Forced Beautification

James was stunned for a moment. Then, disgust clouded his expression. "Why not take it up a notch and tell me she's dismembered? Dead? What kind of lie is that? I've really underestimated her, it seems. Well then, let her prove it. She'd better not show up in front of me ever again."

In his mind, I had always been a liar and an actor.

The doctor gritted his teeth. "It's true. She bled out. The entire room smells like blood. You should go take a look, sir."

"That's enough!" James snapped. "I don't know how much she paid you to lie to me but remember your place. I will not visit her until she settles down."

The doctor wanted to argue further, but James just turned and left.

The surgery ended at night.

Barely anyone stood up for me, especially after Barbara fired the nurse and the doctor who tried to help me.

I felt a little sorry for making them lose their jobs, but then again, nothing good came out of working with Barbara.

The doctors covered me up with a white sheet.

James came down to check on the results of my cosmetic surgery. Throughout the visit, he held his head high, showing no concern for me.

I watched as the hospital staff pushed my body past him, still hoping that he would notice that I was dead.

Back when my parents just died in a car accident, James had promised to take care of me before their graves. "I will love her for the rest of my life," he had said. "I will stay with her forever. When she passes away, I will send her back to you."

The person who had said this had changed.

I drew closer to James and stared at his handsome face.

I hated him as much as I loved him before.

"I miss my home, James," I told him. "If you could keep your promise right now, maybe I wouldn't hate you so much."

He did not hear me nor notice me.

Impatiently, he kicked the hospital bed and snapped, "Stop pretending. It's just a little anesthetic. Do you need to sleep for so long? Get up. I made you get cosmetic surgery for your own good. Don't act like it's such a huge grievance."

Of course, I couldn't answer him. I was dead.

Livid, James lifted the sheet and kicked me off the bed and to the ground. "Stop playing dead! Have you learned your lesson or not?"

The sheet covering me fell to the ground as well, revealing my ashen face.

It wasn't a complexion that a living human could have.

I hadn't had the chance to heal after the cosmetic surgery, so my face was still swollen and ruddy.

James frowned when he saw me. "You're still so ugly. I should've known that you're too old to become pretty, Anne Jiles."

The other doctors, worried that James would realize the truth, quickly put me back on the bed.

James noticed nothing.

The doctors tried to wheel me away, but he stopped them. "She seems energetic today, for all the trouble she brought me. I don't think she needs peace and quiet. She'll just ruin it. Take her to the basement. I want to see what kind of trouble she can stir up there."

The doctor who was pushing my bed paused and glanced at Barbara, not knowing what to do.

Barbara pretended to stand up for me. "Anne just did the wrong thing out of concern for you. Please don't be angry with her."

James pinched her cheek fondly. "You're too kind. That's why she keeps bullying you. Listen to me this time. I'll help you teach her a lesson."

Barbara threw herself into his embrace. "You're the best, Jamie. I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

Hearing this, James immediately brought her to her favorite restaurant. He even drove all the way to the other side of the city just to get her her favorite dessert.

When they finally returned from their date, my body had been taken away.

James sat in his office, his legs crossed leisurely. "Has Anne agreed to apologize to Barbara?"

The doctors looked at each other, not daring to answer.

James thought that I was still being unreasonable. "She's still kicking up a fuss? I'm just asking her to admit to her wrongdoing. Is that too much to ask? Lock her up and make her think about her mistakes for a few more days."

Barbara spoke up just then. "Maybe she just wants you to go see her. Why don't you go visit her, for my sake?"

James was exasperated. "You're always so kind. That's why people are bullying you."

Barbara gave the lead surgeon a look. He stepped forward and said, "It's been some time since we heard anything from the basement, sir. Could something bad have happened?"

James frowned. "It's just been a day. Nothing bad can happen. She needs to be taught a lesson."

After a while, he stood up abruptly. "Anne wouldn't be so quiet. Could she have escaped?"

All of them hurried to the basement.

The basement was empty. Not even my corpse was there.