We were married two years. He was a loser.
I left himand our newborn daughterwithout looking back.
Years later, he became a famous forensic pathologist.
He found a new, loving stepmom for our daughter.
At his celebration, they whispered:
Did Aria think Jaxson would make it big?
Shes probably busy in some rich guys bed.
If Aria comes back, would he take her?
Six-year-old Lily snapped:
Dad cant take her back! Lily only knows her new mom!
Jaxson picked her up, shooting a cold glare.
Not on my big day. Dont say that cursed name.
He didnt know
The dead woman he was about to dissect?
It was me.
I floated in mid-air, watching my daughter run intimately into another woman’s arms. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. When I left, she was just a baby. In the blink of an eye, she’d become an adorable little munchkin. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but my hand simply passed through Lily’s body.
“Mommy, don’t worry. If the bad lady comes back, Lily will definitely help Mommy chase her away!”
The bad lady I let out a bitter laugh. In her heart, I was already the bad lady.
Seraphina smiled, pinching Lily’s little cheek. “Naughty girl, that’s your birth mom.”
Lily pouted. “Hmph! Lily doesn’t have a mom who abandoned Dad and me!”
I floated in the air, sobbing, beyond words. “No, Lily, Mommy didn’t abandon you. Mommy just had no choice”
The whispers of others drifted into my ears:
“Aria was never meant to enjoy a good life. If she’d just stayed with Jaxson a few more years through the hardship, she’d have everything now. Trying to come back? Good luck. Jaxson probably hates her guts, haha!”
“Serves her right. Women like her are only fit to be some rich man’s lapdog.”
“When Jaxson was at his lowest, she ran off with a rich guy. Seraphina stuck by him all these years. If she came back now, she’d just be the other woman.”
“You think she wasn’t the other woman when she was with that rich guy? Give her money, and she’d crawl into anyone’s bed.”
Jaxson, standing in the center, gripped his wine glass, his knuckles white. “Shut up.”
The laughter died abruptly, smiles frozen on their faces. Someone offered a placating smile. “Sorry, Jaxson. She was your ex-wife, after all. We shouldn’t mock her.”
“Right, right, our bad. We won’t talk about Aria anymore.”
Jaxson scoffed. “Who said I was mad about that?”
Everyone was stunned.
He continued, “I just don’t want my wife to hear a cursed name on such a happy day. She’s pregnant.”
Everyone gasped, then rushed to congratulate him.
“Congratulations! True love finds its way!”
“I knew Jaxson wouldn’t ever stand up for that woman!”
“Women like her, even getting into the police force was a disgrace. Good thing she fell from grace on her own.”
I floated silently in the air, looking back towards Seraphina. They said this woman had stood by Jaxson through his toughest years. I really had no right to say anything. But a sharp pang of bitterness still twisted in my heart.
I once told Jaxson that if he ever became a renowned forensic pathologist, I’d accompany him to interviews, and we’d be the dream team of the force. Now he’d made it, but the woman by his side was no longer me.
That day, Jaxson left the banquet blind drunk. On his way home, Caleb, my younger brother, blocked his car. The car window slowly lowered, and Jaxson gave him a hostile glare. Ever since I left, his hatred for me had extended to my brother.
Caleb’s face was pale and drawn, and for the first time, he pleaded with Jaxson. “Jaxson, there’s a body. Only you can reconstruct it.”
“Don’t you have forensic pathologists in your unit?”
“I don’t trust them with it. Only your skills are up to the task.”
Jaxson scoffed. “What kind of body would make Captain Mu personally come to me? Couldn’t be Aria, could it?”
Caleb’s fists clenched abruptly. He held back for a long time before revealing my identity. “I’m sorry, this is my private request. Name your price.”
“Do I look like I’m hurting for cash?” Jaxson’s voice was cold, as if he wasn’t questioning my brother, but the failure he used to be years ago.
Caleb’s fists trembled slightly. “What if… what if it is Aria?”
Jaxson paused. Then he sneered. “That would be a double celebration.”
My brother’s head snapped up, his eyes widening in disbelief. Jaxson’s eyes were a little red from the alcohol, and he curved his lips into a smile. “Did she send you to find me? I hope you, the Mu family, stop messing with me from now on. My current wife and daughter and I are living well, and I don’t want anyone to disturb us. Even if it is Aria, I won’t take the case.”
The driver started the car. Caleb frantically tried to stop them, but Jaxson had already raised the window and drove away without a backward glance. Caleb was left standing there alone, slamming his phone to the ground. I floated in the air, watching, wanting to tell him not to bother Jaxson for me. So many of my colleagues couldn’t even retrieve their remains; I was lucky to even have a body, however disfigured. But I couldn’t touch him, couldn’t make a sound. I could only powerlessly watch my brother weep.
The next day, when Jaxson went to work, he saw the body Caleb had asked him to reconstruct. Caleb’s junior forensic pathologist was looking completely overwhelmed by the corpse. Jaxson walked past, pausing at the doorway for a moment. His gaze lingered on the corpse. It was the most severely damaged body he’d ever seen. Almost every part of it was mangled, making reconstruction incredibly difficult. But there hadn’t been any news of such a severe murder case recently
After a moment of thought, he patted the man’s shoulder. “Tell your captain I’ll take his case.”
I lay in his studio, watching him put on his gear and gloves, all the naivety of his youth long gone. As I watched, a smile couldn’t help but curve on my lipsthis was him. But the more he worked, the graver his expression became. I didn’t know if he’d realized it. The height, arm length, and all other physical data were identical to mine. My hand had already been roughly restored, and he hesitated, then took hold of my wrist. The hand he’d held countless times. With just a gentle grasp, he could find that familiar sensation.
His brow furrowed even deeper. But what could that mean? He smiled, shaking his head. “How could it be…” There wasn’t just one person in the world with my hand circumference. Besides, this was a corpse; the measurements surely weren’t the original ones… Just as he was about to let go, his finger brushed against something hard. He looked down. His wedding ring was still on my finger.
Jaxson gasped sharply. He recognized it. Years ago, when we were crammed into a drafty rental, when a single pack of instant noodles had to be stretched into three meals, he’d still managed to save enough for a diamond ring. The day he put the ring on my finger, he watched me admire it happily, a smile tinged with a hint of pain. “We might have nothing now, but I promise I’ll give you a good life someday.” Back then, I’d hugged him and kissed him fiercely. “I know, my amazing forensic pathologist husband!”
I let out a bitter laughhe probably never imagined that the woman who promised to stick by him through thick and thin would leave him with a newborn daughter and vanish, leaving him to work and raise a child alone, wearing himself out so much he ended up in the hospital multiple times. But Jaxson, I had no choice…
He carefully removed the ring, holding it between his thumb and forefinger, rotating it under the light, examining it closely. The more he looked, the graver his expression became. It was a design he’d spent half a year choosing; how could he forget it? Quickly taking off his gear, he pulled out his phone with trembling hands and opened his contacts. But my contact information had long been deleted. He took a deep breath, then accurately dialed my old number on the keypad.
It connected.
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