Chapter 1The Five-Year Ghost: My Husband Demands I Take the Fall Again

Five years after my death, Carter Hayes demanded that I take the fall for his first love once again.

Clutching a written confession, he stormed into the rundown apartment complex on the wrong side of town, only to be met with my black-and-white memorial portrait and an altar covered in dust.

In his bewilderment, he grabbed a neighbor from downstairs and demanded to know where I was.

The neighbor replied nonchalantly:

"Sarah Evans? She died five years ago."

"It was an absolute tragedy. The family from that medical malpractice lawsuit cornered her in her apartment and stabbed her over a dozen times. Even her little boy took two of the hits!"

Carter let out a cynical scoff. "She just took the blame for Chloe once. It was just a revoked medical license. Does she really need to put on this elaborate, melodramatic show?"

"Tell me, how much did Sarah pay you to say this? She even got my son to play along with this pathetic pity act!"

The neighbor shot Carter an impatient, disgusted look. "Are you blind? Do you not see the memorial shrine right there? For the last five years, that little boy upstairs has been living all by himself. Word around here is that he couldn't get ahold of his father no matter how hard he tried."

"Bullshit! I've been sending Sarah child support every single month!"

Carter roared, his anger flaring. "It was just a damn medical license! I’ve been the one paying for her mother's medical bills too! I can't believe Sarah has the nerve to use my money to hire actors to put on this play. She’s completely lost her mind!"

"You tell her, if her signature isn't on this confession within three days, I'm cutting off both her mother's medical funds and the child support!"

The neighbor couldn't take it anymore and spat back, "Her and her old lady are nothing but two memorial portraits sitting right there! You're the one who's out of your damn mind!"

With that, the neighbor slammed his door shut.

Refusing to believe it, Carter kicked open the flimsy, battered front door of the apartment and barged right into my memorial room.

I watched as he clutched the confession letter. Without even glancing at the portraits of me and my mother, he shouted:

"Sarah Evans, get the hell out here right now! Chloe is about to be sentenced to prison, and you're still throwing a tantrum?!"

Five years ago, a patient died under Chloe Miller's care. Carter used my mother's life-saving medical funds to blackmail me into taking the fall for her.

Then, to protect the reputation of the Hayes Corporation, he coldly and ruthlessly kicked both me and our son, Leo, out of our home and banished us to this slum.

For five years, he never contacted me once.

I never expected that his sudden reappearance would be to demand I take the fall for his precious first love yet again.

Carter paced around the tiny room twice. Failing to find me, he curled his lip in deep dissatisfaction.

"You're an unemployed parasite who relies entirely on me to survive, and you dare throw a tantrum? You really must have a death wish!"

"Chloe is about to be locked up, and you're still hiding. I know exactly what you're doing. You're trying to use this as leverage to force your way back into my life. Keep dreaming!"

His eyes, red with anger, swept viciously across the room as he barked an order to his men:

"Smash this place to pieces! Cut off all funding for her mother's medical bills and Leo's child support! Let's see how long she can hold out!"

The moment the words left his mouth, several men rushed in and began destroying the apartment.

The framed photos and the meager, cheap furniture were all hurled to the floor. The memorial portraits of me and my mother were smashed to pieces.

I desperately tried to stop them, but my hands passed right through everything.

"No! This is my and Leo's home! This is all we have left!"

"Carter, I'm already dead! Make them stop!"

Carter just stood there, watching the destruction with cold, detached eyes.

Noticing that his men had intentionally avoided the two cheap-looking urns sitting in front of the altar, he actually walked over to them.

He picked up the two urns and sneered:

"Sarah, your acting is pretty convincing. You even bought prop urns."

"You're willing to curse yourself and your own mother just to see Chloe go to prison. You are truly a vicious, toxic bitch!"

With that, he raised the two urns, preparing to smash them onto the floor!

Just then, a small noise came from inside the apartment.