Chapter 2The Ghost of Us: A Late Crematorium

But I never expected to be so unlucky.

After fighting with Holden, I originally planned to go to the mall to do some retail therapy and clear my head.

Instead, I ran into a psychopath.

Life is unpredictable like that. I was murdered.

The police called Holden to the morgue.

Holden frowned, answering the phone with intense impatience: "Harper, are you done? Can you stop being so childish?"

After he hung up, the police called him a second time.

"Hello, please don't hang up. This is the Central Precinct. This is not a prank. Am I speaking to Mr. Holden Crawford? Do you know a Harper Quinn? She was murdered at the downtown mall. Please come to the precinct immediately to identify the body."

In the suffocating, oppressive morgue.

My body was covered tightly by a white sheet. Only one arm hung out, smeared with dried, dark blood.

The detective said, "Take a look. Is the victim your girlfriend, Harper Quinn?"

He reached out to pull back the white sheet covering my head.

But Holden grabbed the detective's wrist in a death grip.

He stared fixedly at the arm hanging out—at the tattoo of a wild rose intertwined with the letters "HC".

Even beneath the mottled bloodstains, it was strikingly visible.

I remembered when I first got that tattoo. I excitedly held it up to show Holden.

He was furious. He thought that permanently marking his initials on my body was incredibly irresponsible.

Actually, his grandmother had just passed away around that time. He had said, in total despair, that from then on, he was an orphan, utterly alone in the world.

So I went and got that tattoo.

I just wanted to make him a little happier.

I pointed to the tattoo and solemnly promised him, "The wild rose symbolizes eternal companionship. Holden, I will always be with you."

So you will never be an orphan, and you will never be alone.

I've forgotten his exact reaction, but I remember moving myself to tears.

Thinking back on it now, his anger was probably just a feeling of being burdened.

The person he wanted by his side forever... was always someone else.