Three Years Too Late

Hearing the familiar voice, I shuddered.

It was Tiana Wells, Andrew's sister-in-law.

Memories of my suffering flooded my mind at the sight of this vile woman. I lunged at her, biting and kicking her as I screamed at Andrew, "It was her! She killed me! Andrew, you have to avenge me."

But all my efforts were in vain—no one could hear me.

Tiana walked right through my spirit and strode into the yard. She motioned for an old man behind her to show himself, gesturing to him to speak.

The old man looked hesitant, seemingly mortified as he began, "The first day Jovana arrived here, a man pulled up in a sports car and took her away.

"I heard she called him darling, and they seemed very close to each other."

Andrew swerved toward him, his expression darkening as he gritted out, "Is that true?"

The old man swore he was telling the truth.

Feigning concern, Tiana sidled up to Andrew and said, "Andy, I know you're upset, but this is a fact. After Jovana was sent to the countryside, I had my relative take care of her—but little did he expect to witness her affair…

"By the looks of it, Jovana and her lover must've been at it for some time. I really never expected Jovana to turn out like this…" she sighed, pretending to grieve for Andrew.

"You're lying!" Stella hastily shouted. "Mommy is already dead. I won't let you insult her—"

She tried to defend me, but Dorothy shoved her to the ground and spat on her face instead.

"You're a good-for-nothing girl! If I had known, I should've got rid of you back then," she screeched, beating Stella to a pulp. "You and your mother are a disgrace to our family!"

A triumphant smirk crossed Tiana's face as she watched Stella writhe on the ground, blood gushing out of her mouth.

"Dorothy, enough," she chided, pretending to be worried. "You're killing her! Though we're not sure whether Stella is a Lorne, we can't just get rid of her like that."

She made it sound like she was just trying to spare the child. But in fact, it reminded Andrew and Dorothy of the possibility that Stella might be an illegitimate child.

Sure enough, Andrew froze. He was about to stop Dorothy, but after hearing Tiana, he withdrew his hand.

Dorothy, on the other hand, was seething. She grabbed a stick from the ground, and I immediately panicked.

I dove in front of Stella, trying to shield her from the attack—but it was all in vain. The stick passed right through me and struck Stella instead.

In just a while, Stella lost consciousness.

Glancing at her, Andrew pulled out his phone, snapped a picture of her, and began typing. I drifted closer to him—only then did I realize he had been texting me.

"Jovana, you shameless woman—are you seriously abandoning your daughter now? You only have three days to show yourself. If you don't, don't blame me for what I'll do to Stella."

No response came through.

Andrew swore under his breath and hurled his phone to the ground.

Watching his temper flare, I couldn't help but feel a twisted sense of amusement. I was already dead—my body was decomposed at this point. How on earth was I supposed to text him back?