Grayson witnessed the entire scene with his own eyes.

"Belle, if anything happens to Alice, I will never forgive you for the rest of my life."

From that moment on, Grayson's disdain for me deepened, growing colder with each passing day. He even brought up divorce.

I clung to him desperately, refusing to let go, but our marriage was already teetering on the edge, hanging by a thread.

Alice had always been a thorn between us—sharp, immovable, impossible to ignore or remove.

I looked at Grayson now and wondered: if he knew I was dead, would he feel relieved that he was finally free of me?

Grayson's phone rang. He answered it, not bothering to put it on speaker. I drifted closer, curious. Could it be someone calling to report my death?

I studied his face intently, waiting to see his reaction when he learned I was gone.

But when I glanced at the screen, I froze.

The caller ID displayed my name.

The voice that came through the line was unmistakably mine.

"Grayson, I can't believe you abandoned me to save Alice! I want a divorce!"

His expression darkened instantly.

"Belle," he said coldly, "since you're fine, get back here."

"If you want me to come back, you'll have to kick Alice out!"

"Then don't bother coming back at all. You're better off dead out there," he snapped, slamming the phone down.

His words hit me like a blow, sending a fresh wave of pain through me.

Well, he's gotten his wish. I'm dead and gone, never coming back.

Still, I couldn't shake the question: who made that call? It couldn't have been me.

"Grayson, you should go check on her," Alice's soft voice broke the silence. "After all, she's carrying your child."

"My child?" Grayson scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain. "That baby's father is probably some random guy she picked up from who knows where."

"Even if it's mine," he added coldly, "she and the child together aren't worth as much to me as a single one of your fingers."

Though I was dead, his words tore through me, leaving an ache in my chest I couldn't explain.

He hated me. He hated me so much that when my father died unexpectedly, he didn't even bat an eye.

"Grayson, why don't you just divorce her? You don't love her. I want to be with you," Alice murmured.

"Alice, we're siblings," Grayson said firmly.

"Grayson, do you really see me as just a sister?" she shot back, her tone laced with bitterness. "Don't forget, I'm not biologically part of the Blackwood family."

"Alice!" Their mother's voice rang out, sharp as a whip. Her face was pale with anger. "What are you saying? You and Grayson may not be related by blood, but you grew up together! How could you even think that? You… You're going to be the death of me!"

"Mom," Alice said, her eyes filled with defiance, "you've loved me since I was little. If Grayson has to marry someone, why can't it be me? What does Belle have that I don't?"

"Grayson, you're already married to Belle, and you have a child together now. You need to get your priorities straight," his mother said sharply.

"Go and bring Belle back. Apologize properly. As for your sister, I'll handle her. All this nonsense she's been spouting is nothing but the ramblings of a confused mind," she added, putting an end to any argument.

"Belle is still your wife, no matter what. Right now, she doesn't know what's going on, and you shouldn't be here. You should be out there finding her and bringing her back," she pressed, her expression darkening as she looked at the pair of them.

My heart grew colder with every word. So I was the only one kept in the dark? The sickening relationship between Grayson and Alice—was I the only fool who didn't know?

And now they wanted to keep deceiving me? I stared at these familiar faces, which now felt so alien and repulsive, and I couldn't help but feel disgusted.

If the accident hadn't happened, would they have kept lying to me my entire life?

"Mom, I'll apologize to Belle," Grayson said, his tone reluctant. "But right now, Alice's health is more important. Belle has already been found, and she's fine. She's back at her family's home and doesn't want to see me right now. I'll go get her once Alice's condition is stable."

"Grayson, this is unacceptable! You need to go find Belle immediately," his mother snapped.

Clearly, she didn't know that I was already dead. None of them did. They all thought I was still alive.

"Mom," Grayson said impatiently, "I already told you, I can't leave Alice right now. If you're worried, I'll call Belle. But I'm not leaving."

With a look of annoyance, Grayson dialed a video call.

In our seven years of marriage, Grayson had rarely called me, let alone made a video call. I was always the one calling him—always the one waiting, hoping he'd answer, only to be ignored or hurriedly dismissed.

Who would've thought I'd have to die to see him take the initiative to call?

His mother furrowed her brow, her concern evident. "She's pregnant, after all. She was caught in an earthquake. Who knows if something happened to her?"

The call connected, and the woman on the screen was me—or at least, she looked just like me.

I stared at the video, my eyes wide. It took a long moment before I realized that this woman wasn't me. She looked uncannily similar but wasn't me.

"Belle," his mother said, "we're all concerned about you. Don't be so unreasonable. Come back. I'll pretend none of this happened."

Grayson, clearly annoyed, tilted the phone so his mother could see the screen. Then, before the woman on the other end could respond, he hung up.

"She's fine," he said coldly. "She's always been lucky. This is just one of her old habits flaring up again. Ignore her for a few days, and she'll come to her senses."

The icy indifference in his voice sent a shiver through me. I couldn't believe these words were coming from the man I'd shared my life with.

The man I'd shared a bed with couldn't even tell if the woman on the screen was me.

His blatant favoritism toward Alice and his utter disregard for me were undeniable. He wouldn't spare even a shred of concern for me, but for Alice, his devotion was shamelessly obvious.

If she so much as frowned or coughed, he'd spring into action as though the sky was falling.

Once, during a thunderstorm, when the rain poured heavily, Alice called him in tears, saying she was scared. Without hesitation, he left my side, even though I was burning with a high fever, and stayed with her the entire night.

The next morning, when my fever had subsided somewhat, I confronted him in anger. But he only looked at me coldly and said, "Stop being unreasonable."

As I looked back, it all made sense now. His partiality toward Alice wasn't just favoritism—it was love. Because the person he truly loved was Alice, nothing and no one else mattered when she was involved.

Even his mother tried her best to persuade him to check on me, but Grayson wouldn't budge. Then his phone buzzed with a message notification. He glanced at the screen, his face tightening in anger.

"Mom, stop it already," he said, his voice rising. "She's incorrigible! Just because I saved Alice first, she's threatening me with divorce. She says if I don't kick Alice out of the house, she'll abort the baby. She's pure toxic, that's what she is!" His fury darkened his face, and his tone was sharp enough to cut.

Curious, I floated closer to him and peeked at his phone. Sure enough, the message was from me—or at least, it appeared to be.

But I was dead.

I turned my gaze to Alice, suspicion blooming in my chest. Who else but her could orchestrate something like this?

"You ungrateful son!" his mother exclaimed, her voice trembling with frustration. "Are you trying to drive me to my grave? If something happens to Belle or that child she's carrying, you'll have no place to hide your regret!"

"Mom, you worry too much," Grayson snapped. "She's just making threats now. What could really happen?"

I couldn't help but sneer internally. A husband of seven years, yet he didn't trust me or know me at all.

"Grayson," his mother persisted, her voice now tinged with anxiety, "go find Belle. I just can't shake this uneasy feeling. She's not one to act so recklessly."

I watched her, my mother-in-law, with a mix of gratitude and sorrow. Our relationship had always been decent—better than I ever expected. At least she understood the kind of person I was, far better than the man I had married. Seeing the gray hairs now peppering her head, I felt a pang of sorrow.

I didn't want to stay here, tied to this family and its deceit any longer. I didn't know when my soul might finally dissipate, and I had only one wish: to see my mother.

Ever since my father passed, she had been alone. I knew she wouldn't be able to bear the news of my death. The thought of her grief weighed heavily on me, but something held me back—something tethered me to Grayson.

And despite her best attempts to convince Grayson to go look for me, my mother-in-law failed miserably.