Chapter 4

My body stiffened.

My own SnapChat activity had stopped the day we broke up and hadn’t been updated since.

“Didn’t feel like it.”

I couldn’t help but ask him.

“What about you? You never used to like posting. Why so many updates these past two years?”

Liam looked up at me.

“People change. You, more than anyone, should know that.”

I dug my nails into my palm, the sharp, familiar pain anchoring me back to some semblance of calm.

Yes, people change.

When we first started dating, I tried countless ways to get Liam to post a picture of me on social media.

But Liam would never agree, saying:

“Happiness is between two people. No need for everyone to know.”

Yet now, for Chloe, he updated his profile every single day.

Some people had moved so far ahead, while I was still stuck in the same place…

Just then, Chloe emerged from the bathroom, playfully asking Liam to help her blow-dry her hair.

The whirring sound of the hairdryer seemed to blow all the moisture in the room straight into my heart.

I went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and stood there blankly.

I couldn’t tell if the water on me was hot or cold. It seemed that ever since my revival,

I could no longer feel the world’s temperature.

That night, Chloe and I slept in one bed, and Liam took the other.

But in the middle of the night, Chloe quietly got out of bed and went to the opposite side.

I heard some rustling, followed by soft moans and gasps.

“…Go easy, don’t wake Ellie…”

No sooner had Chloe spoken than the rocking of the wooden bed intensified, bumping harder.

I didn’t sleep a wink all night.

When I woke up in the morning, Liam and Chloe were no longer in the room.

Snowflakes were falling again, and the world outside the window was a pristine white.

I looked at the SUV in the parking shelter, worried that the ice in the trunk might have melted prematurely from the heater being on all day.

I asked the guesthouse owner for a bucket of crushed ice, then shoveled a layer of fresh snow from outside, wanting to add more ice around my body.

However, as I stepped out with the ice bucket, I saw Chloe and Liam standing by the rear of the car, holding a large bag.

They were fumbling, trying to open the trunk.

“Ellie, I’m just putting something in the back.”

My heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, I tried to stop them.

“Don’t open it!”

As my words fell, a ‘click’ echoed.

The trunk popped open, and the black suitcase came into everyone’s view—

I quickly stumbled over and pressed the trunk down.

“Just put your things in the front. The trunk is already full.”

Chloe glanced at the black suitcase and mumbled softly.

“It’s stuffed to the brim. You really have a lot of luggage…”

She placed her bag in the back seat and clapped her gloved hands, shaking off bits of snow.

“Ellie, let’s go get breakfast.”

I shook my head.

“You two go ahead. I need to reorganize my luggage.”

Chloe nodded, linked her arm with Liam’s, and they walked off.

Once they were gone, I reopened the trunk.

I refilled the crushed ice around the suitcase, then pressed a layer of snow on top.

After all that, I gently ran my hand over the suitcase’s surface, as if caressing my own body.

“Sleep, just a little longer. We’ll be home soon…”

Done with my task, I returned the bucket to the guesthouse reception.

When I returned to the car, Liam and Chloe were walking side by side.

“Ellie, you took so long. I brought you some soy milk and baozi. Eat it while it’s hot.”

Looking at the breakfast Chloe offered, I hesitated.

Although I now had a physical form, I was essentially a dead person.

I had no breath, no heartbeat, and couldn’t even perceive temperature. Could I even eat these things?

As I wrestled with my dilemma, Liam spoke in a deep voice.

“Chloe burned her hand buying you this soy milk. Don’t disappoint her.”