Chapter 2
They gave Chloe all their tenderness and love.
And neither my biological parents nor Daniel Reed knew that I was already dead.
Thinking of this, I clenched my fists tightly, the pain and suffocation in my chest threatening to tear me apart.
Half a year ago, when I thought I was being welcomed back by my real parents, I believed what awaited me would be love and atonement.
But instead, I became Chloe Miller’s living substitute-bearing her burdens, suffering in her place, and in the end, not even leaving behind ashes of my own, as she personally scattered them to the wind.
Even then, she refused to let me go.
Wearing the wedding dress that should have been mine, she married my fiancé.
She even went out of her way to gloat in front of my photograph.
“Emily Carter, what makes you think you could ever beat me?”
“Mom and Dad are mine, Daniel is mine. Even in death, you’ll only ever be Ryan Brooks’s woman You’ll sleep underground forever.”
Throughout the ceremony, Daniel’s eyes scanned the guests, but he never found me. His brows furrowed in frustration.
Hidden in a quiet corner, he called me again and again.
“Emily, answer the phone.”
No one picked up. He quickly typed out a text instead:
“Tell me, where are you?”
“Don’t tell me you’re still at Ryan’s place. I’ve sent people to check several times-he swears he sent you back already.”
“But you never returned to the Miller family. Where did you go? Today’s my wedding day-why aren’t you here? Are you… still mad at me?”
But there was never a reply.
Daniel frowned, distracted, but still forced himself to smile while drinking with Chloe and their
guests.
When the wedding ended, everyone offered them their blessings.
Yet that night, Chloe sat alone in the bridal suite, staring at her stomach, tears silently rolling down her face.
“Daniel, I don’t want to have a baby. I’m scared that after giving birth, my body will never be the
same.”
“And I heard childbirth can cause cancer, or amniotic embolism. I’m terrified…”
Daniel pulled her into his arms with pity.
“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart.”
Chapter 2
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1:24 pm D D
His voice was full of indulgence. “Now that Emily has fulfilled the marriage alliance, Ryan must be bored of her. It’s time to bring her back and let her carry the child for us through IVF.”
When he said this, there wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in his eyes.
But my heart turned utterly cold.
I raised my hand to touch my chest, only for it to pass straight through-I was already dead, and long without a heart.
Daniel did begin searching for me.
He spent a fortune hiring private investigators, sent out bodyguards, combed through surveillance footage…
But all of it was in vain.
“How strange. Emily’s a living person-how could she just vanish into thin air?”
Chloe, casually doing her nails, spoke lazily:
“Daniel, maybe she secretly ran back to the countryside. She always complained that the Miller family was cold and heartless, that it wasn’t her home.”
Her words struck him.
The next afternoon, he led a group of men back to the countryside cottage where I used to live. His steps creaked against the cobblestone path leading to the little house.
“Emily!”
Daniel frowned, calling my name. But the next moment, his eyes fell on the overgrown weeds around the cottage, his gaze flickering with something complicated.
The bodyguards exchanged uneasy looks.
“Mr. Reed, it doesn’t look like anyone’s lived here in a long time.”
“Would Miss Emily really be here?”
1:24 pm
