Chapter 4

Later that afternoon, Clara was at her office. She was supposedly reviewing documents, but she was completely distracted.

Every ten minutes, she would check her phone.

She had probably just left Julian, but she was already missing him too much to focus on work.

It was almost 6:00 PM by the time she wrapped up her sluggish day.

She picked up her phone for the hundredth time, then slammed it down in frustration.

I knew that habit. She was anxious. She was waiting for a text from Julian.

But Julian hadn't texted her all afternoon, which was making her lose her mind.

Suddenly, she grabbed her phone angrily and opened a chat.

Out of curiosity, I floated closer to look.

To my shock, she hadn't opened Julian’s chat. She had opened mine on Snapchat.

There was a message I had sent her this morning before the crash:

*“Clare, today is your birthday! Guess what surprise I have waiting for you!”*

Seeing that message made me feel physically sick. I hated how foolish I had been. That text felt like a giant joke mocking my own corpse.

Clara stared at it for a long time, then finally typed back:

*“It’s almost 7:00 PM.”*

I understood what she meant. She was reminding me that her birthday was almost over.

Ever since we met, I had always planned her birthdays meticulously. I would start preparing half a month in advance, giving her all the romance and pampering a girl could dream of.

Every year was different, grand, and beautiful.

I wanted her to feel proud in front of her friends and family when I wished her a happy birthday.

But today, there would be no wishes.

She would never hear my voice again.

Because I was dead.

Clara stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of her office, watching the traffic below.

The city was bustling, full of life. But Clara’s anxiety was only growing. The clock was ticking, and my phone remained silent.

Maybe she was hungry. She opened the office freezer. Inside were frozen meals I had prepped for her—handmade dumplings, pasta, and some frozen lobster ravioli.

She chose the ravioli and boiled them. But when she took the first bite, she suddenly froze.