Chapter 2

"Penny, the supervisor is expecting you."

As I walked into Colin's office on unsteady legs, I flinched at the sharp rap of his knuckles on the desk.

"What did you do last night, rob banks? I reviewed an hour of security footage. You were asleep for fifty minutes of it!"

I kept my head down, swallowing the shame and frustration that rose in my chest.

"It won't happen again, sir."

He took a slow, deliberate sip of coffee, his heavy-lidded gaze weighing me.

"Let's hope so. Because next time, you'll be packing your things. This company doesn't carry dead weight."

Back at my desk, I fought to keep my eyes open and work.

The night before, my side of the bed had grown icy cold, so cold that two extra blankets had done nothing against it.

I'd dragged them to the sofa instead, but the moment I lay down, the support beneath my waist gave way. Luckily, I was braced for it and grabbed the backrest. Otherwise, I would've fallen and broken a bone, just like last time.

After a while, feeling better, I'd switched on the light to pour myself some water. Once again, the bulb barely flickered before dying.

Under my phone's flashlight, I got near the water dispenser. I'd filled half a cup with hot water, then pressed the cold tap. But what poured out sent ribbons of steam curling into the air.

If I had drunk it without thinking or spilled it, I'd have been scalded all over again.

In the end, I'd left the cup on the nightstand to cool and crawled back into bed.

My nerves were too frayed for sleep, and the water had sat untouched eventually.

No one could understand my situation. My boss was unreasonable, yes, but I was lucky to have such a job at my age. And for that very reason, I didn't dare talk back at him.

The good thing was that it was Friday. After work, I'd finally have time to dig deeper into whatever was happening to me.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

Rod was confused as he watched me lift the mattress, scissors in hand.

I was done living in fear, just waiting to fall to my death. I had to find the cause.

The scissors bit into the fabric, and I tore a slit along the edge. Inside, just ordinary latex foam. Disappointment washed over me.

Why, then, did it grow colder the longer I lay on it?

"Maybe you're run down. I'll ask Mom to bring over some soup. You need to rest and eat properly."

I tried to refuse, but Jennifer showed up anyway.

She keyed in the code herself, opened the door, and headed straight to the kitchen. Nothing went wrong.

"Eat up, Penny. Look at those dark circles under your eyes."

"Thanks, Mom."

In my last life, before I insisted on replacing the furniture for the second time, Jennifer had always treated me like her own daughter. She never held back her thoughts.

Now she leaned close, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I've checked the house. Everything's fine. But if you keep feeling something's wrong, maybe it's something we can't explain. Should we have a medium come take a look?"

I'd never believed in that kind of thing. Last time, I'd refused outright. But after the miracle happened to me, I nodded.

The next day, a medium arrived. He moved slowly through each room, one hand trailing along the walls, the other held open at his side as though feeling for something invisible.

After he circled the room, he stopped abruptly and turned to face me. His eyes settled on me and didn't move.

My heart dropped into my stomach. Was he about to blame everything on me?

I never should have agreed to this.

Jennifer stepped forward, her face pale with worry. "Sir, please — what do you sense?"

"Don't rush. What finds you was drawn by what surrounds you." He extended one finger, pointing just past my shoulder. "There's a heavy presence attached to you, ma'am. Something bitter. Unresolved."

A chill crawled down my spine. I grabbed Rod's arm, my voice shaking. "What is it? Does it mean us harm?"

"You were supposed to be abandoned, yet somehow, you managed to become a wife, enjoying ten years of comfort. That's why this is happening to you."

He shook his head slowly, his expression grave. Then he turned his gaze directly on me. "If you don't walk away from this marriage within one month, not only you, but your child will suffer the consequences."

After he left, I stared blankly at our wedding photo on the nightstand.

These ten years had been happy. And to continue that, I'd endured every hardship of people judging me as an orphan girl who'd married up. Now, however, I was being told to give it all up, even if I'd done nothing wrong.

"Don't think about it. It's all nonsense." Rod pulled me into his arms, his voice soft. "You'll always be my wife. Always."

But from the living room, Jennifer's voice carried clearly over the phone, and every word hit like a verdict. "Alas, the medium was quite accurate, you know."