Chapter 5

With that, Lucas turned to leave. Gabriel blocked his path and said coldly, "We're not done here. Where do you think you're going?" The two men squared off. Seeing they were about to come to blows in the police station, the officer rapped on his desk. "This is a police station! Sir, I need you to confirm whether you want to file a report or not." "No. It's not worth the trouble," Lucas said flatly. "Alright, but if she doesn't come home today, you'd better file that report. Otherwise, you'll miss the critical window for finding her." The officer tried to give Lucas some parting advice as they left, but Lucas brushed him off completely. Outside the station, Gabriel's anger finally boiled over. "You married Joanne. Why can't you treat her better?" Lucas smirked. "I don't love her. Why should I be nice to her? Do you want me to fake it for the rest of my life?" I stood between them, staring at Lucas. Despair filled my eyes. I was disgusted with myself, furious at the choices I'd made. "If you don't love her, why marry her? You could have walked away after that night." He meant that awful night. I didn't understand it then. Even now, I still don't get why Lucas acted like he'd take responsibility when he could have just forced me to get an abortion. "That's rich coming from you. Why didn't you step up and take her yourself?" I couldn't believe he'd say something so vile. In his mind, I was just some woman who'd sleep with anyone. "Joanne loved you completely. She even sacrificed everything for you..." Gabriel cut himself off. "Sacrificed what? What else don't I know?" Lucas asked, suddenly interested. "Never mind. There's no point now. Just find her and divorce her. I'll help with the kid." Right now, Gabriel still didn't know I was dead. This friend who'd always been willing to stand by me had done everything he could. "What kid? That heartless woman already killed the baby. Didn't you know?" Lucas' face darkened when he brought this up, as if I'd destroyed something that belonged to him. "She didn't just abort it. She sent the corpse to Roxanne." Gabriel's mouth twitched when he heard this, his face going pale. "That's impossible. Something terrible must've happened to her." Gabriel's eyes reddened as he stepped back, like he couldn't handle such devastating news. "Only a fool like you would think Joanne is some innocent angel. I don't want to waste any more time on this. If you want to find her, do it yourself and stop bothering me." Lucas turned away coldly. I watched him suddenly pause and glance in my direction before looking back at Gabriel. "And don't come looking for me again until that woman comes back. I don't want to hear anything about her." I used to think this man had at least a shred of humanity left. I never imagined he could be so ruthless. Meanwhile, Gabriel said nothing, as if the life had been drained out of him. I closed my eyes, waiting for Lucas to pull me away. In that moment, I felt my spirit slowly dissolving. An indescribable pain was washing over my entire being. Was I finally going to be free? The thought of leaving this world completely made me wonder what was waiting for me next. But the next second, I was back to normal. I figured maybe someone had found my body, so I couldn't leave yet. Perhaps only when my corpse completely disappeared from this world would I truly be free. When I opened my eyes again, Lucas was already gone. I stared at his retreating figure, feeling utterly confused. He'd left, so why was I still here? I tried to follow him, but I couldn't move from where I stood. It felt like some force was holding me back, preventing me from catching up. So I stayed behind with Gabriel. What was happening? Could some mysterious power be guiding me to say goodbye to someone more important? "Joanne, you're such a fool." After a long silence, I heard that weary sigh. Gabriel sat on the curb, head down, murmuring to himself. He was right. I really was a fool. If I'd listened to advice back then, maybe I'd still be living freely now. "If you can find me, please help me leave this world completely. Please." I placed my hand on his shoulder, my transparent fingers hovering in the air. Seeing this, I smiled bitterly at myself. "Joanne, where are you?" The man looked up, tears glistening on his face. Gabriel and I were just friends, yet he was crying for me. Then I thought about my husband, that husband in name only. He just saw me as a burden. Watching Gabriel's eyes redden with worry for me, I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn't say anything. All I could do was stand there and listen. After pulling himself together, he turned to leave. I thought I'd be stuck in the same spot, but an invisible force pushed me to follow Gabriel. I found myself trailing behind his car. What was going on? Could someone actually control my soul? Even though I was dead now, this feeling of being manipulated gave me the chills. Getting into the car with Gabriel, I watched him make call after call. "I told you to call the police and search every inch of this city. How is there still nothing? If you can't find her, you're all fired!" This was the first time I'd ever seen him this furious. In my memory, he'd always been gentle and composed. After hanging up, he threw his phone right out the car window. Seeing him fall apart like this made my heart ache. Suddenly, he floored the gas pedal, and I instinctively grabbed for the seat back. My hand passed right through it. I was surprised that even as a spirit, I could still feel startled. I stayed by his side as we drove back to his house. Just like I remembered from the past, nothing had changed here. He sat on the couch, staring blankly and lost in thought. I drifted aimlessly around his house, not knowing what to do with myself. When I was starting to get bored, he suddenly stood up and walked over to his bookshelf to press a button. The bookcase split apart on both sides. I had no idea he had a secret room in his house!