Chapter 1

I had a heart attack and collapsed straight into the fresh, boiling asphalt at the highway construction site.

It has been two days. My body is already bloated from the heat, but my hand, stiff with rigor mortis, is still gripping that old tin lunchbox.

People keep passing by, yet no one has noticed me. Honestly, I’m relieved.

After all, I was just a dirty, uneducated old woman who ran a greasy food cart at the construction site. I was an embarrassment.

My daughter, Chloe, always hated how low-class I was. After her billionaire biological mother claimed her back, I didn't dare to call her even once.

I even chose to die in the middle of the night, just so I wouldn’t bother anyone.

It’s okay, Chloe.

As long as you are happy, Mom is fine.

My soul floated outside a massive luxury estate. I stared at the mansion, taking in every detail.

It was so grand, so beautiful. My Chloe deserved to live in a place like this.

I drifted into her bedroom. Chloe was trying on all kinds of designer princess dresses.

Watching her radiant smile, a deep sense of satisfaction filled my ghostly heart.

I had been too poor. I could only afford to buy her a new dress on her birthday.

Now that she was back with her real mother, she could finally be a real princess.

But the weather was freezing today, yet Chloe was putting on a tiny miniskirt to go out.

I instinctively cried out, "Chloe, it’s freezing outside! You’ll ruin your knees. Listen to me, put some pants on!"

But Chloe didn't look at me.

Right. I was already dead.

My soul followed my daughter to her high school.

Seeing how stunning she looked, her classmates quickly crowded around her.

"Hey, Chloe. I heard that even though you were raised by kidnappers, they actually treated you like their own. They were poor, but they spoiled you."

"Does that mean you have two moms now? Who do you like more? Your real mom or your adoptive one?"

Chloe, who had been smiling a second ago, slammed her textbook onto the floor.

Her face twisted with rage as she screamed, "Shut up! All of you! I don’t have an adoptive mother! She kidnapped me!"

"You guys are so naive. That woman was dirt poor. What kind of 'good life' could I have had?"

"Living in that shack with her was an absolute living hell!"

Chloe was shaking with anger. My heart, or what was left of it, ached.

It was all my fault. If only I had made more money, she wouldn't have suffered so much.

After screaming at her classmates, Chloe tried to act normal during class. But the moment the bell rang, she hid in the girls' restroom and started sobbing quietly.

I hovered beside her, desperately trying to wipe her tears, but my hands just passed through her.

Seeing her cry reminded me of the first time we met.

Fifteen years ago, when I first found Chloe, I was only eighteen.

Back then, I was just a waitress at a diner. Someone had left a bundle right by the door in the freezing cold.

So many customers walked past, but nobody cared.

The baby kept crying, her tiny face turning purple. It broke my heart.

When I picked her up, she was burning hot. If she kept burning like this, she would get brain damage.

I ran toward the hospital, but my boyfriend at the time, Jason, grabbed my arm.

"Heather, are you stupid?" Jason yelled. "That kid is sick! Her own parents threw her away. Why are you sticking your nose in this?"

"We need our savings for our wedding!"

His coldness made me shiver. I shook him off and screamed back.

"How can you be so heartless? We can always make more money, but this baby is going to die!"

I slapped his hand away and ran as fast as I could to the ER.

At the hospital, the doctor told me it wasn't just a fever. It was meningitis.

The doctor named a number for the treatment—a astronomical medical bill. He asked if I wanted to proceed.

Paying that bill meant all my hard work over the years would go down the drain, and I’d be buried in debt.

But looking at her flushed, tiny face, I clenched my teeth and nodded. "Save her."

Just like that, the baby lived. And my boyfriend walked out on me.

He said he had never met anyone as stupid as me.

But I didn't care. When the baby opened her eyes and gave me a tiny, gummy smile, everything was worth it.