Chapter 1

Breakup Year Four: My ex-girlfriend, Nora, finally located my home after a long search.

Back when her mother passed away, her father remarried, and her stepmother made her life unbearable, I left her. She resented me deeply for it.

But when she opened the door, it wasn't me she saw—it was my daughter.

Nora assumed I had anticipated her visit and was hiding, so she vented her anger on my daughter, hitting and yelling at her.

My daughter suffered an asthma attack and was barely hanging on.

Meanwhile, Nora stood there with the inhaler, laughing hysterically. "Theo, if you don't come out now, your little bastard is going to die!"

What she didn't know was that I had been dead for four years.

Nora was trying on wedding dresses when she got the call. Without looking back, she got into the car.

"Drive faster! Even faster!"

The fury she had suppressed for years surged with every press of the gas pedal. Today was supposed to be the day she and her childhood friend, Finn, took their wedding photos.

But a phone call pulled her away, leading her to a grimy alley in the north part of town.

Despite the scorching summer heat, Nora ignored the unbearable stench, letting her pristine wedding dress brush against the filthy garbage. She stood before a rusty iron door, and before she could knock, it swung open on its own.

It was my seven-year-old daughter, Hazel. Hazel timidly held a bag of cans and asked, "Pretty Auntie, who are you looking for?"

Nora brushed off Hazel's question, barged in, and accidentally knocked over the cans. After searching in vain, she seized Hazel by the collar, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Where's Theo? Where is he? Tell him to come out and face me."

Hazel's face flushed red as she struggled to break free, especially after hearing my name. I was desperate to stop it all but couldn't do anything. I forgot—I was dead, just a wisp of a spirit now, helpless.

Seeing the face of the woman I once loved now twisted by hatred was like a knife to my heart.

"Bad Auntie, why are you looking for my dad?"

Hearing this, Nora released Hazel's collar, shocked, before bursting into laughter at Hazel's face.

"Dad?"

"So you're the little bastard Theo had with another woman behind my back."

"I'm not a bastard! I'm not!" Hazel cried out.

Hazel was young but very sensible. I found her by chance in a park when she was only three years old. She had big eyes and sat quietly, watching people pass by. Seeing how pitiful she was, I insisted on adopting her.

I tried to give Hazel the best of everything, but everything changed after I died. Now Hazel wore a dirty floral dress, her face smudged like a little flower cat, and she reeked from collecting cans to exchange for money.

After a while, Finn, Nora's impeccably dressed fiancé, showed up at the door.

"Nora, this place is filthy. Why are you here? Let's go back."

"Let go of me! After four years, I've finally found Theo. I must see him today!"

Finn shook Nora's shoulders, his tone filled with exasperation.

"Why are you still thinking about him? Have you forgotten what he did to you? Why bother seeing a heartless jerk like him?"

Yes, the heartless jerk they're talking about is me.

Now Nora is a renowned designer in the jewelry world, but behind her glamorous facade lies a past she can't erase. I broke up with her when her mom died, her dad remarried, and her stepmother was making her life hell, using my infidelity as an excuse.

Luckily, she made it through the tough times. Now she wants to find me, humiliate me, and crush me underfoot, making me regret my past decisions.

After all, she hates me to death.