Chapter 2

John's colleagues did not arrive at the scene until two hours after I had gone missing.

After taking Tammy to the hospital, John stayed by her bedside the whole time. Apparently, he was so preoccupied with her that he even forgot to notify his colleagues to rescue me.

By the time he remembered, I had already been beaten to the brink of death, left in a hidden cave in the mountains, quietly waiting for my death.

His colleague, Wilson Waters, searched the mountains with a flashlight, desperately looking for me. Unfortunately, I had already died in that cave. My spirit followed him, watching as he anxiously called John.

"John, I've searched the entire mountain, and there's no sign of Sandra. Could she have—"

On the other end of the line, John's voice came through, indifferent.

"What could've happened to her? She's probably already released and is hiding somewhere, angry at me."

Wilson hesitated before speaking again.

"John, Sandra's not that kind of person. If she were safe, she wouldn't waste police resources like this.

"You should probably help with the search, just in case."

At that point, I had disappeared without a trace. If something had happened to me, no one could bear the responsibility.

John, suppressing his frustration, replied coldly, "Why would I go? I already told you she'd be fine. The kidnappers were only trying to scare her. They didn't hurt Tammy, did they?

"Alright, just go home and rest. When she sees no one is paying attention to her tantrum in a few days, she'll come out on her own."

Wilson wanted to say more, but John, growing impatient, had hung up.

A chill ran through me. We had ten years together. Even animals would have been more loyal to each other. However, not John. Not only did he not care, but he also felt searching for me was a nuisance.

For the first time, I felt thankful that I was already dead, no longer having to entangle myself with someone so heartless. I wanted to leave, but I could not help but follow Wilson. My spirit drifted along until we reached John.

At that moment, he was still sitting by Tammy's hospital bed, so focused on her that he did not even notice Wilson entering the room.

Tammy was curled up in his arms, sobbing.

"John, I was so scared. When the knife was pressed against my neck, all I could think about was how much I regretted being so stubborn before, how I might have missed out on a life of being with you."

John gently stroked her hair, smiling softly with a tenderness I had never seen. He spoke to her in a soothing voice.

"Don't be afraid, Tammy. I told you, no matter what happens, I'll do everything I can to protect you."

As I watched that deep affection between them, my heart twisted with unbearable pain. He must have forgotten that his wife was missing and potentially dead at that very moment. He had always been cold toward me, and I used to think that was just his nature. I never imagined he did not want to be kind to me.

We had known each other since childhood; our families had been close friends for years. I had always hidden my feelings for him, thinking we were never meant to be together. Shortly after graduation, he insisted on marrying Tammy, but his parents vehemently opposed it, and Tammy left in a fit of anger.

That night, I was sent by my father to deliver some documents to John's father. Unexpectedly, I ran into a drunken John, who, in his drunken stupor, pushed me against the wall and kissed me.

I knew I should not have let myself give in, but my love for him was too strong. Even though I knew he had mistaken me for someone else, I could not stop falling deeper into the moment. All night, when we made love, he called out Tammy's name.

The following day, when he sobered up, he was furious, grabbing me by the neck and accusing me of seducing him. However, it was he who had come on to me.

In the end, he still decided to marry me. At our engagement party, I was drugged and thrown onto a hotel bed, unconscious, alongside an equally intoxicated Chris.