Chapter 128: The Living and the Dead

Elsie had never believed in ghosts or spirits, and she was just as sure Lily wasn’t the type to hallucinate out of guilt. After fifteen years in the mountains, Lily’s feelings for Will had long since dried up. She hadn’t even visited his grave more than a few times over the years, so there was no reason she’d suddenly feel burdened now.

She was convinced someone was messing with them; but everything in the room looked completely normal. Still, Lily refused to go back inside. She demanded a new room, and Elsie had no choice but to go along with it.

The moment they moved to a different hospital room, a janitor wearing a face mask walked into the old one with a mop and cleaned up the spilled water. Every eerie incident had actually been orchestrated by Yunice. The photo on the phone was a program Yunice had written herself. The blood in the water dispenser was because Yunice had slipped potassium permanganate powder into the nozzle ahead of time. As the water mixed with the powder, it turned a deep, blood-red.

What Lily hadn’t noticed was that the inside of the cup already contained a vitamin C solution—which, when combined with the potassium permanganate, turned the red liquid clear again. So Lily saw it come out red like blood, but when she threw it to the ground, Elsie saw only colorless water.

As for the moving curtains and the shadowy figure, that was even simpler. A few lines of code to control the room’s central system—turn on the cold air and the projector—and it was done. Lily had a guilty conscience; that was why she’d fallen for the tricks.

The doctor ran a few tests and concluded she was under severe mental strain. Anxiety, overthinking, and fatigue were to blame. He prescribed her a sedative. But Lily still curled up against the headboard, too shaken to sleep. She called Owen back.

Clutching both of his hands, Lily pleaded, “Owen, let’s not move your dad’s grave anymore…”

Owen was startled. He thought she’d had a change of heart. After all, Will had been gone for years. As his children, they naturally wanted him to rest in peace—not be dug up and used as leverage. But then Lily’s tone suddenly shifted, and her face twisted with hate. “We need to suppress him—lock him away so he never dares cause a scene or hurt anyone again. Let him never reincarnate!”

Owen recoiled, instinctively pulling his hands away. How could she say that…

Outside the hospital room, dressed as a janitor, Yunice heard everything. Her eyes went cold. She turned and walked out of the hospital.

Inside, Owen stared at Lily like she’d lost her mind. “Mom… that’s my dad! He was the husband who waited fifteen years for you to come back. And you, you’re cursing him to never reincarnate?”

Owen had always respected Will. Growing up without a mother’s warmth, it was their father who raised them. He couldn’t understand what his late father had possibly done to make Lily hate him this much.

Lily’s eyes turned red. She gritted her teeth. “You don’t understand. Your dad hates me. He wants me dead—wants me to join him down there!”

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Chapter 128: The Living and the Dead

Owen had no answer. He didn’t believe in the supernatural either. He was starting to think Lily’s nerves had really…

Lily knew both Owen and Elsie thought she was losing her mind—but she knew better. Will hated her. Will had always loved Yunice the most. He hated Lily for hiding Yunice and locking her away in a mental institution for three years. And now, just as she was about to move his grave, he came back to haunt her; of course, he planned to use his ashes to threaten Yunice.

But after all the fear, what Lily felt most wasn’t terror—it was rage and jealousy. Because of Yunice’s birth, she had suffered fifteen years of misery, wasting the best years of her life. Yunice had lived the life that should’ve been hers for fifteen whole years—yet Will was still protecting her, even in death. He chose to side with Yunice instead of doing more.

I didn’t owe Will anything and I sure didn’t owe Yunice. If anyone was in debt, it was the Sounder family—Will and her, Lily thought. If she’d never given birth to Yunice, she wouldn’t have been dragged into a hellish life in the mountains like an animal. Will spoiled Yunice when he was alive, and now he wanted to back her up even in death? He thought I’d be scared? Not a chance. I don’t believe the dead could win against the living.

Lily grabbed Owen’s hand again, her voice trembling with tears. “Owen, tell me who matters more, the living or the dead?”

Owen wasn’t stupid. He caught her meaning, and his expression darkened. “Mom, what are you trying to say?”