Hidden in a quiet corner, he called me again and again.
“Emily, answer the phone.”
No one picked up. He quickly typed out a text instead:
“Tell me, where are you?”
“Don’t tell me you’re still at Ryan’s place. I’ve sent people to check several times—he swears he sent you back already.”
“But you never returned to the Miller family. Where did you go? Today’s my wedding day—why aren’t you here? Are you… still mad at me?”
But there was never a reply.
Daniel frowned, distracted, but still forced himself to smile while drinking with Chloe and their guests.
When the wedding ended, everyone offered them their blessings.
Yet that night, Chloe sat alone in the bridal suite, staring at her stomach, tears silently rolling down her face.
“Daniel, I don’t want to have a baby. I’m scared that after giving birth, my body will never be the same.”
“And I heard childbirth can cause cancer, or amniotic embolism. I’m terrified…”
Daniel pulled her into his arms with pity.
“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart.”
His voice was full of indulgence. “Now that Emily has fulfilled the marriage alliance, Ryan must be bored of her. It’s time to bring her back and let her carry the child for us through IVF.”
When he said this, there wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in his eyes.
But my heart turned utterly cold.
I raised my hand to touch my chest, only for it to pass straight through—I was already dead, and long without a heart.
Daniel did begin searching for me.
He spent a fortune hiring private investigators, sent out bodyguards, combed through surveillance footage…
But all of it was in vain.
“How strange. Emily’s a living person—how could she just vanish into thin air?”
Chloe, casually doing her nails, spoke lazily:
“Daniel, maybe she secretly ran back to the countryside. She always complained that the Miller family was cold and heartless, that it wasn’t her home.”
Her words struck him.
The next afternoon, he led a group of men back to the countryside cottage where I used to live.
His steps creaked against the cobblestone path leading to the little house.
“Emily!”
Daniel frowned, calling my name. But the next moment, his eyes fell on the overgrown weeds around the cottage, his gaze flickering with something complicated.
The bodyguards exchanged uneasy looks.
“Mr. Reed, it doesn’t look like anyone’s lived here in a long time.”
“Would Miss Emily really be here?”
Daniel Reed frowned, silent.