Chapter 1

The first year after I died, my daughter, Lily, was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Director Davis from the orphanage called Nicholas, telling him they needed half a million dollars for her treatment.

He was holding Barbara, his childhood friend, absently toying with her hair. His face was cold as ice.

"No treatment. If she dies, she dies. She can just go keep her short-lived mom company."

In the end, Lily died at the orphanage because there was no money for her medical care. Director Davis called Nicholas again. He sounded annoyed.

"Oh? Is she really dead this time?"

It was a full day after Lily died before Nicholas finally showed up at the orphanage, sauntering in without a care.

He looked even colder than when I’d last seen him a year ago. In his hands were bags full of baby supplies.

My heart twisted. No wonder he was so late. It was because his current wife was already pregnant with his child.

He saw Director Davis and snapped, "Where’s Lily’s body? Weren't you calling me non-stop to come and deal with it?"

The director, who had been wiping away tears, froze. She led him to the room where Lily’s body lay.

Nicholas walked over, pulled back the white sheet, glanced at it, and then chuckled.

"Not bad. This prop looks pretty real. Chloe must have paid you a lot to put on this act with the orphanage, right?"

The director’s anger flared. "Mr. Nicholas, Lily is truly gone. If I didn't need a relative's signature for the cremation, I wouldn't have bothered you."

Nicholas ignored her and spoke directly to Lily, who was still covered by the sheet.

"Looks like you weren't that important to your mom either! You're dead, and she still won't show up."

My nose stung.

Nicholas, it’s not that I don’t want to show up. It’s because I'm already dead.

I died a year ago.

But for some reason, my soul stayed by Lily's side after death.

Countless nights, I watched Lily convulse in pain, kneeling on the ground and calling my name. Yet, I was powerless.

And her biological father? He was busy creating a new life with his childhood friend.

Lily didn't seem like his flesh and blood; she was more like trash he'd tried every possible way to discard.

"Since she's dead, I can take her body, right?"

Nicholas's words pulled me back from my thoughts.

He walked out the front door, answered a phone call, and then tossed Lily’s body into a garbage can. He even remembered to tell his bodyguards to buy some hungry dogs from a pet store.

I was stunned. After I registered what was happening, I immediately flew into the garbage can, frantically trying to pull Lily's body out.

He wanted Lily to be torn to pieces!

But no matter how hard I tried, I could only watch helplessly as drooling, vicious dogs slowly closed in on Lily’s body.

Nicholas’s lips curled into a cold smile. He murmured, "Trash belongs in the trash can."

"Chloe, why would I want your discards?"

I screamed in despair, "Nicholas, this is our Lily!"

The stray dogs pounced on Lily, tearing at her relentlessly. When cold blood splattered onto the ground, a flicker of confusion crossed Nicholas's eyes, but it vanished instantly.

"The props are quite convincing, but even if this little brat was truly dead, I wouldn't feel a thing."

"Just like your dead mother, you should have been out of my life long ago."

Nicholas only looked away, satisfied, when the hungry dogs had devoured Lily’s remains, leaving nothing intact.

Just then, Director Davis rushed out of the orphanage. She was speechless at the sight.

She pointed a trembling finger at Nicholas. "You... you…"

Nicholas looked at the director with icy eyes, a confident smirk on his face.

"Tell Chloe that if she wants custody, she shouldn't hide. This trick of using the little brat to fake her death won’t fool me."

"My mother's anniversary is coming up. If she doesn't show, I don't mind making sure this little brat is truly dead."

He emphasized "truly dead" with chilling intensity.

Others might think he was joking. What father could be so cruel to his own daughter?

But I knew. He meant every word.

I suddenly felt a strange relief, a twisted gratitude that Lily was truly dead.

Before Director Davis could speak, Nicholas left, surrounded by his bodyguards.

My soul followed him.

The bodyguard drove to a villa. As soon as they reached the entrance, a woman with a visibly pregnant belly ran out to meet him.

Her figure felt incredibly familiar.

It wasn't until she walked up and embraced Nicholas that I remembered who she was.