Chapter 7
The car suddenly jolted, Peter’s jaw tightening.
“Kim, what’s your problem?
Chapter 7
You never cared about my life when we were together!”
“Now that we’ve broken up, you’re giving me fake blessings?!”
Kim hadn’t expected such intensity, momentarily confused.
“Didn’t you want my blessing for your new relationship?”
Peter slammed the accelerator, the speedometer hitting 80 mph.
–
“Now I’m sure you never truly loved me.”
Scenery blurred outside as the white SUV raced through sunset hues.
Kim clutched the seatbelt, struggling to breathe.
The suffocating silence left her speechless.
Had she loved him?
If not, why had she remained stuck for three years, traveling alone to the Alps…
But now, what did it matter?
She was dead. He was getting married. Right?
Hours later, they exited Philadelphia’s toll gate.
A funeral home hearse stood roadside, its driver waving them down.
Peter stopped and lowered his window.
An official flashed his badge:
“Mr. Jackson?
Please sign this memorial service roster from Metropolitan Funeral Services.”
Peter frowned. “Why me?”
“Ms. Kim Lee’s specific request.”
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Chapter 7
Peter glanced at Kim resting in the passenger seat, silently signing the form.
Following the hearse toward the funeral home, Kim felt her body lightening.
Drowsiness, long absent, seeped through her bones.
Time was running out.
Through the window, she memorized the world:
Rush-hour crossroads, skyscrapers piercing sunset-painted clouds…
Every detail etched into her soul.
At the funeral home, Peter parked. Kim stepped into amber twilight.
Sunset rays warmed her translucent hands fading irreversibly.
Boom, boom, boom-
A distant station clock struck thrice as the Grim Reaper’s voice echoed:
“Kim Lee, you’ve achieved Returning to Roots. Any regrets?”
She watched workers hand her funeral portrait to Peter. Shook her head gently.
No family remained. Her last tether now held her image, bidding farewell.
This life felt complete.
“None.”
Closing her eyes, her vanished form dissolved into golden specks scattering on the wind…
Simultaneously, Peter’s chest seized with sharp pain..
He stared at the black-draped portrait.
“Why give this to me?”
The worker answered plainly:
“Mr. Jackson, it was Ms. Kim Lee’s dying wish.”
Peter froze completely:
“Kim Lee?
Dying wish?”
He looked toward the car, only to find the passenger seat empty-Kim was gone.
Chapter 7
1288 Vouchers
Staff stood solemnly in two rows as others wheeled a flower-covered transparent crystal casket beside the white SUV.
“Silence, please. Receive the casket-”
Someone approached the rear and opened the trunk.
A massive black suitcase came into view, surrounded by half-melted ice and snow.
Peter’s heart raced uncontrollably, panic spreading wildly through him like unchecked weeds.
Seeing no trace of that slender figure anywhere,
he instinctively stepped forward, blocking the staff member lifting the suitcase.
“This is Kim Lee’s luggage. Don’t touch it.”
The staff member responded gravely, “Mr. Jackson, we appreciate you accompanying the deceased on this journey. On Ms. Lee’s behalf, we thank you for your final companionship.”
With white-gloved hands, he slowly unzipped the suitcase.
As the black lid lifted, a curled form lay directly before Peter’s eyes amidst the melting frost-
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