The cold water of the Heshan River swallowed Jiang Yue whole.
She could still feel it—the burning sensation in her lungs as dirty water flooded her airways, the way her fingers clawed uselessly at the concrete block chained to her ankles, and the blurry image of her husband's face watching her sink from the bridge above.
He was smiling.
That bastard was actually smiling.
"Darling, you should have signed the divorce papers when I asked nicely," Lin Haoran's voice had echoed before she went under. "Now look at the mess you've made me clean up."
Standing beside him, wearing the diamond necklace Jiang Yue had bought for herself last month, was her best friend of fifteen years—Xu Meilin. The woman had the audacity to wave goodbye with her perfectly manicured fingers.
That was the last thing Jiang Yue saw before darkness consumed her.
She died with her eyes open, filled with hatred so intense it could burn through steel.
And then—
*GASP!*
Jiang Yue shot upright, her hand flying to her throat as she sucked in desperate breaths of air. Her heart pounded so violently she could hear it thundering in her ears like war drums.
Air. She could breathe. She was breathing!
"What the hell?" she wheezed, clutching her chest.
Her eyes darted around frantically, trying to make sense of her surroundings. White ceiling. Pink curtains that she definitely didn't own. A One Direction poster on the wall—
Wait.
A One Direction poster?
Jiang Yue's racing thoughts screeched to a halt. She hadn't owned a One Direction poster since she was in university. That was... that was over eight years ago.
Slowly, mechanically, she turned her head to look at the vanity mirror across the room.
The reflection staring back at her made her blood run cold.
It was her face—but younger. Much younger. The stress lines around her eyes were gone. The slight sagging of her jawline that she'd been considering getting fixed had vanished. Her skin was smooth, plump, and irritatingly perfect in that way only youth could provide.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no—"
She threw off the blankets and stumbled toward the mirror, nearly tripping over a pile of textbooks on the floor. Her hands slammed against the vanity table as she leaned in close, examining every inch of her reflection.
Twenty-two. She looked exactly like she did when she was twenty-two years old.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Still in a daze, Jiang Yue walked over and picked it up with trembling fingers. The lock screen showed the date clearly:
**March 15th, 2019.**
Five years. She had gone back five years in time.
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed onto the edge of the bed, staring at the phone like it might explode at any moment.
"This is insane," she muttered. "I've actually gone insane. I drowned, and now my oxygen-deprived brain is hallucinating an elaborate fantasy as it shuts down. That's the only logical explanation."
She pinched her arm.
"Ow!"
Okay, that hurt. That definitely hurt.
She pinched herself again, harder this time, leaving angry red marks on her pale skin.
Still here. Still in this room. Still apparently twenty-two years old.
A hysterical laugh bubbled up from her chest. It started small, just a chuckle, but quickly grew into full-blown cackling that echoed off the walls of her tiny university dorm room.
"I died!" she wheezed between laughs. "My husband murdered me! My best friend helped! And now I'm back in my university dorm room five years in the past! HAHAHAHA!"
She laughed until tears streamed down her face, until her stomach ached and her throat went raw.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, the laughter stopped.
Her expression went cold. Ice cold.
Because if this was real—if she had actually been given a second chance—then there were two people in this world who owed her a debt written in blood.
Lin Haoran.
Xu Meilin.
"Oh, you have no idea what's coming for you," Jiang Yue whispered, her lips curling into a smile that held no warmth whatsoever. "You have absolutely no idea."
She stood up from the bed, her legs steady now, her mind clear for the first time since she'd woken up. She had five years of future knowledge. Five years to prepare. Five years to tear apart the people who betrayed her piece by piece.
But first, she needed to figure out the exact date and what was supposed to happen—
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*
"Yue Yue! Are you awake? You're going to be late for Professor Wang's lecture!"
That voice.
Jiang Yue's blood turned to ice in her veins.
She would recognize that voice anywhere. It haunted her nightmares. It was the last voice she heard before water filled her lungs.
Xu Meilin.
The doorknob began to turn.
Every muscle in Jiang Yue's body tensed. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. The rational part of her brain screamed that she needed to act normal, that she couldn't reveal anything, that she had to play along until she could plan properly.
But the other part—the part that remembered drowning while this woman waved goodbye—wanted to wrap her hands around that pretty little throat and squeeze until those treacherous eyes went dim.
The door swung open, and Xu Meilin walked in like she owned the place.
She looked exactly how Jiang Yue remembered her from back then—soft features, innocent doe eyes, and a sweet smile that could fool anyone. She was wearing a pink sundress that made her look delicate and harmless.
What a joke.
This was the same woman who would spend the next five years pretending to be her best friend while secretly seducing her husband. The same woman who would stand on that bridge and wave as she drowned.
"Yue Yue? Why are you just standing there staring at me? Did you have another nightmare?" Xu Meilin tilted her head, her expression full of concern. "You look pale. Are you feeling okay?"
Jiang Yue stared at her for a long moment.
Then she did something that surprised even herself.
She smiled.
"I'm fine, Meilin. I just had the strangest dream."
"Oh? What was it about?"
Jiang Yue's smile widened. "I dreamed that someone I trusted completely stabbed me in the back. Can you imagine? Someone I considered my best friend turning out to be a snake in disguise."
Something flickered in Xu Meilin's eyes—so fast that anyone else would have missed it. But Jiang Yue was watching closely now. She would never stop watching.
"That does sound scary," Xu Meilin said, her sweet smile never wavering. "Good thing it was just a dream, right? I would never betray you. We're sisters!"
"Of course," Jiang Yue agreed, her voice honey-sweet. "Sisters until the end."
*Until I end you*, she added silently.
"Anyway, hurry up and get dressed! Professor Wang's lecture starts in thirty minutes, and you know how he gets about tardiness." Xu Meilin bounced on her heels impatiently. "Oh! And don't forget, there's a welcome party for the business department's new graduate students tonight. I heard there are some really handsome seniors joining this year. Maybe we can find you a boyfriend!"
Jiang Yue's heart skipped a beat.
The welcome party. March 15th, 2019.
That was the night she first met Lin Haoran.
She remembered it clearly now—how he had walked into the banquet hall looking like a prince from a fairy tale. Tall, handsome, with a smile that made her heart flutter. He had "accidentally" bumped into her, spilling wine on her dress, and then spent the rest of the night apologizing so charmingly that she had found herself falling for him before the evening was over.
At the time, she thought it was fate. A romantic coincidence that led to the love of her life.
Now she knew better.
Nothing about Lin Haoran was coincidental. He had targeted her specifically—the sole heiress to the Jiang family's pharmaceutical empire. The wine spill, the charming apologies, the romantic pursuit that followed—all of it was calculated. All of it was designed to make her fall in love with a man who only saw her as a golden ticket.
And she had fallen for it like an idiot.
"The welcome party," Jiang Yue repeated slowly. "Right. I almost forgot about that."
"You can't miss it! What if your future husband is there?" Xu Meilin giggled.
*He will be*, Jiang Yue thought darkly. *And this time, I'll be ready.*
"You're right," she said out loud. "I should definitely go. But first, I need to take a shower. I feel... dirty."
The double meaning was lost on Xu Meilin, who simply nodded and headed for the door. "I'll wait for you in the cafeteria for breakfast! Don't take too long!"
The door closed behind her.
The moment she was alone, Jiang Yue's smile dropped. She walked back to the mirror and stared at her reflection—at this younger version of herself who had no idea about the suffering that awaited her.
"Never again," she swore to her reflection. "No one will ever use me again. No one will ever make me a victim again. This time, I'm the one holding the knife."
She had five years to rewrite her fate.
Five years to build an empire that couldn't be stolen.
Five years to destroy Lin Haoran and Xu Meilin so thoroughly that history would forget they ever existed.
But as she turned away from the mirror, something in the corner of her vision made her freeze.
A shadow. There was a shadow in the corner of the room.
Except there was nothing there to cast it.
Jiang Yue's breath caught in her throat as she turned slowly, her eyes fixed on the anomaly. The shadow was vaguely human-shaped, tall and thin, standing perfectly still in the corner where the wall met the ceiling.
"What the—"
The shadow moved.
It turned its head—if it could even be called a head—toward her, and Jiang Yue felt a chill run down her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
She could feel it looking at her. Looking *into* her.
And then, in a voice that sounded like dead leaves scraping across pavement, it spoke.
**"The one who dies and returns... we have been waiting for you."**
Jiang Yue screamed.
She stumbled backward, her back hitting the vanity table and sending bottles of skincare products crashing to the floor. Her heart hammered in her chest as she pressed herself against the wall, eyes wide with terror.
"W-What are you?! What do you want?!"
The shadow tilted its head, an unnervingly human gesture from something so distinctly inhuman.
**"We are what lingers. We are what watches. We are everywhere and nowhere."** The shadow seemed to pulse, growing darker for a moment before fading slightly. **"You crossed the boundary, living one. You died. You came back. And now... you can see us."**
"See you?" Jiang Yue's voice came out as a terrified squeak. "What do you mean 'see you'? How many of you are there?!"
The shadow made a sound that might have been laughter—a rasping, hollow noise that made her skin crawl.
**"Look outside, living one. Look and see what your new eyes have given you."**
Against every instinct screaming at her to run, hide, and pretend this wasn't happening, Jiang Yue found herself walking toward the window. Her hand trembled as she reached for the curtain. Part of her knew—absolutely knew—that she didn't want to see what was on the other side.
But another part of her, the part that had been forged in the cold waters of the Heshan River, the part that had died with hatred burning in her heart, refused to look away.
She pulled the curtain aside.
And her blood turned to ice.
The campus below should have been normal. Students walking to class. Professors heading to their offices. Maintenance workers trimming the hedges.
But between them—walking among them—were things that definitely were not human.
Shadows that moved independently of any source. Twisted figures that flickered in and out of existence. A woman in white standing perfectly still in the middle of the courtyard while students walked right through her without noticing. A child with no face sitting on a bench, kicking legs that ended in nothing.
Everywhere she looked, there were more of them. Dozens. Hundreds. An entire invisible world layered on top of the one she knew.
"Oh my god," she breathed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—"
**"This is the price,"** the shadow behind her whispered. **"You wanted to return. The boundary let you through. But nothing is free, living one. You can see us now. ALL of us. And some of us... some of us can see you too."**
Jiang Yue spun around to face the shadow, her back pressed against the cold glass of the window.
"I didn't ask for this! I didn't want this! I just wanted to live!"
**"And live you shall. But the boundary is thin around you now. Things that should not notice you will notice you. Things that should stay sleeping may wake."** The shadow began to fade, dissolving into the corner like morning mist. **"Be careful, living one. Your death attracted attention. And not all that watches wishes you well."**
"Wait! You can't just leave! Explain this! Tell me how to fix it!"
But the shadow was gone, leaving nothing behind but a cold spot in the air and the lingering echo of its words.
Jiang Yue stood frozen for a long moment, her mind trying to process everything that had just happened.
She had been reborn.
She could see dead things now.
And apparently, something dangerous knew about her.
A hysterical laugh threatened to bubble up again, but she swallowed it down. She didn't have time for a breakdown. She didn't have the luxury of falling apart.
So what if she could see ghosts? So what if something scary was apparently watching her? She had already died once. She had already been betrayed by the people closest to her. She had already experienced the worst humanity could offer.
Some spooky shadows weren't going to stop her.
"Fine," she said to the empty room, squaring her shoulders. "You want to watch? Watch. But stay out of my way, because I have work to do."
She marched toward her closet and threw open the doors, rifling through the clothes of her twenty-two-year-old self. Tonight was the welcome party. Tonight was when she was supposed to meet Lin Haoran for the first time.
Originally, she had worn a pretty blue dress that made her look soft and innocent—exactly the kind of naive target Lin Haoran would go for.
Not this time.
This time, she was going to wear something different. Something that said she wasn't prey. Something that warned anyone with eyes that this woman was not to be trifled with.
Her fingers closed around a sleek black dress she hadn't worn in years. It was elegant but sharp, sophisticated but deadly—like a beautiful knife.
Perfect.
She pulled it out and held it up, examining it in the light.
"Lin Haoran," she murmured, "I hope you enjoy tonight. Because it's the last time you'll ever think you have the upper hand."
Her phone buzzed again. She glanced at it and saw a text from Xu Meilin:
*"Hurry up slowpoke! Your breakfast is getting cold! (≧◡≦) ♡"*
Jiang Yue stared at the cute emoticons with dead eyes. Five years from now, this woman would help murder her. But right now, she was sending heart emoticons like they were actually friends.
Did Xu Meilin already hate her back then? Was she already plotting even in these early days? Or did the betrayal come later, after Lin Haoran sunk his claws into her?
Not that it mattered. The reason didn't change the outcome. The motive didn't bring back the years she lost or the life that was stolen from her.
Jiang Yue typed back a response:
*"Coming! Save me a spot! ♡"*
She pressed send and then set the phone down with a grim smile.
Let the games begin.
---
An hour later, Jiang Yue walked into the campus cafeteria, and the first thing she noticed was the dead man sitting at the table next to Xu Meilin.
He was old—maybe seventy or eighty—dressed in outdated clothing that looked like it came from several decades ago. Half of his face was missing, caved in like something heavy had struck him. He sat perfectly still, staring at nothing, his one remaining eye glazed and empty.
Jiang Yue's step faltered for just a moment before she forced herself to keep walking.
*Ignore it*, she told herself. *You can't react. No one else can see him. If you react, people will think you're crazy.*
She fixed her eyes on Xu Meilin and approached with a casual smile.
"Hey! Sorry I took so long. I couldn't decide what to wear tonight."
Xu Meilin looked up from her breakfast and waved enthusiastically. "Yue Yue! Over here!"
Jiang Yue slid into the seat across from her, carefully positioning herself so she didn't have to look at the dead man. But she could feel his presence—a cold spot in the air, a weight in the corner of her vision.
"You seem different today," Xu Meilin said, studying her with curiosity. "Did something happen?"
Jiang Yue raised an eyebrow. "Different how?"
"I don't know... you seem more confident? More intense?" Xu Meilin laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm probably imagining things. Did you sleep well?"
*I died*, Jiang Yue thought. *And then I was reborn into a world where I can see the dead. So no, Meilin, I wouldn't say I slept well.*
"I had some vivid dreams," she said instead. "Made me think about a lot of things."
"Like what?"
"Like how important it is to know who your real friends are." Jiang Yue picked up her chopsticks and began eating the breakfast Xu Meilin had ordered for her. "You never really know someone until they show you who they truly are, right? Someone could smile at you for years while plotting your downfall."
Xu Meilin blinked. "That's... surprisingly philosophical for first thing in the morning."
"I've decided to be more observant from now on. Pay more attention to the people around me." Jiang Yue met Xu Meilin's eyes and held them. "Really *see* them, you know?"
For just a second—a tiny, almost imperceptible moment—Xu Meilin's sweet smile seemed to freeze.
Then it was back, brighter than ever.
"That's a great attitude to have! Anyway, about tonight—I think we should get there early to scope out the good seats. And I heard that there's this really wealthy senior named Lin Haoran who's going to be there. Everyone says he's super handsome and comes from a really good family!"
Jiang Yue's chopsticks paused halfway to her mouth.
So Xu Meilin already knew about Lin Haoran. Already knew about his wealth and background. Was this also part of the plan from the beginning? Had they been working together all along, targeting her before she even knew she was prey?
The thought made her want to flip the table, but she controlled herself.
"Lin Haoran?" she repeated, keeping her voice casual. "Never heard of him."
"Really? His family owns Haoran Group! They're like, one of the biggest real estate developers in the city!" Xu Meilin's eyes sparkled with interest. "I bet every girl at the party is going to be trying to talk to him. We should definitely introduce ourselves!"
"Maybe," Jiang Yue said. "Or maybe I'll just enjoy the free food and networking opportunities. I'm not really interested in chasing men right now."
Xu Meilin's smile flickered again. "But Yue Yue, you're already twenty-two! If you don't start looking now, all the good ones will be taken!"
*All the 'good ones' like Lin Haoran?* Jiang Yue thought sarcastically. *The one who kills his wife for her money?*
"I'll survive," she said dryly.
The conversation moved on to other topics—classes, professors, campus gossip—but Jiang Yue was only half listening. Her mind was spinning with plans and possibilities.
She had two immediate problems.
First, the Lin Haoran situation. Tonight was when they were supposed to meet, which meant whatever scheme he and possibly Xu Meilin had planned would begin. She needed to either avoid him entirely or confront him in a way that threw off his game.
Second, the ghost situation. She could see the dead now, and apparently, something out there was watching her. She had no idea what that meant or how dangerous it could become. The shadow had warned her that things might "wake up" because of her, whatever that meant.
One problem at a time.
Tonight, she would deal with Lin Haoran.
Tomorrow, she would figure out how to survive in a world where the dead could see her back.
"-and that's when Professor Wang said the funniest thing! Are you even listening, Yue Yue?"
Jiang Yue snapped back to attention. "Sorry, I was just thinking about tonight. What time should we head over?"
Xu Meilin pouted. "I said the party starts at seven, but we should get there by six-thirty to-"
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes fixed on something behind Jiang Yue.
"What is it?" Jiang Yue asked.
"That guy behind you keeps staring at us. Or... at you, I think."
Jiang Yue turned around, half expecting to see another ghost.
But the man standing a few tables away was very much alive. Tall, with sharp features and eyes so dark they looked black. He was dressed simply-dark jeans, a plain white t-shirt-but he carried himself with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how powerful he was.
He was also staring directly at Jiang Yue with an expression of intense curiosity.
Their eyes met.
And Jiang Yue felt something strange-a jolt of electricity that ran down her spine. Not fear, exactly. Something else. Something that made her pulse quicken and her instincts sharpen.
The man smiled slightly, as if he found something amusing.
Then he turned and walked out of the cafeteria without looking back.
"Who was that?" Xu Meilin breathed. "I've never seen him before. He's even more handsome than Lin Haoran!"
Jiang Yue stared at the cafeteria door long after the stranger had left.
She didn't know who he was. She had never seen him in her previous life. He wasn't a student she recognized, wasn't a professor, wasn't anyone she remembered from her five years of marriage.
He was a complete unknown.
And something about the way he looked at her-like he could see right through her-made her deeply, profoundly uneasy.
"Yue Yue? You okay?"
Jiang Yue tore her gaze away from the door and turned back to her breakfast.
"I'm fine," she said, but her mind was elsewhere.
A mysterious stranger who looked at her like he knew something.
A world full of ghosts only she could see.
A welcome party where her future murderer was waiting.
Her second life was already more complicated than her first, and it had only been three hours.
Fantastic, she thought sarcastically. Just fantastic.
The afternoon passed in a blur of lectures and planning.
Jiang Yue sat through classes she had already taken once before, taking notes she didn't need and answering questions she remembered from five years ago. Her professors commented on how sharp she seemed today, how quickly she grasped concepts that usually took students weeks to understand.
If only they knew she had a five-year cheat sheet in her brain.
But while her body went through the motions of being a dutiful student, her mind was working overtime on strategies.
Regarding Lin Haoran:
Option 1: Avoid him entirely. Don't go to the party, don't let him "accidentally" bump into her, don't give him any opportunity to start his scheme.
Problem: This only delayed the inevitable. If she
avoided him tonight, he would find another opportunity. He had targeted her specifically for her family's wealth, which meant he would keep trying until he succeeded or until she neutralized him as a threat.
Option 2: Confront him publicly. Call him out in front of everyone, expose his gold-digging intentions, ruin his reputation before he could do the same to her.
Problem: She had no proof. She knew the future, but she couldn't prove any of it. All she had were memories that could easily be dismissed as paranoia.
Option 3: Play along, but change the game. Let him approach her, let him think his scheme was working, but instead of falling for him, gather evidence and information that she could use later.
This was the riskiest option, but potentially the most rewarding. If she could get close to Lin Haoran without actually falling for him, she could learn the full extent of his plans. She could find out exactly who was helping him, what his weaknesses were, and how to destroy him completely.
The thought of pretending to like the man who murdered her made her stomach turn. But revenge wasn't supposed to be comfortable.
Jiang Yue decided on Option 3. She would be the spider this time, not the fly.
Regarding the ghost situation:
She had no idea where to even start with this one. She couldn't exactly Google "I died and came back to life and now I can see dead people, what do I do." Well, she could, but she doubted she would find useful results.
The shadow had said things might "wake up" because of her. It had said some of them might wish her harm. That sounded bad. That sounded very bad.
But until something actually happened, she would just have to stay alert and hope for the best.
Great plan, she knew. Truly the strategy of a genius.
At 5:30 PM, Jiang Yue returned to her dorm room to get ready for the party.
The black dress she had chosen earlier looked even better than she remembered. It hugged her figure perfectly, sophisticated enough for a business function but striking enough to be memorable. She paired it with minimal jewelry and simple heels, keeping the overall look clean and sharp.
When she looked in the mirror, she didn't see the naive girl who had walked into this party the first time around. She saw a woman who had crawled back from death itself.
Let's see if you can handle me now, Lin Haoran.
A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts.
"Yue Yue! Ready to go?"
Xu Meilin's voice made her jaw tighten, but she forced a smile as she opened the door.
"Ready. Let's-"
She stopped.
Standing behind Xu Meilin, visible only to Jiang Yue, was the ghost of a young woman. She was maybe twenty-five, dressed in what might have once been a beautiful red dress, but was now torn and stained with something dark. Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and her eyes-
Her eyes were fixed on Xu Meilin with pure, undiluted hatred.
"Yue Yue? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
Jiang Yue's laugh came out strained. "Nothing. Just remembered something. Let's go."
She stepped out and closed the door behind her, but not before taking one last look at the ghost in red.
The woman hadn't moved. She was still staring at Xu Meilin, her broken neck creating a horrifying silhouette as her head hung at an impossible angle.
What did you do? Jiang Yue thought, eyeing the back of Xu Meilin's head as they walked. What did you do to make a ghost hate you that much?
She filed the observation away for later investigation. If Xu Meilin had secrets and she clearly did-then Jiang Yue would find them. Every single one.
The welcome party was held in the university's main banquet hall, a grand space decorated with streamers, flowers, and enough champagne to fill a swimming pool. Students mingled in groups, professors made polite conversation, and everywhere Jiang Yue looked, she could see the invisible inhabitants of this new world she had discovered.
Ghosts lingered in corners.
Shadows moved where there was no light source.
A translucent woman in mourning clothes wept silently by the refreshment table.
Jiang Yue grabbed a glass of champagne and downed it in one gulp.
"Whoa, slow down!" Xu Meilin laughed. "The night just started!"
"Just calming my nerves," Jiang Yue replied. Which was true. It was hard to network professionally when there was a dead person standing behind every living one.
The next two hours passed in a carefully choreographed dance of introductions and small talk.
Jiang Yue shook hands with professors, exchanged business cards with senior students, and laid the groundwork for connections she knew would become valuable in the coming years.
All the while, she kept one eye on the door.
He would arrive at 8:15 PM. She remembered because she had told the story of their meeting at their wedding reception, romanticizing every detail like the fool she had been.
"He walked in at exactly 8:15, and I swear the whole room stopped. I knew right then that my life was about to change..."
Oh, her life had changed all right. Just not the way she thought.
8:10 PM.
8:13 PM.
8:15-
The door opened, and Lin Haoran walked in.
He looked exactly the same as he would in five years -tall, handsome, with that charming smile that had fooled her so completely. His suit was expensive, his hair was perfectly styled, and he moved through the room like he owned it.
Several women immediately gravitated toward him, drawn by his looks and the aura of wealth that surrounded him.
Jiang Yue felt nothing.
No flutter of attraction. No romantic butterflies. Just cold, calculating contempt.
She watched as he scanned the room, his eyes moving from face to face like a predator searching for prey. When his gaze landed on her, she saw the flicker of recognition.
Not recognition like he knew her-recognition like he had found what he was looking for.
She had been researched. Targeted. Selected.
In her previous life, she had walked toward him at this moment, drawn by fate and foolish romantic notions.
This time, she turned around and walked away.
"Wait!" Xu Meilin grabbed her arm. "That's Lin Haoran! I told you about him! Where are you going?"
"Bathroom," Jiang Yue said flatly. "I'll be right back."
She extracted herself from Xu Meilin's grip and headed for the side door, knowing exactly what would happen next.
In about three minutes, Lin Haoran would "accidentally" collide with someone near the refreshment table, spilling wine on their dress. In the original timeline, that someone had been her.
Let's see who he picked as a second choice.
She found a quiet spot near the exit and watched.
Lin Haoran moved through the crowd with practiced ease, always keeping her in his peripheral vision.
When he saw her slip away, a brief frown crossed his face before it was replaced by that charming smile.
He approached the refreshment table.
He reached for a glass of wine.
And then-
"Excuse me."
A voice came from behind Jiang Yue, deep and smooth, and she spun around to find herself face-to-face with the mysterious stranger from the cafeteria.
He was even more striking up close-sharp cheekbones, dark eyes that seemed to see right through her, and an amused smile that made her want to punch him.
"Do I know you?" she asked curtly.
"Not yet," he said. "But you will. My name is Feng Yichen."
"Good for you. I'm leaving."
She turned to walk away, but his next words stopped her cold.
"You're her, aren't you? The one who came back."
Jiang Yue's blood froze in her veins.
She slowly turned back around, her eyes wide with shock.
"What did you just say?"
Feng Yichen smiled a smile that was far too knowing, far too dangerous.
"I can see them too, you know. The dead. The shadows. The things that hide in the spaces between." He leaned in close, his lips almost brushing her ear. "The question is... what are you going to do about the thing that followed you back?"
Before she could respond, before she could even process his words, a scream erupted from the other side of the room.
Jiang Yue whipped around.
Near the refreshment table, guests were scrambling backward, their faces pale with terror. Wine glasses shattered on the floor. Someone was calling for help.
And in the center of the chaos, Lin Haoran stood frozen, his eyes wide and staring at something no one else could see.
No one except Jiang Yue.
Because standing right in front of him, her translucent hands wrapped around his throat, was the ghost in the red dress-the same one who had been following Xu Meilin.
And she was very, very angry.
"MURDERER," the ghost screamed, her voice echoing in a frequency only Jiang Yue could hear. "YOU KILLED ME! YOU BOTH KILLED ME!"
Lin Haoran couldn't see her. He couldn't hear her. But he could feel those cold hands on his throat, could feel the supernatural pressure cutting off his air.
His face was turning blue.
And for one brief, terrible moment, Jiang Yue felt a savage satisfaction watching her murderer choke.
Then she caught Feng Yichen watching her, his expression curious, waiting to see what she would do.
Damn it.
She couldn't let Lin Haoran die. Not yet. Not before she found out everything she needed to know. Not before she made him suffer properly for what he did to her.
"How do I stop it?" she demanded, turning to Feng Yichen.
His smile widened. "You'll owe me a favor."
+
"FINE! Just tell me!"
"Her name," he said calmly. "Call her by her name and tell her she's dead. That usually works for the newly departed."
"I don't know her name!"
"Then I suggest you think very quickly."
The ghost in the red dress. Following Xu Meilin. Hating Lin Haoran. Something they both did to her. Someone they both-
A memory surfaced. A news article from two years ago in her original life. A scandal that had been quickly buried.
Graduate student found dead in apparent suicide.
Authorities ruled self-inflicted. Family contested findings. Case closed due to lack of evidence.
The student's name had been mentioned once at a dinner party-Lin Haoran had laughed about how "some people just can't handle rejection."
"Zhao Lianhua!"
The ghost froze.
Jiang Yue stepped forward, her heart pounding but her voice steady.
"Your name is Zhao Lianhua. You were a graduate student here two years ago. And I'm sorry for what happened to you-l truly am-but you're dead. You've been dead for two years."
The ghost turned slowly to face her, those rage-filled eyes now mixed with confusion.
"You... can see me?"
"Yes."
"Then you know. You know what they did."
"I'm starting to figure it out." Jiang Yue's voice softened. "And if they killed you, I promise-I swear on my own death and rebirth-that I will make them pay. But not like this. Not with you killing him in a room full of witnesses who can't see what's really happening. That won't bring you justice. That will just make you fade away, and they'll get away with everything."
Zhao Lianhua stared at her for a long moment.
Then, slowly, her hands released Lin Haoran's throat.
He collapsed to the ground, gasping and coughing, completely oblivious to the ghost standing over him.
"You swore," Zhao Lianhua whispered. "On your death and rebirth. I heard you. The boundary heard you."
"Yes."
"If you break your word... if you let them escape justice..." The ghost's form began to flicker and fade. "I will come for you too, living one. I will come for everyone."
Then she was gone, leaving nothing behind but a cold spot in the air and the promise of violence to come.
Jiang Yue let out a shaky breath.
Around her, guests were helping Lin Haoran to his feet, calling for doctors, asking what happened. Someone suggested it was an anxiety attack. Someone else mentioned stress. Nobody suspected the truth.
Nobody except Jiang Yue and the stranger standing beside her.
"Well handled," Feng Yichen said approvingly. "You're a natural."
"Who are you?" Jiang Yue demanded. "And what did you mean about something following me back?"
"That's a conversation for later. Right now, you should probably look concerned about your future husband's health."
"He's not my-" She stopped. Took a breath. "How do you know about my rebirth? How do you know what I can see? Who are you?"
Feng Yichen reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, pressing it into her hand.
"I work for a special department of the government. We handle... unusual cases. Cases like what you just experienced." He smiled that infuriating smile again.
"And cases like you."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Oh, and Miss Jiang? The thing that followed you back from the boundary? It's not a ghost. It's something much older and much hungrier. You might want to deal with that sooner rather than later."
"Wait-!"
But he was already walking away, disappearing into the crowd like he had never been there at all.
Jiang Yue looked down at the business card in her hand.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS BUREAU
Feng Yichen
Senior Consultant
Below that was a phone number and a single line of text:
"For matters beyond the veil."
"Yue Yue!"
Xu Meilin rushed over, her face pale with false concern.
"Did you see what happened? Lin Haoran just collapsed! It was so scary!"
Jiang Yue looked at her childhood friend-the woman who would betray her, who had apparently already helped kill someone else-and felt nothing but cold determination.
"Yes," she said. "Very scary. I hope he's okay."
But not too okay, she added silently. Just okay enough to suffer.
The night had barely begun, and already she had:
1. Discovered that Lin Haoran and Xu Meilin had killed someone before her.
2. Made a sworn promise to avenge a ghost.
3. Encountered a mysterious man who knew about her rebirth.
4. Learned that something dangerous had followed her back from death.
Her second life was going to be very, very complicated.But as Jiang Yue looked around the room-at Lin Haoran being helped onto a chair, at Xu Meilin's worried expression, at the invisible dead who walked among the living-she felt something she hadn't felt in a very long time.
Excitement.
She had been given a second chance, a new power, and enemies worth destroying.
Let them come. Let them all come.
This time, Jiang Yue was ready.
END OF CHAPTER 1
Next Chapter Preview:
Jiang Yue investigates the death of Zhao Lianhua and discovers that her murderers' crimes run much deeper than she imagined. Meanwhile, the entity that followed her from the boundary makes its first move, and Feng Yichen offers her a deal she can't refuse.