's voice rang out from behind me. "Stop right there, you psycho!"

She stumbled into the room, visibly panicked from the current situation, while Johnny came in after her, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"Luna, how could you bring him here to be cremated without permission?!"

Hah, he was trying to pin the blame on me.

Judging from the looks the staff members were giving me, it was starting to work.

"Well, you two passed out because you were too sad, so I couldn't do anything but come here by myself. Besides, weren't you the ones who were insistent on having him cremated soon?" There was no hesitation or anxiety in my words, and my tears flowed down my cheeks naturally. "Besides, I did question your brother's death, but you didn't allow me to make a police report…"

At this point, the staff members were probably already having a blast at this scene.

Hearing this, Johnny changed his expression drastically. "Hey, don't say that! Mom and I just thought that we didn't need to trouble the police any further, since they've passed the verdict!"

When I heard this, my expression became even more saddened. "Then why can't I cremate him?

"No way… Can he still be saved?"