Chapter 3

When Jeremy said he was hungry, Nellie, despite being a doctor, personally went out to get him food. However, as she stepped out, the nurse wheeled me past her, covered in a white sheet. For once, Nellie's face showed a flicker of sympathy. She sighed softly and lowered her head, as if pausing for a brief moment of compassion. If she had looked closer, she would have noticed my hand beneath the sheet, still wearing our wedding ring. Once my body was gone, Nellie immediately shifted back into a look of happiness and headed to the cafeteria. My heart ached. If she could show that little sympathy for a stranger, what would she do if she knew I was dead and that she was the one who killed me? Jeremy was discharged from the hospital a month later. During that month, Nellie took care of everything. From changing his dressings to helping him to the bathroom, she handled it all herself. Compared to me—her husband—she was far more attentive to this outsider. For some people, just being there was enough to make Nellie go out of her way to care for them. She brought Jeremy to live in my house. His family had gone bankrupt, his parents had moved overseas, and he'd been left alone. His living conditions were poor, and Nellie couldn't bear to see him suffering as a patient. She never once thought to discuss it with me. Of course, even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to find me. When they arrived at my place, my mother and my daughter, Daisy Hayes, were in the living room. Daisy was sprawled over the coffee table, doing her homework. When she heard the door open, she jumped up excitedly and ran toward the entrance, calling out sweetly, "Daddy!" However, when Daisy saw Nellie and Jeremy, her little face fell, disappointment clear as day. Jeremy put on a show of warmth and reached out to pat her head, smiling as he said, "Daisy's grown so fast… Time really flies." Daisy instinctively flinched and ducked behind my mother. Jeremy's hand froze mid-air awkwardly, and Nellie slapped Daisy across the face. I wanted to rush forward to stop her, but my hand passed straight through her body. Right. I was dead. I couldn't even protect my own daughter anymore. Daisy froze for a moment, her eyes filling with tears, but she didn't dare cry aloud. "You're so disrespectful, just like your dad. Haven't I been trying to teach you better? Must be that narrow-minded dad of yours, spoiling you!" In the past, Nellie's attitude toward Daisy had always been cold and distant, but she never laid a hand on her. Today, Daisy simply rejected someone she disliked, and Nellie punished her for it. Her care for Jeremy went beyond even her own family. I stood there in despair, my heart breaking for Daisy. She had always been close to me. Hearing Nellie insult me, she finally talked back for the first time, crying as she shouted, "Mommy, you're mean! Daddy isn't like that! Daddy's the best dad in the world!" Nellie's hand lifted again, ready to strike. I wanted to intervene, only to remember I was dead. My mother had to shield Daisy instead. "Are you hitting your kid in front of a stranger? Daisy's old enough to know right from wrong. Horatio hasn't come home for a month, and instead of bringing him back, you brought some outsider. What do you think Daisy's supposed to think?" My mother rarely spoke up, and thankfully, I had left Daisy in her care before the accident. The consequences would have been terrible otherwise. Nellie looked at my mother with disdain. "If you want to know what your son did, go ask him yourself. I'm his wife, and after everything that happened, he hasn't even shown up once. If he wants to act like a child, that's his problem."