Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Kim Lee quickly staggered over and pressed the trunk release.
“Put that up front. The trunk’s packed full.”
Samantha Wright eyed the black suitcase and muttered, “Bursting at the seams. You sure brought a lot…”
She placed her bag on the back seat, brushing snowflakes from her gloves.
“Kim, let’s grab breakfast.”
Kim Lee shook her head. “You two go ahead. I need to reorganize my luggage.”
Samantha nodded, looping her arm through Peter Jackson’s as they walked off.
Once alone, Kim reopened the trunk.
She packed loose snow around the suitcase, then pressed another layer over the top.
Finished, she gently brushed her palm across the case’s surface-like caressing her own body.
“Sleep now. Just a little longer… we’re almost home..”
After returning the bucket to the lodge front desk, she headed back to the car.
Peter and Samantha approached shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Kim! You never came. I brought you soybean drink and steamed pork buns. Eat them while they’re hot.”
Hesitating at the offered breakfast, Kim hesitated. Though solid now, she remained fundamentally dead-no breath, no heartbeat, no sense of temperature. Could she even consume this?
As she wavered, Peter’s voice cut through, low and firm.
“Samantha scalded her hand getting that for you. Don’t waste her kindness.”
Kim looked up, meeting Peter’s stern expression.
Samantha flushed with embarrassment.
“Since being with Peter, he’s handled every meal. This is my first time buying breakfast myself.”
Her sincerity left Kim speechless.
“Thanks.”
Kim accepted the food softly but ultimately didn’t eat.
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Chapter 4
Back behind the wheel. Kim continued south.
Snowfall thinned. Long-absent sunlight broke through clouds, warming her from within.
Four hours later, a navigation alert chimed: “Fatigue driving detected. Rest recommended.”
Kim parked in an open lot near a Mountain Cultural Village.
Samantha’s eyes lit up at the clustered storefronts. Tucking herself against Peter, she slid out.
“Kim! Peter and I will explore. Back in thirty.”
Peter’s gaze swept over Kim before clasping Samantha’s hand.
Alone, Kim noticed a Traditional Photo Studio nearby.
Remembering she lacked a funeral portrait, she drifted inside.
The owner eagerly promoted ethnic costumes.
“With your looks, you’d shine in a Tibetan Robe photo shoot.”
Kim shook her head. “Just a simple seated portrait. No costume needed.”
Her request was straightforward. The photographer finished quickly.
Studying the color image onscreen, Kim spoke softly.
“Could you make it black and white?”
The owner blinked. “Black-and-white? That’s… rather unlucky. Why—”
A bitter smile touched Kim’s lips. “For my funeral portrait.”
Before the words faded, a hand yanked her backward.
Kim turned, meeting Peter’s blazing eyes.
“What funeral portrait?”
Kim never expected Peter to show up at this moment. She withdrew her hand without a trace of emotion.
“It’s my own funeral portrait.”
Peter’s expression froze, mockery nearly spilling from his eyes.
“What’s the point of lying like this?”
Kim hadn’t imagined her honest admission would be dismissed as deception by Peter.
Whether believed or not, it hardly mattered anymore.
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Chapter 4
She tucked wind-tousled hair behind her ear, her voice fading like mist.
“Just joking. It’s my friend’s funeral portrait.”
Turning to the photographer, she asked: “Is the color adjustment done?”
The photographer glanced between them, puzzled, before looking at his screen.
“How did it get overexposed suddenly… Ma’am, we’ll need reshoots.”
Kim approached the computer. The once-clear portrait had blurred inexplicably,
as if veiled by some force, rendering the subject unrecognizable.
She gazed at her own faintly translucent hand and offered a bitter smile. “Never mind. This will do.”
Being dead, a thousand reshoots wouldn’t capture her clearly.
As Kim moved toward the car, Peter blocked her path.
“Samantha wants snowy wedding shots here. You’ll wait until we’re done.”
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