Chapter 1Next Life, I Want to Be a Happy Person

The call from my mother came as I was being murdered by the serial killer she’d been hunting for ten years.

Her voice was laced with venom from the moment she spoke. "Your cousin Lily is getting married next week. You will be there as her maid of honor."

"Her fiancé used to be your boyfriend," she continued, her tone sharp as glass. "If you don't show, think of how it will make her look."

I was already fading, the world turning grey at the edges from blood loss. I didn't have the strength to speak.

She didn't notice. All I heard was her impatient snap. "What are you, dead? Can't even say a word."

"I'm telling you, Chloe, even if you're dying, you'll crawl to that wedding and be her maid of honor first."

Two days later, she was leading the investigation into the gruesome discovery of a dismembered young woman.

She identified the killer’s signature work in a single glance.

The one thing she didn’t identify was the victim.

Me. Her despised daughter.

My remains were found by workers cleaning out a septic tank. It took three officers in heavy-duty respirators a full day and night of draining the filth to find all of me.

My mother, Captain Eva Rostova, arrived at the precinct, her face a grim mask of professionalism. "Time of death? Have we identified the victim?"

Dr. Peterson, the head medical examiner, pulled off his gloves with a weary sigh. "Preliminary estimate is two to three days ago. The body is too severely damaged to identify by face or fingerprints. I've sent samples for DNA. We'll have results in three days, fastest."

At the case briefing, the mood was grim. After Dr. Peterson presented the autopsy findings, a wave of anger swept through the room of hardened detectives.

"She was only in her twenties. A kid. Damn him."

"This was torture, not just murder. Sick son of a bitch."

A veteran detective who had served under my mother for years, Mark Reilly, suddenly stiffened. He looked at her, a question in his eyes. "Captain… the MO. You think it's him?"

My mother’s gaze, which had been locked on the autopsy report, shot up. Her eyes were like chips of ice.

"It's Walter Crane," she said, her voice low and certain. "I've studied him for a decade. It's him."

She continued, addressing the room. "He's a fanatic. Believes a person's retina holds the last image they saw before death. None of his victims have ever been found with their eyes intact."

A heavy silence fell over the room. The newer detectives hadn't been on the force a decade ago, but everyone knew the name Walter Crane. The "Vanishing Girls" case had shaken the entire country and left deep scars on the original investigative team. He had disappeared for ten years. Why he had resurfaced now, no one knew.

As the lead detective on the original case, my mother knew Crane better than anyone. She immediately formed a task force and began coordinating the investigation.

Mark, an old friend from the police academy, was forced to stay behind at the office with a leg injury, relegated to sorting through cold case files. As the teams filed out, his eyes settled on my mother.

"Looks like you didn't even have time to change," he observed, gesturing to her rumpled suit. "This case couldn't have come at a worse time. Must be throwing a wrench in the wedding plans."

At the mention of the wedding, my mother’s professional focus dissolved into pure resentment. "Wedding plans? It's Lily who's getting married. That menace is just a bridesmaid."

Mark looked confused. "Wait, you're saying Chloe's ex is marrying Lily? How did that happen?"

"How do you think it happened?" she scoffed. "Any sane man would choose Lily over that… that monster who killed her own father."

Mark sighed heavily. "Eva, it's been three years. You have to let that go. I miss David too, but it wasn't all Chloe's fault. She's been living with that guilt ever since. You kicked her out, but all she ever does is ask about you."

He leaned forward. "She told me once, no matter what you asked her to do, she'd do it. No questions asked."

My mother’s face contorted with rage. "You really believe that? She's a master manipulator, always playing the victim for outsiders. She'd do anything I ask? Then why won't she agree to be Lily's maid of honor? It's been two days, and she won't even return my call."

"She's a selfish, worthless parasite," she spat, her voice dripping with venom. "Serves her right she couldn't even hold on to her own boyfriend."

Mark shook his head, a sad, defeated look on his face. He wanted to say more, but it was family business. He let it drop.

I stood right there in front of her, a ghost in the room, listening to every poisoned word. Tears I could no longer physically cry streamed down my face.

Mom, I wasn't being selfish.

I was just… dead.

I died the day you called me about Lily's wedding.

The dismembered body you saw today… that was me.