Chapter 312: Sudden Departure

What stood before me was a wax figure, nearly identical to me in size and detail. The craftsmanship was so precise it felt unnatural—every detail, even the texture of the skin, looked real. But it was the eyes that caught my attention most. They seemed alive, just like mine. No artist, no matter how skilled, could create eyes this convincing. They had to be real eyes. And then I realized—the eyes were mine.

Anger surged through me, and my teeth clenched. How could these people be so heartless? What had I done to deserve this? They killed me, and now they were turning my body into a grotesque display. Not even the dignity of a proper burial. Tears welled up in my eyes as I shakily reached out to touch the wax figure. My eyes were there, staring back at me, but what about my organs? Were they also turned into sickening art, like the intestinal beads I had seen earlier?

As my fingers lightly touched the figure's eyes, a disturbing, garbled voice suddenly filled my head.

“Hurry, she’s not dead. Take her heart.”

“The surgery went well.”

“She’s gone? What a shame. Silas didn’t hold back. Such a beautiful face, ruined.”

“Peel off her skin, make it into a book. The rest can be used for a drum.”

“Her eyes are lovely, though. Let’s make a nice wax figure for them.”

“As for the rest of her organs, just send them to her family.”

The voices echoed in my mind, distant and unclear. I didn’t recognize them, but they felt like the final thoughts before my death. The pain in my head worsened, the voices growing louder. Instinctively, I cradled my head, trying to block them out. “No!” I whispered, my voice shaky.

“Zoey! What’s happening?” Carter’s voice broke through the noise. He pulled me close, but I couldn’t stop crying. My tears soaked his shirt. The voices continued, and a sharp ringing filled my ears. I wasn’t sure if it was my original self connecting with my soul, but it felt like my head was going to explode.

Chapter 12: Sudden Departure

It was as if some unseen force was pulling me away, dragging me toward something I didn’t want. “Carl, it hurts. Please, hurry, let’s go!” Before I could finish speaking, darkness closed in, and I lost consciousness.

When I came to, I found Carter beneath me, holding me tightly. But if he was holding me, then who was I? Had my soul left Zoey’s body? I glanced at my hands. They looked the same as when I had been a spirit. I had separated from my body again, now back to being a spirit.

Realizing this, panic surged through me. I rushed toward Zoey’s body. I didn’t want to leave. I had fought too hard to return to a physical form. I couldn’t just slip back into being a spirit again.

Carter had already placed me in the car, but he seemed to sense something was wrong. His face was pale with fear. Luke, still unaware of the gravity of the situation, tried to reassure Carter. “Don’t worry. Chloe just fainted. She’ll be fine.” But I knew better. Carter was terrified. He remembered what had happened before—how my soul had left Zoey’s body. Now, seeing me like this, he was shaking. He was scared my soul would leave once more.

“Chloe, don’t leave me. Please, don’t go,” Carter repeated, his voice trembling. I wanted to tell him that I was still here, that I wasn’t leaving. But when I reached out, my hand passed through his face, and my voice didn’t reach him. I tried, over and over, to return to Zoey’s body, but it felt as though something blocked me. I couldn’t get through.

Panic set in. Zoey’s soul was already gone. If I couldn’t return, her body would soon decay, and it would become a true corpse… How had it come to this? If I had known this would happen, I never would have gone to that place. Frantic, I paced, searching for answers. Someone, anyone, please tell me how to get back. Luke, still oblivious, spoke up. “Chloe will wake up any minute now. Don’t worry.” But no one knew if I could ever wake up. Carter couldn’t risk waiting. He rushed me to the nearest hospital, where doctors ran a series of tests. They confirmed that my body was just unconscious.

Chapter 312: Sudden Departure

The strange thing was, no matter what they tried, they couldn’t wake me up. “This is odd. She’s only unconscious, her heart rate is normal. Why can’t we get her to wake up?” one of the doctors remarked. “Exactly. I’ve never seen anything like this. Mr. Lu, should we wait a little longer? All the tests are normal. Maybe Mrs. Bolton will wake up on her own.”

The tests all came back normal, so the doctors couldn’t do anything drastic. At first, Luke had thought it was no big deal. He believed I had just fainted from stress. But now, even he sensed something was wrong. That night, both of them stayed at the hospital with me, waiting for me to wake up.

I lay motionless, my eyes closed as if I were merely asleep. Carter’s hand moved gently across my face as he whispered, “Chloe, can you hear me?” “I can hear you, Carl. I’m right here.” I shouted with everything I had, but my voice reached no one.

The loneliness of being completely ignored by the world hit me hard. If I hadn’t been reborn, if Carter hadn’t cared about me, maybe this loneliness wouldn’t feel so painful. But I had known the warmth of his embrace. How could I bear the coldness now?

It was as though Carter felt something. He turned his gaze toward the empty space, searching. “Chloe, are you here?” I tried to reach out, to touch him, but my fingers passed through his hand, again and again. “I’m here, I’m here,” I whispered, but I knew he couldn’t hear me.

Carter’s voice turned sharp. “Damian, get some candles.” “Right away, sir,” Damian responded, quickly grabbing the candles. Luke looked at him, puzzled. “Uncle, what are you doing?” Carter didn’t respond. He lit the candles, then asked Damian to turn off the lights.

The soft glow of the candles cast a dim light over Carter’s face, and it stirred something inside me. “Carl…” I knew exactly what he was trying to do. Carter spoke into the empty space. “Chloe, if you’re here, blow out the candle and let me know, okay?” Luke stared at him, shocked. “Uncle, do you think Chloe’s soul has left Zoey’s body?”

Carter looked in my direction, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion. “I have a feeling. She’s here.”

Carter and Luke were worlds apart. Even though I had spent a month with Luke, he still didn’t know I existed. But Carter? He knew. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought the look in his eyes meant he could sense I was there. His voice was quieter this time. “Chloe, are you here? I need you to respond.” I forced myself to hold back the rising sadness, focusing all my strength. Suddenly, the three candles in the room flickered and went out, one after the other.