Chapter 1

The day I was kidnapped, the abductors called my fiancée of five years, demanding a $50,000 ransom.

But she only sounded irritated on the other end. "Ethan, you know I don't have that kind of money."

"I just lent our remaining fifty thousand to Julian."

My fiancée was supposedly poor, yet she didn’t hesitate for a second to give away all our savings to rescue her childhood crush.

But after my death, as my spirit floated by her side, I discovered the truth. She was actually a billionaire heiress from New York's elite high society.

She hung up the phone and laughed about it with her friends.

"Ethan has officially gone crazy. He actually thought I’d fall for some fake kidnapping scheme just so he could play the victim."

But when my cold corpse was finally laid out in front of her, she completely lost her mind.

The sharp blade pierced my heart. Strangely, the pain only brought a sense of relief.

Nobody knew the pure hell I had endured in those final hours before my death.

They had used a knife to carve into my skin, inch by inch, letting my blood pool onto the cold floor.

They were professional torturers. Every single cut was calculated to bring maximum pain without killing me instantly.

Finally, they drove the blade straight into my heart, ending my miserable life.

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing inside a luxurious VIP lounge. The loud, chaotic music gave me a pounding headache.

I looked around, completely lost as to why my soul had ended up here after death.

Then, my eyes fell on Madelyn, who was sitting right in the center of the crowd, leaning comfortably in Julian’s arms.

Julian gently stroked her hair. Madelyn didn't pull away. She just rested her shoulder against his, looking completely relaxed.

They looked like a perfect, picture-perfect couple. It pierced my eyes like a physical blow.

I rushed forward, trying to pull her away from him, but my hands passed straight through her body. It was useless.

Both Madelyn and Julian were dressed in designer clothes. The people surrounding them kept tossing out flattering compliments.

Didn't Madelyn tell me that Julian’s family was going through a financial crisis? Wasn't that why she kept taking our money to bail him out?

But looking at this luxurious lounge, the groveling crowd, and the effortless aura of wealth and arrogance radiating from both of them...

None of this looked like a family struggling to survive.

My mind went blank. Suddenly, the words of my killers flashed back to me.

"Man, this guy is pathetic. What's fifty grand to a billionaire heiress like Madelyn Sterling? But she wouldn't even spend a single penny to save his life."

"She and Lord Julian are a match made in heaven. Who does this trash think he is? Pathetic."

I felt something wet on my face. One of the kidnappers had spit on me.

In my memory, I raised a hand to wipe the filth away, but I could only watch helplessly as they threw me back into the dark corner of the warehouse to rot.

Before I closed my eyes for the last time, I actually thought it was funny.

I thought those thugs had the wrong person. Maybe it was just someone with the same name.

Because in my world, Madelyn was just a hardworking girl from a poor background, struggling to get by.

How could she have anything to do with some elite high-society family?

But now, looking at the glamourous Madelyn in front of me, raising her champagne glass as everyone toasted to her...

Her dominant status in this room was glaringly obvious.

I stared at her, memorizing every detail of her face.

I desperately searched for even a single difference between this woman and the Madelyn I knew.

But no matter how hard I looked.

She was Madelyn. The girl I had loved for five years. The fiancée who had promised to marry me.

I remembered the phone call the kidnappers had made to her.

They had asked for fifty thousand dollars.

But she had only reacted with annoyance. "Julian is in a tough spot. I already gave him the last fifty thousand we had. Your little tantrums won't work on me anymore."

"I literally have no money."

The kidnapper had paused, letting out a dark chuckle. "Miss Sterling, if you don't pay up, Ethan Vance is going to die today."

"Then let him die."

Those were the very last words I heard from her before my heart stopped.

And just as she wished, I was dead.