The Fiancé Who Lived Again

On the day of his funeral, I discovered that my fiance, Zachary Gray, had come back to life. His friend says teasingly, "You sure know how to stage an act, Zachary. Your fiancee cried so much over your fake death that she almost went blind!" Zachary smiles indifferently and says, "Stepping into marriage is like taking one foot into the grave. Of course, I have to have some fun first." I stand in the shadows and watch him bend down to kiss another woman. He then points at the tombstone I had carefully and painstakingly carved for him, laughing until he can't catch his breath. Watching him, I feel like an utter fool. I take out my phone and call my father. "Dad, since Zachary is dead, our engagement is null. Let's pull out of the collaboration with the Gray family's company." Chapter 1 On the day of his funeral, I discovered that my fiance, Zachary Gray, had come back to life. He held another woman in his arms fondly and mocked my devoted acts of love over the past year. That was when I realized everything had been a prank he orchestrated to "have some fun", as he said it. I called my father, Frank Klein. He sounded perplexed as he said, "Bebe, didn't you cry your eyes out at his funeral just this morning? You even swore to remain a widow for him for life. Why are you cutting ties so thoroughly all of a sudden? "Besides, the Gray family is in turmoil right now. Without our support, they may have a hard time surviving this crisis." My father thought he had misheard me, so he solemnly sought my clarification. I smiled bitterly and replied, "I just think I should focus on the future instead of being hung up. Life has to go on, doesn't it?" Furthermore, Zachary had never once bothered to care about how I was doing. Why should I keep waiting for him? By the time I ended the call, Zachary and his group had already left the cemetery. I walked over to his tombstone and used all my strength to scratch it up until it was in ruins. I had painstakingly carved this tombstone after I spent three months flying around the world. During that time, I received an anonymous letter every day. They were photos showing landscapes from around the world and the back view of a man who looked very much like Zachary. Everyone said it was a prank, but I didn't believe it. I kept flying across the globe without stopping to rest, heading to the locations I saw in each photo. I even hired detectives to search through entire cities. But in the end, all I got were countless disheartening results. I had grown numb to the two sentences that I always ended up hearing. "Sorry, miss. We couldn't find him." "Miss, we've really tried our best." Left with no other choice and feeling desperate, I even sought out a geomancer. He told me that building a tombstone might lead Zachary's soul back to me. I did as he said. I carved Zachary's tombstone day and night for three months straight. In the end, he did return, alright. But it turned out everything was just a cruel joke he mercilessly played on me. That day, when I returned home and turned on the lights, the first thing that came into view was our wedding photo. In the photo, Zachary smiled gently and lovingly at me like he loved me the most. I couldn't understand why. If he didn't want to marry me, he could have just refused our union. Why did he pretend to be kidnapped the day after we took our wedding photos? Exhausted, I collapsed on the couch. In my mind, his cold words from the cemetery kept replaying themselves in a loop. "Phoebe relied on her status as the Klein heiress to make this marriage happen. She should've already prepared herself to go home to an empty house and be all alone after getting married. I'm just letting her get a taste of it in advance," Zachary said with a scoff. He held the woman next to him tightly and added, "Don't worry, Lola. Even if I do go back to her later, I will never abandon you." Lola Seaman was Zachary's first love and the woman he had loved for many years. As Lola came from a poor family, Zachary's father, Philip, didn't approve of her. Because of that, Zachary had to break up with her. Who would have thought he had been seeing her in secret all along? Thinking of them kissing in front of the grave made my stomach churn. I stood up and tore the wedding photo to pieces. Then, I opened Facebook and published a new post. I wrote, "Singles night tonight. Everyone's invited. All expenses on me!" In less than a minute, the comments section was abuzz. "Phoebe, you just held Zachary's funeral and now, you're partying already? How could you?" "Yeah. I thought you were heartbroken when you cried so sadly earlier." "No wonder you rushed to arrange the funeral so quickly. Turns out you couldn't wait to be free and single again. What if Zachary suddenly comes back and catches you messing around with someone else? He'll cancel the engagement in anger!" I read through each comment. Then, I swiftly published another post. "PS: Everyone's invited except for Zachary's friends." After I posted that, I fixed my hair and put on makeup. But I froze when I saw the woman in the mirror with the sallow face and puffy eyes. For the past several months, I had been constantly flying to places in search of Zachary. I'd get so busy that I'd often forget to eat. Even when I remembered to have a meal, the bad news I learned would take away my appetite. Thinking of Zachary's ruddy complexion and how immaculately he dressed when I saw him earlier that day, I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous my actions had been. In the countless days when my meals were seasoned with my tears of grief that fell for him, he had been savoring candlelight dinners with his beloved Lola. I slowly let out a long breath of air dejectedly. No matter what, all of that was over and behind me. I opened the drawer to pick the jewelry I would wear that night. My hand froze in mid-air as I realized the engagement ring Zachary gave me was gone. Chapter 2 I pulled up the surveillance footage of my house and watched it frame by frame. On the previous evening, Zachary stepped into the bedroom with his arms roaming all over Lola. They even had the audacity to carry out their passionate lovemaking on my bed. When they left the next day, Zachary opened the drawer and took out that ring. He then slid it onto Lola's finger. Lola put up her hand in front of the mirror to look at it from different angles with eyes full of happiness and pride. I pulled up footage from even earlier and discovered that on the second day after Zachary was kidnapped, he had already brought Lola home. At that time, I was so immersed in grief that I didn't notice the wrinkles on the sheets or the smell of perfume in the air that couldn't have come from me. I never thought Zachary would deceive me, so I never opened the surveillance to check. As that painful realization of betrayal hit for real, my hand went limp. The makeup brush I had been holding fell to the floor with a dull thud. I covered my face and cried until I couldn't breathe. Unsurprisingly, my freshly applied makeup was all smeared in no time. My phone rang as a call from Zachary's mother, Rosa Trough, came in. "What's the matter, Rosa?" I asked blandly. Her voice on the other end sounded somewhat anxious. "Bebe, I heard you want to cancel the business collaboration between our two families." I responded with a soft "Yeah", causing Rosa to become even more anxious. "Please don't do this, Bebe. Zachary is still alive, and your engagement is still valid!" She immediately sent me a video of Zachary eating at a restaurant. The person across from him was carefully blurred out, but from the tenderness in his eyes, it was obvious that it was Lola. I clenched my phone and let out a long breath. "When did you find him?" Rosa was silent for a moment before stammering, "A-A few days ago. Things were hectic, s-so I forgot to tell you." I sneered, "You're lying. Hectic? But you still made time to come and attend your own son's funeral today." Rosa fell silent. I didn't want to talk to her anymore and decided to end the call, but she hurriedly cried out to stop me. "Can you not cancel our collaboration, please? Both our families have been friends for so many years. Can't you spare us for old times' sake?" Rosa pleaded. "Sure," I responded curtly. "If Zachary kneels down before me and apologizes to me, we can resume everything we've previously agreed on." Rosa was instantly rendered speechless. I scoffed derisively at her obvious hesitation, not interested in continuing the conversation. "Wait, Bebe! Please give us some more time. I can't reach Zachary right now. Wait until I—" I was annoyed and cut her off, "When you can finally reach him, tell him to come to my singles party." After ending the call, I collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion. That scene at the restaurant had appeared before in one of the anonymous letters. The time stamp was about four months ago. This meant that the entire Gray family had been lying to me. Messages kept popping up on my phone, mostly from Zachary's friends. "Phoebe, if Zachary finds out you're throwing a singles party, he'll dump you!" "I'm telling you, there are tons of women lining up to be with Zachary. Don't regret it later!" After reading two messages, I turned off my phone screen. All these years, I had humbled myself too much to please Zachary. In the end, I didn't earn his love but only everyone's contempt at my simp-like behavior. Actually, in terms of looks, Zachary and I were evenly matched. But in terms of family background, I surpassed him by a mile. After reapplying my makeup, I looked at the exquisite woman in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction. I was finally myself again. No one could mess with the heiress of the Klein family, Phoebe Klein. Chapter 3 Before heading to my singles party, I returned to Klein Group to sign the divestment contract. When I pushed open the door, my father was sitting in the center seat with a dark expression on his face. He said grimly, "Bebe, Zachary is still alive." Upon seeing that I wasn't reacting with surprise and was just staring back at him calmly, he nodded knowingly. In a frosty tone, he added, "The Gray family just called multiple times, begging us to reconsider. I never expected them to toy with us like this. How dare they mess with my daughter? They must have a death wish! "Don't worry, Bebe. I won't just withdraw the investment. I'll make sure the Gray family has nowhere to turn to in Jerwyn." I smiled and reassured my father that I was fine as the board of directors signed their names on the contract one by one. As I exited the Klein Group building, I saw a man and a woman arguing by the roadside. Even with the bill of his cap pulled low, I could tell it was Zachary. He held his phone, seemingly wanting to rush into the building while Lola clung tightly to him, refusing to let go. He must have seen my post, which was why he was so agitated. But what I didn't expect was that a single embrace from Lola was enough to calm him down. Zachary put down his phone and got into the car. Lola followed closely. Before getting in, she turned around to stare at me with a taunting look in her eyes. The car they were in didn't start even after a very long time. Lola leaned over and hooked her arms around Zachary's neck. Then, she planted a trail of kisses on him lovingly and sensually before capturing his lips with hers. Their kiss deepened, so much so that they didn't even notice the flashing lights of the camera. I locked my phone screen, started my Ferrari, and sped past them. All the way, fragments of the things that happened recently came to the forefront of my mind. On the day Zachary was kidnapped, I ran myself ragged going from bank to bank to withdraw the ransom. I even begged to exchange my life for his despite Dad's objections. Back then, his family and his friends stood aside without saying a word. I thought they were so deeply grieved that they were powerless to act. Looking back now, they were all probably just standing by and watching with amusement as I acted out the most tragic comedy ever. As the thought formed in my mind, I felt a suffocating weight in my chest. I gripped the steering wheel and turned it around to speed toward their car. Then, I slammed the gas pedal and crashed hard into its rear bumper. They finally stopped locking lips. "Damn it! Don't you know how to drive?" Zachary cursed, holding a hand to his bleeding forehead. But I didn't hear him. I sped away, leaving only a trail of black smoke behind for the two of them. Chapter 4 When I arrived at the bar, it was already 1:00 am. Everyone was at the door to welcome me. My best friend, Samara Sheridan, rushed over and hugged me tightly. "Bebe, we've heard all about it. Zachary is such a bastard! How dare he do that to you?" "I've already told my dad. The Jackson family is pulling out too. We'll teach him a good lesson for messing with our darling Phoebe!" "The Leigh family is pulling out too." "So is the Urwin family." My friends all chimed in to show support for me. My eyes turned slightly red as a year's worth of pent-up grievances poured forth like a broken dam. These people had watched me risk my life for Zachary. That was why when they learned the truth, they were even more indignant than I was. I hastily wiped away my tears and entered the venue with hugs from everyone. "No more crying! Tonight is my singles party. We should all enjoy ourselves!" Inside the bar, glasses clinked as bodies swayed to the music on the dance floor. Suddenly, a group of men kicked the door open. Zachary's friends stormed in. "You sure seem to be having a great time, Phoebe," one of them jeered. He looked at me scornfully with his hands on his hips as he said arrogantly, "You won't get to enjoy yourself much longer. Zachary is on his way." Instead of getting angry at him, I laughed out loud. "Zachary? Isn't he dead?" My friends snickered too. "Yeah. Isn't he six feet under now?" They wanted to say more, but I deliberately sighed like I had put the past behind me. I said serenely, "The dead can't come back to life. I've already moved on. I hope you all can move on too. Why don't you join us? Maybe it'll help heal the psychological trauma." I turned around and wrapped my arms around my friends. We headed back to the dance floor to party wildly. Behind me, a woman's furious scream rang out. "Cut your act, Phoebe! You saw Zachary, didn't you?" Lola stood at the door, glaring at me hatefully. There was a bandage on her forehead. It seemed the impact from the crash earlier was quite strong. "And to think that you even pulled out the investment! How could you do this to the Gray family when they're in such a difficult position?" Lola screeched. The moment she said that, I understood that these people had come to demand the funds that I had cut off. Looking past them, I saw a familiar figure. In the shadowy hallway, Zachary was leaning against the wall with the bill of his cap pulled low, revealing only half of his face. So, he had been here all along. Yet, he didn't dare to come forward and appear before me. I looked down at Lola condescendingly. "So what if I pulled out? What does it have to do with you? Who are you to yell at me here?" Lola's face flushed red upon being reprimanded. She pointed a trembling finger at me and shrieked, "Of course, it concerns me! If Zach finds out what you did, he'll be so heartbroken. And if he's heartbroken, I'd be heartbroken for him too!" I sneered, "Drop the act. You're just worried that you won't get that money when you become the future Mrs. Gray." At those words, my friends shot probing gazes at Lola. She shook with rage. "You're spouting nonsense! There's… There's nothing going on between me and Zach. I'm just worried about him." I raised my glass and shook my head helplessly. "What's the point of worrying for a dead man?" I swirled the wine in my glass and downed it in one gulp. Turning my head, I snaked an arm around a handsome man's neck and lifted his chin with my finger flirtatiously. "Let's go, handsome. Let's get back to having fun." Just as I turned around, Zachary, who had been leaning against the wall in silence, finally couldn't hold back anymore. He rushed over and forcefully yanked my hand away from the man. His words were cutting and fierce as he exclaimed, "I'm not dead yet, Phoebe!"