Five Years Too Late

Five years after I died, my husband finally remembered me.

The reason was simple: his precious first love, Zoey Young, had a relapse. Her organs were failing again, and she desperately needed a second transplant.

Jameson West tracked down my old apartment and showed up with a donation agreement for me to sign.

But when he got there, the place was a tomb of dust and shadows.

He found the old security guard to ask about my whereabouts.

The guard looked at him with a mix of pity and confusion. "You mean Sera? That poor girl is long gone. She died right after that first surgery. I heard she was already sick, but someone forced her to give up an organ anyway."

Jameson didn't believe a word of it. He was convinced I had paid the man to lie to him.

His face twisted with impatience as he barked at the guard. "If you see her, tell her she has five days to show up. If she doesn't, I'm cutting off every cent of the medical bills for that little brat she's raising."

The guard saw that Jameson was heartless and just shook his head. He walked away, muttering under his breath.

"Poor kid... she probably starved to death alone in that room anyway..."

For five years, my daughter Lily and I have been nothing but wandering ghosts.

Our regrets were too heavy to let us move on to the next life.

Jameson, meanwhile, had climbed from the bottom of the social ladder to become a billionaire tech mogul. Everyone envied him.

He hated me because I had supposedly betrayed him when he was at his lowest.

He wanted to see me suffer. He wanted to strip me of everything.

Five years ago, he forced meDeven though I was already struggling with failing healthDto give my kidney to Zoey.

He told me it was a minor, minimally invasive procedure.

But my body was already weak.

A week after the surgery, a massive infection took hold. I died in that cold apartment after falling into a coma from a high fever.

My six-year-old daughter, Lily, died right beside me because there was no one left to take care of her.

In all those five years, Jameson never visited. He never even called.

Now, I stood in the air, holding Lily's tiny, translucent hand. We watched as Jameson kicked the gate of our old courtyard with all his might.

He had changed. His eyes were colder, more ruthless than I remembered.

He felt like a stranger.

Zoey stood behind him, wearing a designer mask and expensive clothes.

Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked healthy for someone who was supposedly dying.

Lily shivered as the loud bangs echoed through the air. She hid her face in my dress.

She looked up at me, her bright eyes filled with a mix of hope and terror.

"Mommy, did Daddy finally come for us? He hasn't visited in such a long time."

"But he looks so angry. Did Lily make him mad?"

"And who is that lady standing with him?"

I stroked her hair, my heart feeling like it was being shredded by a thousand blades. I tried to speak, but my throat felt like it was filled with lead.

"Seraphina! Get out here right now! Stop playing dead!"

Jameson's voice thundered through the empty yard.

The noise drew the security guard out again.

The old man sighed. "Son, who are you looking for? Nobody has lived here for years."

Jameson straightened his suit and frowned. "Sera lives here. Did she move?"

The guard's eyes went dark. "Sera? Like I told you, she died five years ago."

Jameson froze for a split second.

The guard continued, "I heard someone dragged her to a hospital to give up an organ when she was already half-dead. She didn't last a week after she got back. It was a sin."

Zoey's expression shifted. Her face turned pale.

She put on a pathetic, aggrieved look. "Sir, don't say such things. Donating an organ is safe. It doesn't kill people."

"If Sera didn't want to help me, she could have just said so. She shouldn't curse herself like this. It's bad luck."

She spoke loudly, clearly hoping I was hiding inside, eavesdropping.

Jameson, who had looked stunned for a moment, suddenly relaxed when he heard Zoey's voice.

A mocking smile touched his lips. "She's still playing games, isn't she? She should at least make her lies believable. Tell her to Google how many people actually die from a simple donation."

The guard didn't understand their coldness.

He just repeated, "That poor girl... her body wasn't even found for days..."

Jameson's face turned back to ice. "I don't know why you're helping her lie, but tell her this: she has five days to get to the hospital for Zoey's sake."

"If she doesn't show, I'm stopping the payments for her brat's dialysis. I won't give her a single dime."

The guard was speechless.

He turned around to head back to his post, shaking his head.

Jameson shouted after him, "Remember! Five days! If she's not there, she can watch that little bastard die right in front of her!"

The guard's eyes grew red with tears. He whispered to himself, "That poor child... she starved to death years ago. If only I had checked the house sooner, maybe I could have saved her..."

"Jameson, do you think Sera is hiding because she doesn't want to save me?" Zoey asked, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry.

Jameson reached out and affectionately ruffled her hair.

"Don't be silly. It's just a little organ issue. Even if she won't do it, I'll search the whole country to find you a match."

Zoey pouted. "But my body didn't reject her last organ at all. The doctors said they'd never seen such a perfect match."

Jameson glanced at the locked gate, his voice full of dark promise. "Then for your sake, I'll dig her out of whatever hole she's hiding in."

Even though I was dead, my heart still ached.

Looking at the two of them, memories from years ago flooded back.

Jameson and I were college sweethearts. Back then, he was like the morning sunDwarm, bright, and full of life.

I was the one who fell first.

We started our lives together after graduation. I thought he was my savior.

I worked alongside him to start his business. We shared cheap meals and big dreams.

He promised he would take care of me forever.

In the beginning, he actually did.

But dreams eventually crumble under the weight of reality.

When the company was young, I went to every business dinner with him to help land deals.

That was when I met Jace Flynn, the heir to the Flynn Empire.

Jace was a spoiled playboy who only worked to entertain himself.

The moment he saw me, he hovered around like a fly. He would try to touch me whenever we were drinking.

One night, Jace got drunk and tried to force me into his lap. Jameson didn't hesitate. He grabbed a glass bottle and smashed it over Jace's head.

That one act of protection ruined us.

We lost the Flynn Empire's contracts and had to give up all our savings just to keep Jameson out of jail.

But the real price we paid was much higher.

That night, Jameson held me and apologized over and over.

He told me he would make it up to me. He promised that once he was successful, no one would ever bully me again.

He kept that promise, in a way.

No one else bullied me. Only him.

I didn't want to remember anymore.

I looked at his cold, ruthless face. The man I loved was gone.

The humid summer wind messed up his hair, deepening the frown on his face.

He looked burdened, but not by guilt.

He held Zoey close, his eyes fixed on the weeds that had grown a foot high in front of my door.

The year I "betrayed" Jameson was our second year of marriage.

I was only a month pregnant at the time. Neither of us knew it yet.

Jameson's business had finally started to take off. He had secured several investors.

Everything should have been perfect, but suddenly, the company hit a wall. Every investor backed out at once.

The money dried up. Products started having mysterious defects.

The bank called in our loans. They were going to seize the house, the car, and the factory.

Jameson couldn't eat or sleep.

To make matters worse, his mother was diagnosed with cancer that same year. We needed a fortune for her treatment.

I used my connections to find out who was sabotaging us. It was Jace Flynn.

He had never forgotten that bottle to the head.

Jace came to me with an offer.

He said he could have the Flynn Group invest in Jameson's company. He would even pay for the mother's medical bills.

I knew there was a catch. The devil doesn't do charity.

I asked him why he was doing this.

Jace looked at me with pure disdain. "Because I can. I like watching people like you crawl."

"Besides, I still haven't settled the score for my bleeding head. It's time he paid me back."

I didn't understand Jace. He had a hundred ways to ruin Jameson, but he chose to use me.

Years later, the scene is still vivid in my mind.

We were in a dimly lit VIP lounge. Jace had me sitting on his lap.

Jameson walked in, holding a contract, and froze when he saw us.

His eyes were bloodshot. His voice was a broken rasp as he asked, "Why?"

I told him, "You can't give me the life I want, Jameson. But Jace can."

Jace laughed loudly and squeezed my waist with his greasy hand.

It felt like a thousand arrows were piercing my heart. I was drowning in shame, but I forced a giggle and leaned into him.

"Jameson, this is a win-win. I get the resources, and you get the Flynn contract. Everybody's happy."

The light in Jameson's eyes died right then.

But he still reached out his hand to me. "Sera, come here. I don't need you to do this. I'll work harder. I'll give you everything you want."

His voice was pleading. He looked so broken.

My heart felt like it was being crushed by a steamroller. I could barely breathe.

He said, "Sera, I won't sign it. Just come home with me."

This proud, confident man was begging. The man who had once smashed a bottle over a billionaire's head was now a hollow shell.

Jace's laughter was triumphant.

"Look at her, Jameson. The woman you loved is just another girl I can buy with a snap of my fingers."

"Was that bottle worth it? Tell me!"

Jameson ignored him and just kept staring at me.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around Jace's neck. "Let it go, Jameson. Don't take things so seriously."

I don't remember much of what happened after that.

I only remember him signing the contract. With eyes full of hatred, he looked at me and said, "Seraphina, I will never let you go. We are done, but I will make your life a living hell."

After that, he became a madman for work.

In just a few years, he turned his small company into a massive corporation.

He succeeded.

And I became the biggest stain on his soul.

The five-day deadline passed, and obviously, I didn't show up.

Jameson returned to my little yard.

Lily was excited. She ran circles around her father, trying to put her tiny, see-through hand into his large one.

She turned to me with a grin. "Mommy, look! I'm finally holding Daddy's hand!"

My eyes burned. I forced a smile for her.

All these years, Jameson believed Lily belonged to Jace Flynn. He loathed her. He wouldn't even look at her.

I had a DNA test done. It proved he was the father.

But he refused to believe it. He thought I had faked the results with Jace's money.

After that night in the lounge, I had lost all his trust.

I had asked for a divorce many times. I wanted to end the toxicity.

But he would just glare at me. "You owe me, Sera. I told you, we're doing this until the bitter end."

"Divorce? Not a chance."

He brought countless women back to our house. He would touch them right in front of me.

If I tried to argue, he would remind me of how "dirty" I was for being with Jace.

This lasted until Zoey came back from abroad. Once she was back, he cut off all his other flings.

They were always together in public.

Even Jameson's business partners called Zoey "Mrs. West."

I snapped back to the present.

Jameson was standing at the gate, trying to call me.

The automated voice told him the number was no longer in service.

He frowned and opened our old messages. The last one was from five days ago, demanding I save Zoey.

Of course, there was no reply.

He scrolled through my social media feed. He stopped when he saw a photo from four years ago.

It was a candid shot I took. He was sitting on the sofa, and five-year-old Lily was leaning her head against his arm.

I thought it was beautiful, so I captured it. A second after that photo was taken, he had pushed her away in disgust.

He stared at the photo for a long time. Then, he typed another message.

"Fine, Sera. You asked for this. The five days are up. I'm cutting off your allowance today."

He waited for a reply that would never come. Finally, he kicked the gate in frustration.

Lily, who had been happily dancing around him, shivered at his sudden violence.

She burst into tears and ran into my arms. "Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy? I'm scared."

I held her close. "Don't be scared, baby. He can't hurt you anymore. Look, there's a butterfly. Why don't you go play with it?"

I tried to distract her.

Lily wiped her eyes and saw a butterfly fluttering near the weeds. She smiled and flew after it.

Jameson grew even more agitated. He rubbed his temples and pulled out his phone again.

"Yeah, is this the locksmith? I need a gate opened."

Half an hour later, the gate groaned open.

The weeds inside were even taller than the ones outside. They reached Jameson's waist.

The place was clearly abandoned.

He hesitated in the middle of the yard.

He had been here twice before. He should have remembered that I used to keep the garden beautiful.

The first time he came was to drop us off.

That was when Lily was diagnosed with her lung condition. He thought she was "bad luck," so he bought this remote house and banished us here.

He sent me three thousand dollars a month for everythingDliving expenses and Lily's treatments.

The second time he came was to drag me to the hospital for the first transplant.

If he had any memory left, he would remember the hydrangeas and roses I planted.

I even built a swing for Lily.

While he was standing there, Zoey called. Her voice sounded weak. "Jameson? Did you find Sera? Is she coming to the hospital today?"

Jameson tried to sound soothing. "I'll handle it. Just listen to the doctors. Don't worry."

Zoey sobbed. "I knew she wouldn't help me. I understand. She's just hiding, and I don't blame her. I really don't..."

She was acting as if it were a fact that I was hiding out of spite.

Jameson was quiet for a moment.

Surprisingly, he didn't take her side immediately. "That's not it. I haven't reached her yet. She probably doesn't even know you're sick again. She couldn't have known to hide in advance."

Zoey sounded choked up. "Oh... I didn't mean it like that."

Jameson interrupted her. "Don't worry, Zoey. If Sera is still on this earth, I will find her. Even if she's dying, I'll make sure she saves you first."

Zoey seemed relieved.

After hanging up, Jameson stood in front of the front door for a long time. The door wasn't even locked, but he didn't push it open.

If he had opened it, he would have seen something haunting.

Two outlines drawn in white chalk on the floor.

The police had drawn them after finding our bodies.

But he just stood there.

Finally, he backed out of the yard. He bought a new lock from the locksmith and locked the gate behind him.

I discovered something strange.

As long as we stayed near Jameson, we could leave the place where we died.

Lily was bored after five years in that yard. I decided to take her out.

She was thrilled. She kept pointing at things and gasping in wonder.

However, it seemed we couldn't drift too far away from him.

We followed Jameson back to his mansion.

Lily's jaw dropped when she saw the luxury.

She used to live here, but she was so young when we left that she must have forgotten.

While she flew around exploring, I drifted into Jameson's study.

I watched him call the bank. He was freezing the credit card he had given me.

If he had been paying attention, he would have realized I hadn't spent a single cent in five years.

The money he deposited every month was still sitting there, untouched.

He thought that by freezing the card, I'd show up within a week.

He knew Lily needed expensive treatments. He thought I couldn't survive without his money.

After finishing the call, he opened his photo gallery.

I hovered behind him. He was looking at the photo I had posted on social media years ago.

The one of him and Lily.

The father and daughter looked like carbon copies of each other. The same forehead, the same thick lashes, the same tilt to their eyes.

He wasn't an idiot. He had to see the resemblance.

A sudden ringtone broke the silence. It was the hospital.

Zoey had collapsed.

Jameson grabbed his keys and bolted out the door.

Lily and I were pulled along by an invisible force, flying behind his car toward the hospital.

In his rush, Jameson slammed into a man in the hospital lobby.

I recognized him immediately. It was Jace Flynn.

Jace stumbled back. When he realized it was Jameson, a look of surprise crossed his face.

"Well, if it isn't the great Jameson West. What brings the billionaire to the hospital in such a hurry?"

Jameson muttered a quick apology and tried to push past him toward the elevator.

But Jace wasn't letting him go. He followed Jameson all the way to the nephrology ward.

Zoey wasn't in her room. Jameson sprinted to the head doctor's office.

When he learned she wasn't in a comaDjust dizzy from anemiaDhe finally let out a long breath.

He sat down in the plastic chair in Zoey's room, staring blankly at the floor.

He was clearly terrified of losing her.

Jace leaned against the doorframe, watching him with interest. "I thought your little girlfriend was cured. Why is she back in here?"

Jameson didn't want to talk. "It came back," he said shortly.

Over the last few years, Jameson's company had grown significantly through partnerships with the Flynn Group.

Jace had been sent abroad by his father five years ago, and professional managers had taken over his business duties.

Without Jace around to cause trouble, Jameson had thrived.

"So, whose life are you going to trade this time?" Jace suddenly asked.

Jameson looked at him like he was crazy. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Jace studied Jameson's face, a twisted smile appearing on his lips.

"You're a good actor, Jameson. Sometimes I can't tell if you're playing a part or if you're really that clueless."

Jameson lost his patience. "Flynn, if you have something to say, say it. Don't play games."

Jace shrugged. "I'm just saying... since Sera is already dead, who's going to provide the organ for your mistress this time?"