Chapter 2
I couldn’t hold it in anymore and yelled after his retreating figure, “Claude, you jerk p>
Gabrielle schemed to drug his drink and lure me into his bed, thinking she owed me and fearing to tell Claude about her cancer diagnosis, confiding in me instead. She worried that with her gone, no one would look after me. But to my shock, Gabrielle tampered with Claude’s drink and my soup that night.
When I woke up, I found myself in Claude’s bed, and before I could even process what happened, he had thrown me out along with the blankets.
I never thought of guilt-tripping him. He always had the upper hand. Even our marriage certificate was acquired through Gabrielle’s manipulations. I got entangled with the Hart family until my last breath. It was their family who drove me to this end. After Claude left, my spirit felt compelled to follow him. As we left the courthouse, Claude’s childhood friends greeted Kate with white sages, a traditional gesture to ward off evil spirits.
A few swipes with the sages sent my lightweight spirit flying far, crashing into a nearby stone bench. Thankfully, being a spirit meant no pain.
“I knew it. With Claude around, Kate would be fine,” one of them said.
Another suggested, “To celebrate Kate’s safety, let’s hit the bar and party till dawn p>
Claude offered a doting smile, opened the car door, and carefully guided Kate to the passenger seat, protecting her head as she got in.
Once in the car, Kate voiced her concern, “Mrs. Hart had a point. It’s been days since we’ve heard from Claire. I’m worried something might have happened to her. I’d feel guilty for life if we went hiking together and something happened to her p>
I scoffed, “Yeah, we went hiking together, but somehow, I’m the one who’s dead. Just my bad luck p>
Claude snorted impatiently, loosening his tie to reveal his tanned skin. “If she hadn’t been obsessed with visiting her parents’ grave and dragged you into that hike, leaving you alone in the woods, you wouldn’t have encountered those psychopaths. She abandoned you, and now, acting all high and mighty, she doesn’t even answer calls or come home p>
“I think Claire is just headstrong, not a bad person. Besides, her family has been good to you,” Kate pretended to reason.
Claude scoffed again dismissively, “I’ve repaid whatever I owed them. You don’t need to defend her. After going through something so traumatic, let’s just relax and take your mind off things. You must be pretty shaken up p>
Sitting in the back, I started laughing, which soon turned into tears. I could almost see Kate smirking triumphantly.
Kate insisted on the hike, but somehow, it got twisted as if I were the one who insisted. Claude was always predisposed to blame me.
Halfway up the mountain, someone knocked me unconscious from behind. When I woke, I was in a dark, moss-covered room, the air foul with decay Three monsters then brutally murdered me, leaving my stomach bleeding profusely.
Claude’s phone ringing snapped me back to reality.
“Hello, is this Claude Hart? We’re police from Crestview Metropolis. We’re investigating a murder. What’s your relation to Claire Floyd?” Claude pulled over sharply. “She’s involved with the murder now p>
He still thought I was causing trouble, a cold glint in his eyes.
“She might be in trouble. We found her clothes and shoes near the site of the triple murder case you worked on p>
A frown creased Claude’s forehead.
“She’s probably run away from home again, playing games, just waiting for me to find her. Leaving her shoes is just part of her act. There’s no need to go looking. She’ll come home once she’s had enough fun,” he said before he hung up, leaving the detective baffled.
But the discovery of a severed finger in a bag prompted another call to Claude.
The detective said, “You might want to come over. We also found a severed finger. The smaller burned body from today’s case was missing a finger. We’re doing a DNA comparison. You should come.” Claude froze. That missing finger had eluded a massive search effort because the smaller body had been further disfigured with acid, making identification impossible.
Claude answered, “I’ll be right there p>
In the backseat, I looked at my
missing ring finger, recalling the
pain. Each escape attempt from that
dark room came with violence.
Once,
e, they broke my finger and
discarded the wedding ring Claude had given me, leaving me in agonizing pain.
That agony was unforgettable, even in my spectral form!