Three years after my death, my husband finally remembered me. The reason was that his childhood sweetheart’s granular leukemia had relapsed, and she needed another hematopoietic stem cell transplant. He came to the house where I used to live, wanting me to sign a donation agreement. But he found that no one had lived there for a long time. He asked the neighbors about me. The neighbor said, “You mean Caroline? She died long ago! I heard she was taken to donate bone marrow while she was sick, and passed away just a few days after returning home.” He refused to believe it, thinking the neighbor was in cahoots with me to deceive him. He impatiently snapped at the neighbor, “If you see her, please tell her that if she doesn’t show up within three days, I won’t pay a cent more for the medical bills of that bastard child she’s raising.” Seeing that he wouldn’t listen to reason, the neighbor shook his head and left, muttering, “Poor child, he starved to death long ago…” Three years after death, my son and I were still wandering spirits. Our attachments were too deep to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Meanwhile, my husband Harrison had clawed his way up from the bottom of society, transforming into an enviable new business tycoon. I had once betrayed him without hesitation when he was at his lowest point. So he hated me. He wanted to flay me alive and rip out my tendons. Three years ago, he forced me to donate bone marrow to his childhood sweetheart Faye when I was ill. Bone marrow aspiration is an invasive procedure. I don’t know if it was due to a procedural error or my weakened immune system from illness. A week after the bone marrow aspiration, I developed a severe full-body infection, fell into a coma with high fever, and died at home. My three-year-old son, left with no one to care for him, eventually died by my side. In these three years, Harrison never came to see us, nor did he make a single phone call. Now, I held my son Tommy’s small hand as we floated in the air, watching Harrison kick the gate of the small courtyard where I used to live, over and over. Three years without seeing each other, he had changed a lot. His eyes were cold and ruthless. Familiar yet strange. Behind him stood Faye, wearing a mask and dressed in flashy clothes. Looking at her rosy cheeks and well-proportioned figure, she didn’t seem ill at all. Tommy, hearing the “bang bang” of the gate being kicked, hid in my arms, frightened. He looked up at me, his bright eyes showing both excitement and fear. “Mommy, has Daddy finally remembered us? He hasn’t come to see us for so long.” “But he seems very angry. Did Tommy make him unhappy?” “And who’s that lady standing there?” I stroked his head, my heart aching, my throat feeling as if something was stuck in it, unable to say a word. “Caroline, come out right now! Stop pretending to be dead in there!” Harrison shouted at the courtyard. The commotion alarmed Mrs. Johnson, who lived in the neighboring yard. Mrs. Johnson came out and asked Harrison, “Young man, who are you looking for? This house has been empty for a long time.” Harrison composed himself and asked, “Doesn’t Caroline live here? Has she moved?” Mrs. Johnson’s eyes dimmed as she sighed, “You mean Caroline? She died three years ago.” Harrison was stunned for a moment. Mrs. Johnson continued, “I heard she was taken to donate bone marrow while she was sick, and passed away just a few days after returning home. It’s such a tragedy.” Faye’s expression changed, her face turning pale. She defended herself pitifully, “Ma’am, please don’t say that. Bone marrow donation is safe, it doesn’t kill people.” “If she didn’t want to donate bone marrow to me, she could have just told me directly. There’s no need to curse herself, it’s not auspicious.” She said this loudly on purpose, as if I might be eavesdropping in the courtyard. Harrison, who had been in a daze, immediately relaxed upon hearing Mrs. Johnson’s words. A mocking smile appeared on his face. “Does she find it fun to act all day? If she’s going to make up lies, at least make them believable. Tell her to check if there are any cases of people dying from bone marrow donation.” Mrs. Johnson didn’t understand what they were talking about. She just repeated, “Poor thing, she was dead in the house for several days before anyone found out…” Harrison’s face was as cold as ice. He said to Mrs. Johnson, “I don’t know why you’re collaborating with her to deceive me, but please tell her that if she doesn’t show up to donate bone marrow to Faye within three days, don’t blame me for cutting off the dialysis treatment fees for that bastard child she’s raising.” Mrs. Johnson was dumbfounded. Then she shook her head, sighed, and prepared to return to her own yard. Harrison warned coldly behind her, “Remember! I’m only giving her three days. If she doesn’t show up, I won’t transfer a single penny of living expenses to her this month. Let her watch that bastard child die right in front of her.” Mrs. Johnson, with her back turned, had tears in her eyes. She muttered, “Poor child, he starved to death long ago. If only I could have gone over to check, I might have been able to save the child’s life…”
“Harrison, is it because Caroline doesn’t want to donate bone marrow to me, so she’s hiding?” Faye’s expression was on the verge of tears. Harrison affectionately ruffled her hair. “Silly girl, it’s just a little leukemia. Even if Caroline doesn’t donate bone marrow, I’ll search the whole country to find a suitable match for you.” Faye pouted and said, “But Caroline’s bone marrow has almost no rejection in my body. The doctor said he had never seen two people with such a high degree of bone marrow compatibility.” Harrison glanced at the locked gate, his tone filled with determination and promise: “Then for you, I’ll dig three feet into the ground to find her!” At that moment, my heart still inevitably ached. Looking at the two people standing in front of me, memories from years ago floated before my eyes. Harrison and I were college classmates. Back then, he was like the morning sun piercing through thin fog, warm and dazzling. I was the one who fell in love first. We got together after graduating from college. I once saw him as my salvation, my whole heart and eyes were filled with him. I followed him to start a business, to endure hardships together. He promised to take care of me for life. At first, he really did so. But ideals ultimately couldn’t withstand reality. In the early days of his startup, I often went with him to negotiate business deals. It was then that I met Lucas, the heir of Radiance Group. Lucas was a spoiled rich kid, working just for the experience of life. Ever since he saw me, he kept buzzing around me like a fly, even taking advantage of drinking occasions to get handsy with me. Finally, during one incident when Lucas tried to embrace me while drunk, Harrison directly smashed a wine bottle over his head. Because of this incident. Not only did we lose Radiance’s order, but we also had to pay all our savings to prevent Lucas from sending Harrison to prison. Of course, what we actually paid was far more than just that. That night, he held me in his arms and apologized to me. He said he was sorry, that when he succeeded one day, he would never let anyone bully me. Indeed, after his success, no one else bullied me. Only he did. I don’t want to reminisce anymore. I looked at that face that I hadn’t seen for many years but had become even colder and more ruthless. The stuffy summer wind messed up his hair and deepened his already furrowed brow. Making him look lost in thought. He held Faye in his arms, his gaze fixed on the half-foot-tall weeds at the courtyard entrance, lost in thought.
The year I “betrayed” Harrison was our second year of marriage. By then, I was already over a month pregnant. Only, neither of us knew about it yet. At that time, Harrison’s business had started to show some promise and had also secured several investments. It should have been steadily developing, but for some reason, it suddenly hit a slump, and even the investments that had been agreed upon were all withdrawn. The capital chain broke, and products began to have problems one after another. Bank loan payments were defaulted, and the mortgaged house, car, and factory were all about to be repossessed and auctioned off by the bank. During those days, Harrison couldn’t eat or sleep. To make matters worse, Harrison’s mother was diagnosed with cancer that year and needed a huge amount of money for treatment. I pulled some strings to investigate the cause and found out that the person behind sabotaging Harrison’s company was none other than Lucas, whose head Harrison had smashed with a wine bottle years ago. At this time, he also approached me. He said he could get the investment company under Radiance Group to invest in Harrison’s company, and could also pay for Harrison’s mother’s treatment. I knew he must have conditions. Would the devil do charity out of kindness? If he didn’t want his life, he must want to take something more important than life. I asked him what was the meaning of doing this? Lucas’s expression was filled with contempt: “I do what I want, do I need any meaning? I just like to see you insects, furious yet helpless against me.” “Besides, I haven’t gotten revenge for him smashing my head and making me bleed that time. Now it’s time for him to pay back.” I didn’t understand Lucas. He had a hundred ways to make Harrison miserable, but he specifically chose me. After many years, I still clearly remember the scene from that day. In the dimly lit private room, Lucas held me sitting on his lap. Harrison, who pushed open the door with the contract in hand, froze in place when he saw me clearly. With reddened eyes, he asked hoarsely, “Why?” I told him: “You can’t give me the life I want, but Lucas can…” Lucas laughed loudly. His greasy hand pinched my waist. I felt as if a thousand arrows were piercing my heart, utterly humiliated, yet I still giggled and dodged in response to the man’s touch. “Harrison, isn’t this good? I help you get resources, you sign contracts with Radiance, it’s mutually beneficial.” Disappointment gradually filled Harrison’s eyes. But he still firmly reached out his hand to me: “Caroline, come here! I don’t need you to do such things. The life you want, I will work hard to give you in the future.” His tone was pleading, his expression so desolate. At that moment, my heart felt as if it was being crushed back and forth by a thousand-pound stone, almost unable to breathe. He said: “Caroline, I don’t have to sign today’s contract, come home with me…” The once so confident and proud man, proud enough to unhesitatingly swing a wine bottle at the head of Radiance’s heir, was now begging so humbly. Lucas laughed arrogantly and gleefully. “Harrison, the woman you valued is nothing more than this. With just a crook of my finger, she crawled into my bed.” “So, what was the point of you smashing that wine bottle on my head back then? Haha…” Harrison ignored his words, just staring fixedly at me. I smiled as I clung to Lucas’s neck, smiling at him: “That’s right, Harrison, take it easy, don’t take things too seriously.” I don’t remember much about what happened later that night. I only remember that he signed the contract, his eyes blood-red, and said to me: “Caroline, in this life, we’ll never be done with each other!” Later, he went crazy developing his business. In just a few short years, he developed from a startup company into a listed company, and even became an industry leader in the previous year. He succeeded. And I became the biggest stain in his life. 3 Of course, I didn’t show up during the three-day deadline he gave. Harrison came to the gate of my small courtyard again. My son excitedly circled around his father, putting his transparent little hand into Harrison’s large hand hanging by his side. He turned back and jubilantly shouted to me: “Mommy, I’m finally holding hands with Daddy!” My eyes stung with tears, and I forced a smile at him. All these years, Harrison had always thought our son was Lucas’s, and he despised him, not even willing to give him a single glance. Although I had done a paternity test, which showed they were biologically father and son. He still refused to believe it, thinking I had paid for a fake report. Ever since that night, I lost all trust from Harrison. I asked him for a divorce. I also wanted to end this pathological relationship. But he just glared at me viciously: “Caroline, remember, you owe me for life, I said we’d never be done with each other.” “Divorce? Dream on!” He brought countless female companions home to spend the night, being intimate in front of me. Whenever I argued, he would tell me to think about how dirty I was when I rolled around with Lucas. This situation continued until Faye returned to the country. Since Faye came back to his side, he cut off all contact with those women from before. The two of them openly went out together. Even Harrison’s business partners referred to Faye as “Mrs. Ho”. My thoughts were pulled back to the present. I watched as Harrison stood at the gate calling me. The phone played a mechanical electronic voice, prompting that the number was out of service. He frowned, opened my WeChat, where the last message was still the one he sent me three days ago, urging me to show up soon to do the bone marrow match for Faye. Of course, I hadn’t replied. He opened my Moments, and when he saw the photo I posted four years ago, his hand paused for a moment. It was a candid shot I had taken, of him sitting on the sofa, our two-year-old son hugging his arm, resting his cute little head on Harrison’s shoulder. At the time, I thought it was beautiful and took the picture, but the next second he disgustedly pushed our son away. He enlarged the profile picture and looked at it for a good while, then returned to the chat box and sent me a message, “Caroline, you brought this on yourself. The three-day deadline is up, from today on I won’t transfer a single cent of living expenses to you.” He waited for a long time but still got no reply, so he raised his foot and kicked the gate hard. Tommy, who had been happily circling around Harrison, was frightened by this sudden action and trembled. He pouted and burst into tears, running into my arms: “Mommy, what’s wrong with Daddy suddenly? I’m scared…” I held him in my arms to comfort him: “Don’t be afraid, Tommy. Daddy can’t hurt you anymore. Look, there are butterflies over there. Do you want to fly over and play with the butterflies for a while?” I tried to distract him. Tommy turned his head and saw several butterflies fluttering. He broke into a smile through his tears, quickly wiped his eyes, and flew towards the butterflies. After kicking the gate twice, Harrison became even more irritated. He kept massaging his temples, then took out his phone and made a call. “Hello, is this the locksmith?” …
Half an hour later. Harrison pushed open the gate that was already covered in cobwebs. The grass in the courtyard was even deeper than at the gate, reaching up to Harrison’s waist. This place had obviously been abandoned for a long time. He stood in the courtyard, hesitating to go further. He had been here twice before, and he should remember that I had kept the courtyard well-maintained, not like the scene before him now. The first time he came was to send me and our son here. At that time, our two-year-old son had just been diagnosed with uremia, caused by congenital kidney dysplasia. He found the child inauspicious, so he bought this small farmhouse courtyard in a remote village town and had me and our son move here. He transferred 20,000 yuan in living expenses to me each month, which included our son’s dialysis treatment fees. The second time he came to this small courtyard was to forcibly take me to do a bone marrow match for his first love, Faye. If he still remembered, he would surely recall that the small courtyard was full of hydrangeas and roses. I had also made a swing for our son. While he was still in a daze, Faye’s call came in again. Her voice sounded a bit weak: “Harrison, have you seen Caroline? Will she come for the matching today?” Harrison comforted her: “I’ll handle this matter. You just cooperate well with the doctors’ treatment, don’t worry.” Faye’s voice choked up: “I know Caroline probably doesn’t want to donate bone marrow to me again. I can understand. She’s already saved me once, I can’t be greedy and ask her to save me a second time. If she’s hiding now, I don’t blame her, really…” It seemed to confirm that I was deliberately hiding because I didn’t want to donate bone marrow to her. Harrison was silent for a few seconds. To my surprise, he didn’t take Faye’s side. He said: “It’s not like that. I haven’t been able to contact her yet. How could she know in advance about your leukemia relapse and hide beforehand?” Faye was taken aback. She quickly explained: “Harrison, you misunderstood. That’s not what I meant.” Harrison interrupted her: “Faye, don’t worry. As long as Caroline is still alive in this world, I will definitely find her. Even if she’s dead, I’ll make her donate bone marrow to you before she dies.” Faye breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. After hanging up the phone, Harrison stood in front of the house door for a long time. Although the door wasn’t locked, he still didn’t push it open. If he had opened it, he would have seen… Two outlines drawn with white chalk. Those were drawn by the police after my son and I died. But he just stood there. In the end, he retreated from the courtyard again, bought a new lock from the locksmith, and locked the gate.
I discovered a strange phenomenon. As long as we followed Harrison, we could leave the place that had been constraining us. My son had been bored here for three years, so I decided to take him out for a stroll. He was very excited, constantly looking around and making various exclamations. But it seemed we couldn’t go too far away from Harrison. We followed Harrison back to his villa. My son was amazed at the luxuriously decorated villa, his mouth agape. He had lived here before he was two years old. But after so many years, he had probably forgotten. He flew around everywhere to look, while I floated with Harrison to his study. I watched him call the bank to freeze the supplementary card he had given me. Actually, if he had been more attentive, he would have noticed that he hadn’t received any consumption information for exactly three years. The money he had transferred to the supplementary card in these three years hadn’t been touched at all. He thought that after freezing the bank card, I would surely appear within a week. After all, our son’s uremia required constant dialysis before a kidney transplant. Twice a week, I couldn’t do without money. After doing all this, he opened his phone’s photo album and stared at it intently. I floated behind him and found that what he was looking at was actually the photo I had posted on WeChat. The photo of him and our son together. The faces of the big and small figures were like copied versions, with broad foreheads, thick eyelashes, slightly upturned eye corners, identical eyebrows, all speaking to the wonders of genetic inheritance. He wasn’t a fool. Of course he could see it. A phone ring broke the silence of the study. It was from the hospital. Faye had suddenly fallen into a coma at the hospital.
Harrison grabbed his car keys and rushed out. My son and I could only be forced to fly with him to the hospital. Perhaps running too hastily, Harrison bumped into a man wearing a high-end suit in the hospital lobby. I recognized the man, it was Lucas. Lucas stumbled back two steps. When he steadied himself and saw it was Harrison, he showed a surprised expression. “Well, if it isn’t our new tycoon Mr. Ho from South City. What brings you to the hospital so late at night, running in such a hurry?” Harrison hurriedly apologized and then directly bypassed him, running quickly towards the elevator. Lucas, however, persisted and quickly followed behind him, all the way to the hematology inpatient department. Faye wasn’t in her room, so Harrison rushed to her attending physician’s office. Only after learning that she was in the observation room, not in a coma but just dizzy from anemia, did Harrison finally breathe a sigh of relief. He sat down panting in the caregiver’s chair in Faye’s hospital room, staring blankly at the floor. It was clear that he was truly worried about Faye. Lucas leaned against the doorway of the room and asked with interest, “I thought your little childhood sweetheart’s illness was cured. Why is she back in the hospital?” Harrison didn’t want to discuss it, only replying flatly, “It relapsed.” In recent years, he had continued to have business dealings with Radiance, with more and more collaborative projects. Three years ago, Lucas had been forced by his father to go abroad, and the company’s business was handed over to other executives. Without Lucas causing trouble, Harrison’s career flourished even more. “So whose life do you plan to exchange this time?” Lucas suddenly asked. Harrison glanced at him as if looking at an idiot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lucas scrutinized his expression, the corner of his mouth revealing a strange smile. “You really are quite good at pretending. Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re being genuine or fake.” Harrison had already lost patience. He said in a low voice, “Mr. Lucas, if you have something to say, just say it. Being evasive isn’t like your style.” Lucas said, “I mean, isn’t Caroline already dead? Whose bone marrow do you plan to use to save your little sweetheart this time?”
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