Chapter 4

Nora clapped her hands and said instantly, "Hasn’t she been trying to find her fated mate lately? We can trip her up."

Even if I was not smart, I could hear the malice dripping from her words.

Mia and I grew up together. She never left me out just because I was stupid.

If Nora ruined Mia’s life and if she made Mia unhappy for the rest of her days, I’d... I’d refuse to go on.

Then it hit me: I was already dead.

And that thought made me panic even more.

That night, Carter came back.

Nora made dinner. Halfway through the meal, Carter suddenly said,

"Mr. Adrian just moved into a new place. He’s throwing a housewarming party. Do you want to go with me?"

Nora looked at Carter, thrilled. "I want to."

Carter set down his knife and fork and looked up at her.

"But aren’t you sick? There’ll be a lot of people there. Can you handle it?"

Nora blinked, all soft tenderness. "With you caring about me, I’ll get better fast."

Carter nodded and stopped eating.

"I still have work to handle tonight. I’m going back to the study. I’ll come keep you company later."

With that, he stood up and left.

Looking at the dishes he barely touched, Nora felt a little unsettled.

She called Ann in, anxious. "Why did Carter eat so little? Did I make it wrong? But I followed Rory’s recipes exactly!"

After Carter forbade me to draw, my days became unbearably dull, so I started studying cooking instead.

I’d written notebooks full of recipes, several of them.

But Nora was thinking too simply.

It wasn’t just about the recipe. The emotion of the person cooking mattered, too.

On the way back to her room, Nora couldn’t stop cursing:

"Can’t get pregnant, and all she does is cause trouble. Shamelessly clinging to Carter, refusing to step aside! She’s only holding on because she’s Carter’s fated mate. But I am, too!"

Her eyes turned red as she spoke, her whole body shaking with anger.

But I didn’t understand. Why did Carter and Mr. Adrian develop Nora to replace me and then still came to my home to pick me up?

Ann chimed in, "Calm down."

Nora drew a deep breath. After a long moment, she finally steadied herself and asked,

"Does Ethan really have a drug addiction and violent tendencies?"

Ann answered, "Yes. His father thinks having a son like that is shameful. Everyone keeps their mouths shut, so nobody knows. But I overheard it. Whoever marries him is basically signing up for a near-death sentence. And the worst part is Ethan is really good at pretending."

Nora clapped her hands and burst into laughter.

"Then they’re perfect together. Maybe I really did find Mia her fated mate."

Then she spoke slowly into the empty air, "Rory, I wonder what it feels like up there, watching Carter destroy your corpse, and then watching Mia get beaten to death."

I knew. I knew exactly what she meant.

I screamed, my face soaked in tears.

But no matter how I punched her, how I kicked her, I couldn’t hurt her, not even a little.

My soul didn’t have much time left.

Carter! How could you not see that she wasn’t me?

I drifted to the study and found Jack talking to Carter about something.

I only caught Carter’s furious voice: "Look into it. I don’t care what it costs."