The world was buzzing with news—

for the first time in history, memories of the dead could be extracted and broadcast live.

At 10:30 a.m., the stream began.

"Today is Lydia and Felix’s wedding. Shut down the stream. Don't ruin the mood with this nonsense."

My father barked at the staff, his face dark with anger.

"And if you see Eileen Marnell, don't let her in under any circumstances!"

Lydia Marnell is my stepsister, and Felix Warran was once my fiancé.

But when the memories began to play before the world, my father broke down in tears.

Because those memories were mine.

And I was already dead.

* * *

People say you can sense it when your time is almost up.

When I went to the beach with my best friend, Sasha Delmer, I knew my life's story would end right there.

A month ago, my breast cancer worsened. The doctors told me I didn't have much time left.

I wanted to get away from my dad and the rest of them, so Sasha quit her job and traveled with me.

Lately, my condition had gotten so much worse. Even painkillers don't help anymore, and no amount of makeup can hide how gaunt I've become.

The pain is so bad I can't even walk—I have to sit in a wheelchair, with Sasha pushing me along.

Sasha's eyes filled with tears, and she blurted out, "Don't say things like that! You're still young, you still—"

I shook my head. "Sasha, I can't hold on anymore. After I'm gone, tell Mathias to be gentle when he operates on my body. I'm afraid of pain."

Mathias Tromley is Sasha's husband. Lately, he's been researching post-mortem memory extraction.

But everyone has secrets they want to keep, and not every memory can be retrieved. They'd never found a suitable donor.

Both Sasha and Mathias have helped me so much. Back when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I signed a body donation agreement with Mathias. It's the only way I could repay them.

Sasha was so choked up she could barely speak, tears streaming down her face.

I wanted to comfort her, to tell her not to be sad for me.

For someone like me, death is a release.

But my eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and finally, everything went dark.

* * *

I'd imagined so many times what death would be like—whether I'd feel nothing at all, or if it'd be like those TV dramas where you go on to the next life.

But I never expected this—I became a soul, but instead of moving on, I somehow ended up right next to my dad.

He was in a bridal boutique, helping Lydia and Felix pick out a wedding dress and tuxedo.

Lydia is my stepsister, the daughter of my dad's old comrade. Her father died saving my dad, so my dad devoted himself to making it up to her.

When we were kids, it didn't matter who was right or wrong—my dad always sided with Lydia. After she was diagnosed with severe depression, he became even more extreme.

Just because she couldn't stand Felix and me being together, my dad made me give up Felix, my own fiancé.

He didn't want to marry Lydia at first, but after she slit her wrists once, he finally gave in.

The last thing I wanted was to see the three of them, so I tried to leave.

But if I moved more than five meters away from my dad, I couldn't move at all.

"Fine, my dad and Felix are both hopelessly biased, but God, are you biased too? Even after I'm dead, you have to torture me like this? Is Lydia your secret favorite or something?!"

Furious, I cursed at the heavens, but there was nothing I could do.

I was forced to watch Lydia joyfully try on wedding dresses, my dad and Felix smiling and praising her.

My dad was always stern with me, demanding perfection in everything. He never praised me, never smiled at me like that.

As for Felix, he'd always treated me kindly. But seeing how he acted with Lydia, I realized I was never the exception.

The affection I'd worked so hard for, struggled my whole life to earn—I never got even a glimpse of it.

Lydia, on the other hand, could have it all without even trying.

Once Lydia had tried on enough dresses, my dad called Sasha.

"Is Eileen with you? She's 25 years old—how long is she going to keep sulking?

"Felix and Lydia are getting married in a week. Tell her not to cause any trouble, or she can forget about calling me her father!"

I felt completely crushed.

"I'm dead, and you're still blaming me... I'm your real daughter, so why do you treat me like this?" I shouted at my dad, but he couldn't hear a word.

I drifted over to Felix. "If you love Lydia so much, just marry her. Why bother dating me, only to run back to her?"

I stood right in front of him, but of course, he couldn't see me.

Even when I was alive, he and my dad always favored Lydia. Neither of them noticed anything was wrong, not even when late-stage breast cancer left me nothing but skin and bones.

Now that I was dead, it was even easier for them to ignore me.

Feeling defeated, I circled Lydia, eyeing the wedding dress she wore.

"That dress was custom-made—by me. And now it's on you... Don't you think it's bad luck to wear a dead woman's dress?"

If I could have torn that dress to shreds, I wouldn't have let her wear it!

Fuming, I reached out to rip the gown apart.

My hand passed right through the fabric, and I was once again reminded—I was already dead.

"Come on! I put up with so much crap when I was alive. Can't I at least become a vengeful ghost and blow off some steam now?" I let out a heavy sigh.

After they finished trying on dresses and suits, my dad left the shop, and my soul followed him out.

Once home, he sat on the couch, staring blankly at his phone.

He called me several more times, but of course, no one answered.

He frowned and muttered, "She won't even pick up the phone when she's mad. All she does is make the adults worry. She's nothing like Lydia—so much less mature!"

"I'm already dead. If I answered, you'd probably have a heart attack on the spot!" I shot back automatically, then caught myself. "Right... you don't even know I'm dead."

With me gone, he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet. Honestly, maybe he wouldn't even find out I was gone for a couple of years...

But if Lydia disappeared for even a few minutes, my dad would be worried sick.

Thinking about that, I just felt pathetic.

For the next week, I was forced to watch my dad dote on Lydia and Felix shower her with love.

It's almost funny—when I was alive, I couldn't see them. Now that I'm dead, I can't get away from them...

God really went out of His way to make my life miserable.

I ran up to my dad. "Didn't you always hate seeing me? Didn't you wish you'd never have to lay eyes on me again? Well, now I'm here every day, haunting you! Why don't you call in an exorcist and get rid of me?"

Even if it meant total annihilation, I didn't want to stay by his side any longer.

Most fathers could never bring themselves to treat their daughters like this, but he hated me so much that he'd probably jump at the chance.

But I'd never experienced what it was like to have my soul destroyed, and I was a little afraid it might hurt.

I floated over to Felix. "Forget it. Maybe you should get someone to perform a blessing and send me off. That probably wouldn't hurt. If you love Lydia, just marry her. Why lie to me? It's not like this is the first time she's stolen a man from me!"

I ranted for ages, but neither he nor my dad heard a thing.

The frustration ate at me.

Day after day, I cursed them out, coming up with new insults, even hanging upside down above their heads. I hoped that one day I'd be able to show myself—just to scare them a little, to get some payback.

But even that tiny wish never came true.

Instead, Felix and Lydia's wedding day finally arrived.

Early that morning, social media was flooded with news about "Professor Mathias Tromley's Breakthrough, First-Ever Post-Mortem Memory Extraction."

The headlines announced that at 10:30 a.m., Mathias would unveil this miracle to the world.

My dad and Felix saw the news, but they barely glanced at it—they were too busy with wedding preparations.

It was bad enough that Lydia wore my wedding dress, but now the entire venue was decorated using designs I'd created. My dad and Felix both knew those were my sketches, yet they still went along with it.

"Shameless!" I fumed.

If I weren't such a rookie at being a ghost, I'd have staged a full-on resurrection right there and then!

My dad had no idea I was right beside him. He was busy instructing security. "If you see Eileen Marnell, don't let her in under any circumstances!"

I wanted to scratch someone. "As if I'd show up even if you begged me! Who do you think you are?"

Felix turned to Sasha, who'd come for the wedding. "I'll explain everything to Eileen after I marry Lydia. She'll understand, I'm sure."

I wanted to punch him. "Understand my ass!"

Tears welled up in Sasha's eyes, and she snapped, "You're both... unbelievable!"

"Don't cry, Sasha. It breaks my heart!" I called out, forgetting my anger in my worry for her. I reached to wipe her tears, but my hand passed right through—I had no body, no way to comfort her.

Through her tears, Sasha pulled out her phone and held it up to my dad and Felix.

On the screen was the livestream of the press conference.

There I was—my corpse, eyes tightly shut, skin ashen and lifeless.

Sasha had dressed me in my favorite floral sundress.

But I was so thin, just skin stretched over bone, I looked more haunting than beautiful—nothing like the person I used to be.

Choking back sobs, Sasha said, "Maybe it's better that Eileen's gone. At least she doesn't have to put up with your crap anymore. With the way you treated her, no wonder she didn't want to leave her ashes with you!"

My dad stared at the phone, frozen, all the color draining from his face.

He finally managed to croak, "Eileen's death has nothing to do with Lydia. Why bring this up at Lydia's wedding? Don't you know she's depressed? She can't handle this kind of shock.

"Even in death, Eileen can't give me a moment's peace. She never measured up to Lydia in any way!"

Crash!

Felix dropped the bouquet he was holding, not even bothering to pick it up.

He stared straight at Sasha's phone, gripping the table for support, barely managing to stay upright.

But he quickly composed himself. "Let's talk about Eileen's funeral after the wedding. We can't let her death ruin Lydia's day. Lydia shouldn't have to suffer because of this."

I'd always known they were biased, but I never imagined they'd take it this far.

My life didn't even matter as much as Lydia's wedding...

Sasha was shaking with rage. "Wedding, wedding! To hell with your damn wedding!"

She flipped over two tables beside her.

Food and drinks crashed to the floor, chaos erupting all around.

Ignoring my dad and Felix as they tried to stop her, Sasha ran up to the stage and cast the livestream onto the giant screen.

Her voice was raw and hoarse. "You're all so damn partial. I'm going to make sure Eileen gets justice!"