She Used Our Son as Bait

"You're on that bad guy's side!" Milo screamed, shoving Teagan toward the door. "I don't want to go home with you! Go away! You made me lose Dad! I don't want to see you here!"

Livid, she grabbed his arm. "There's no way a menace like your dad would die!"

Her gaze swept across the empty manor. "So, he's not coming out, is he? Trying to threaten me with this childish tantrum, huh? Fine!"

She shouted into the manor, "Listen up, Adrian! If you don't come to me and apologize within a day, I'll give Morgan your precious son's kidney. How about that?"

Teagan shoved Milo aside and slammed the door behind her as she left.

Watching her figure disappear, Milo finally broke. He ran inside and curled up on the bed where I had died, tucking himself into a tight ball. "Dad, I miss you so much… Dad…"

I wanted to cry, but ghosts had no tears. All I could do was helplessly hold him, whispering the same words he would never hear, over and over again. "It's okay, Milo. I'm always by your side…"

My eyes burned, dry and aching.

I felt extremely sorry for Milo. If I had held on a little longer back then, he wouldn't have been left alone in this world, with no one to rely on.

"I'm sorry, Milo."

…

Teagan waited the whole day at the Holt residence, but I never showed up. So, she brought a group of people to Holt Manor and smashed everything in sight. Even the bed Milo slept on was not spared.

It had snowed the night before. Dressed in thin clothes, Milo was forced to kneel in the snow, pinned down by a burly man.

Teagan towered over him. "Your dad is cruel, isn't he? To avoid donating his kidney, he's even abandoned you."

Milo trembled from the cold, but his reddened eyes still glared at her. "I won't let you talk about Dad like that! If it weren't for saving that evil man, Dad wouldn't have died!"

She kicked him in the stomach. "How dare you spout that nonsense again? My patience is limited, Milo. Now, tell me, where the hell is your dad?"

He doubled over from the impact, too hurt to get up for a long time. "I told you… Dad… is dead."

Teagan yanked his hair, her expression vicious. "Morgan doesn't have much time left! Tell him to come out now, or I won't go easy on you just because you're my son!"

My spirit lingered by Milo's side, watching all of this unfold. I gave up my life to save Morgan, so why wouldn't Teagan spare our child?

"Let him go, Teagan! Let him go!" I screamed, but no one could hear me. Even when I swung my fists, I couldn't stir so much as a breath of wind.

I could do nothing but watch as Milo dropped powerlessly to the icy ground and wailed. He grabbed Teagan's hand, pleading, "Just take my kidney! At least that way, I get to see Dad!"

He firmly believed that I had passed because I lost my kidney, but that was far from the truth.

Two years ago, Morgan had bribed the doctors at the hospital. During the kidney transplant, they didn't give me any anesthesia. I felt the entire procedure as it happened—the sharp intrusion, the tearing pain, all of it.

I struggled and tried to resist, but I was no more capable than a wounded prey. By the time they dumped me back at Holt Manor, I didn't even get a chance to utter a word to Milo before I died.

Maybe it was the despair in Milo's eyes that unsettled Teagan, but she ultimately released him.