Chapter 2

When my adoptive mother, Lucinda Fairfax, returned home carrying my ravaged remains, bones gnawed clean by wild animals, Ashton was in the middle of ordering men to destroy our home, Lucinda's and mine.

The inside was already smashed to pieces. The stray cats I'd taken in were terrified, fur on end, hiding in corners.

Lucinda rushed inside, shielding the cats like a mother hen protecting her chicks, pointing a trembling finger at Ashton as she cursed him, "These little ones were the last thing Seraphina cared about! They're all she had left!

"You monster! You already killed her! Isn't that enough?"

Ashton sneered, "Tsk, still playing the dedicated cat lover? Fake death, huh? Even if she were really dead, I wouldn't donate a penny to this broken place.

"The legs she gave up were too skinny anyway. Tell her to crawl back out here and saw off another section for Rosalind, or else I'll kill these pests!"

Lucinda swayed on her feet.

She clutched the bag in her arms tighter, whispering, "She's gone. She's already dead!

"She's right here, in this bag! If you don't believe me, take it and get it tested! Just please, leave these kittens alone! Seraphina won't rest in peace if you hurt them!"

For a fleeting second, Ashton seemed moved, but then he violently swatted the bag away.

"Trying to trick me with a bag of pork?"

Lucinda's eyes were red as she scrambled to protect my remains, but Ashton stepped forward, grinding the bloody fragments under his heel.

He grabbed Lucinda by the hair.

"Old hag, hand her over, now!"

Tears streamed down Lucinda's face from the pain. One of the cats darted forward anxiously, only to be kicked away hard by Ashton.

That was the first cat I ever rescued.

She was fifteen years old.

I wanted to pick her up, to soothe her, but my spectral form passed right through her again and again.

Just then, Ashton shoved Lucinda away.

Lucinda was in too much pain to cry out, but she still struggled to crawl over, gathering my scattered remains back into the bag.

"Seraphina... Seraphina... I'm so sorry..."

Seeing this, Ashton let out a cold laugh.

"Still acting? I bet Seraphina learned how to ruthlessly bully Rosalind from an old hag like you!

"If she's dead, I'll set off fireworks all night to celebrate one less menace in the world!"

Just as he finished speaking, his subordinate, Cole Banks, walked in and reported, "Mr. Sterling, we haven't found any trace of Ms. Seraphina Sterling!"

"Ha, very well."

Ashton laughed, choked with anger, "Let's see how long she can hide!"

With that, he dragged Lucinda to the pigsty entrance and ordered his men to dump a bucket of pig feed over her.

"Seraphina's remains, huh? Still pretty fresh. What, couldn't you even bother to make your scam look realistic?

"So precious, are they? Let's give the pigs a treat!"

He then emptied the contents of the bag into the pigpen and tossed Lucinda aside.

"If Seraphina doesn't crawl out by sunset tomorrow, I'll turn this place into a cat graveyard!"

As he left, he spat into the pigpen.

His followers did the same, one after another. One man even urinated directly onto the remains.

Lucinda, despite being at her absolute limit, shielded my ravaged body with her own, letting the urine soak her completely.

The cats meowed incessantly. A few, passing near where my spirit stood, let out mournful cries.