Around one in the morning, Chloe walked out, wrapped in a towel.

She picked up her phone from the sofa and her pupils constricted when she saw the missed calls.

I curled up on the sofa, trembling, my mind filled with the images of my death.

Brandon's voice came from the bedroom. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe lowered her eyelids, deleted the call history, and walked towards Brandon with her phone, falling into his arms.

The way she smoothly deleted the call log was exactly like how she used to be the year I rarely came home to see her.

When I first went abroad, Chloe would always video call me.

She’d complain about how much work there was at the company, or she’d whine and say how much better it would be if I were by her side.

I’d respond to her while handling documents.

"When did you get so clingy?"

"Why are you whining and sniffling now?"

I thought I was just teasing her playfully, but her face instantly went pale.

Later, I realized.

When two people are together for a long time, their way of speaking unconsciously becomes more and more alike.

The next morning, Chloe left Brandon’s apartment.

As she left, she placed a soft kiss on Brandon’s face. "Sleep in, you don't have to go to the office today."

I found it somewhat amusing.

Before, Chloe was always meticulous about time.

Rain or shine, she would get up on schedule and wouldn’t allow me to be lazy, afraid of delaying the day’s work.

For sixteen years, I had grown accustomed to the habits she made me adopt.

But it turned out all her habits could be broken, and that exception, that special treatment, was only for certain people.

I followed Chloe to the company.

My assistant of three years was pacing anxiously outside Chloe’s office, clutching a contract.

Seeing Chloe, she spoke quickly, "Ms. Stone, there was a problem with the contract Mr. Miller negotiated a few days ago, right at signing."

"The other party insists on meeting Mr. Miller before they'll sign."

Chloe glanced at the assistant, seemingly not taking it too seriously, and said matter-of-factly, "Then call Ethan; he'll go."

The assistant looked at Chloe awkwardly; the phone line only gave a continuous busy signal.

Perhaps too many unanswered calls, Chloe’s brow furrowed deeper, and she slammed the contract she was reviewing onto the desk.

"How long has it been ringing?"

"You mean it hasn't gone through all morning?"

Chloe’s gaze swept over the young assistant standing nearby, impatience written all over her face.

The assistant flinched. "Yes, Ms. Stone."

I stood by the desk, a little surprised that my phone wasn't connecting.

Just last night, my phone had called Chloe’s.

Chloe probably thought I was doing it on purpose.

I pursed my lips, forcing a self-deprecating smile, and casually scanned the contracts scattered on the desk.

Many of the terms in the contract had been changed.

Completely different from the conditions I had originally negotiated.

Brandon’s doing.

After all, he had taken my place.

Chloe remained silent for a while, staring intently at her phone screen.

It showed her chat with me; two minutes ago, she’d sent me a message: "Call me back ASAP."

Chloe’s jaw was tight, a simmering rage building within her.

Until her best friend, Ashley, called her. "Chloe, Ethan, he…"

"Ethan isn't at the company."

"I'm looking for him too."

"If you reach him, tell him to come to the company as soon as possible."

Chloe cut Ashley off.

Without waiting for a response from the other end of the line, Chloe hung up abruptly and walked into the conference room.

I was pulled along by Chloe's rapid pace, a fleeting, hollow ache spreading in my chest.

Chloe had hung up too quickly.

So much so that I desperately wanted to know what Ashley was going to say next, but couldn't.

Was she going to say I was missing, or did she already know about my death?

It's truly humiliating, dying such a disgusting death.

The conference room was silent.

I had worked on that deal for nearly half a month, and Chloe broke up with me just as it was about to close.

Many people said Chloe used me up and tossed me aside like trash.

Now, the millstone wouldn't turn without me.

When Ashley arrived at the company, Chloe was in the middle of a furious outburst.

"Can't this company run without Ethan?"

"A whole group of people, and they can't do what one Ethan could?"

Ashley's hand paused on the door.

She hesitated for ten seconds, then burst in.

Behind her came Brandon.

"Chloe, what's wrong?"

Brandon spoke before Ashley could.

Chloe turned her head, her gaze passing through me and landing on Brandon, completely ignoring Ashley standing nearby.

"Look at this contract; what’s going on?"

"Light and Harmony suddenly backed out, saying they'd only sign if they saw Ethan."

A hard-to-miss flicker of something strange crossed Brandon’s eyes. He took the contract from Chloe’s hand and flipped through it. "Could Ethan be pulling something? After all…"

Brandon deliberately left his sentence unfinished, but everyone seemed to nod in knowing, sudden understanding.

But Ethan wasn't pulling anything, because Ethan was a ghost.

Only Ashley clenched her fists.

Chloe silently agreed with Brandon’s insinuation, then said "Meeting adjourned," leaving Brandon alone in the conference room.

After everyone left, Ashley lunged forward and grabbed Chloe's collar.

"Chloe, you're such a despicable person!"

"Ethan is dead! Dead! Are you not even willing to claim his body?"

"This is the company he founded with his own hands!"

"You kicked him out of the company, let everyone badmouth him. Chloe, are you even human?!"