Mia Kane groggily awoke, her head heavy and her body weak. She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over her.

It took her a long while to get her bearings, only to find she was still in Adrian Preston’s hospital room.

But the bed beside hers was neatly made, and Adrian Preston was nowhere to be seen.

Her heart plummeted. A glance at the clock told her the critical twenty-four-hour window had passed.

’Then what about Adrian Preston?’

Adrian Preston hadn’t woken up by the time she passed out. ’He’s probably not going to wake up at all.’

’So, has the hospital already dealt with his body?’

The thought sent her scrambling out of bed in a panic, too frantic to even put on her shoes.

Just as she stepped out the door, she ran into two nurses who were in the middle of a discussion.

"So young. It’s a shame he died just like that."

"I know, right? I heard he was a highly respected officer with a brilliant future. And he was so handsome, too. Such a waste."

When Mia Kane heard this, she immediately grabbed them.

"Who died?"

"We don’t know his name. He just passed away today."

"Where is he?"

"In the morgue, on the first basement level. They just took him down."

Mia Kane sprinted downstairs without a second thought and reached the morgue. The heavy iron door was shut tight, yet she could feel a steady draft of cold air seeping out, chilling her to the bone.

Everyone is afraid of the dead.

Mia Kane was no exception, but the thought of Adrian Preston lying in there all alone made her heart ache beyond measure.

’It was her fault Adrian Preston died.’

’She had said the wrong thing.’

’She was useless. She couldn’t wake him.’

Her eyes were bloodshot as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

She tried to go inside, but the guard stopped her.

"Are you family? You need the proper identification to claim a body. The deceased’s name, your relationship to him, and proof of that relationship."

The guard handed her a form and asked to see her identification.

Mia Kane had nothing to show him.

"I don’t have them with me. Can you please just let me go in?"

"No. We have to follow procedure. This isn’t an area people can just walk into."

Normally, after the forms were filled out and verified, the staff would bring the body out.

"I’m his wife. You can check—isn’t this a military hospital? You should be able to look up his records."

"Please, I’m begging you, just make an exception. Let me go in, please. My husband is waiting for me."

"Alright, wait a moment. I’ll check. What’s your husband’s name, and when was he brought down?"

Mia Kane quickly gave him Adrian Preston’s name, and the guard made a call to check.

"Sorry, his file says he’s divorced. There’s no information about a wife."

The words hit Mia Kane like a physical blow, and her mind went blank.

’Divorced...’

’So, Adrian Preston had lied to her. They really were divorced, but he’d said they weren’t.’

’Why? Was it so she would still think of him as her husband?’

"Also, Adrian Preston isn’t..."

Before the guard could finish, Mia Kane bolted past him, taking advantage of the door opening as a staff member wheeled a gurney out.

Mia Kane no longer cared what the guard was saying. All she wanted was to see Adrian Preston one last time, no matter the cost.

’She and Adrian Preston were divorced. She didn’t even have the right to claim his body.’

There were several gurneys inside, but only one was occupied. It held a body covered by a white sheet—a recent arrival.

A sudden, paralyzing fear seized her, and she found she couldn’t take another step.

Her hands were trembling so badly she couldn’t find the courage to lift the white sheet for a final look.

"If you don’t leave now, I’m calling security..."

The guard shouted, but someone stopped him and whispered in his ear. He immediately fell silent.

A ringing filled Mia Kane’s ears, blocking out all other sound.

She mustered her courage and moved forward, each foot feeling as if it were made of lead.

Every step took an enormous amount of courage.

Finally, she was standing in front of the gurney.

Her hands shook violently.

She reached out, inch by inch, until her fingers finally brushed the edge of the white sheet.

She took a deep breath and pulled it back.

But before she could see the face beneath, a large hand suddenly covered her eyes.

"Don’t look. He died a brutal death. His face is unrecognizable. I don’t want you to be frightened."

Mia Kane’s mind went blank.

The person speaking was... Adrian Preston.

She would recognize that voice anywhere.

The hand over her eyes was real.

Her back was pressed firmly against his chest, and the warmth radiating from him was real, too.

Adrian Preston wasn’t dead.

Her eyelashes fluttered, brushing gently against his palm.

Hot tears spilled over, unstoppable.

"Mia, I’m about to collapse. Can you catch me?"

The voice behind her grew strained. Hearing this, Mia Kane’s heart skipped a beat.

She spun around just in time to catch Adrian Preston as his body went limp and started to fall.

She caught him with all her might.

He was too weak to even stand; he had come over in a wheelchair.

But when he saw that Mia Kane was about to look at the corpse, he was so afraid she’d be frightened that he ignored everything else, pushing past his physical limits to rush over.

The majority of his weight pressed down on her, but somehow, she held him up.

"Am... I heavy?"

"Yes. But I’ve got you."

She helped him back into the wheelchair and saw fresh blood seeping from his bandages. The wound had clearly torn open.

Her heart ached all over again.

"As long as you’re okay. I thought..."

"Don’t worry. I’m hard to kill. I won’t die that easily."

He offered a weak smile, trying to comfort Mia Kane, but his face was completely drained of color—a deathly pallor that held no reassurance at all.

As she wheeled him away, the deceased’s real family arrived to identify the body.

An elderly couple arrived. Mia overheard that their son had been unmarried and had a younger brother.

The parents supported one another, their backs hunched as they shuffled slowly inside.

Upon seeing the mangled corpse, the mother broke into convulsive sobs and fainted on the spot.

The father held himself together, but his voice was choked with helpless despair.

"Son, we’re here to take you home."

Mia Kane couldn’t help but glance back. She understood their anguish perfectly. A moment ago, when she thought it was Adrian Preston, her own world had felt like it was collapsing.

"How... did he die?"

"He was a narcotics officer. After the drug traffickers caught him, they injected him with meth. While he was in that state of forced euphoria, they slowly cut off his nose, his ears, his lips... It was death by a thousand cuts. His body was covered in countless wounds."

"He was also violated... by a group of men. And that’s not all. After the drugs wore off, as he lay there in agony awaiting death, they cut open his stomach and poured cement inside. He finally succumbed to the torture and humiliation."

A chill ran down Mia Kane’s spine as she listened.

’The revenge of drug traffickers is terrifying.’

"He... he can’t even have a marked grave, can he?"

"He can have a gravestone, but it can’t have his picture or his name. His parents can’t visit it. After the burial, they’ll have to move and start a new life somewhere else. They’ll have people protecting them in secret for a few years, until we’re sure the danger has passed."

"But if word ever gets out, their entire family could be massacred."

"If you weren’t part of the Preston Group, would your fate be the same as his? To die without even leaving a name behind?"

"Yes."

"Adrian Preston... you went back to that life, didn’t you?"

Mia Kane’s heart felt like it was about to shatter.

Adrian Preston looked back at her and saw that her eyes were as red as a rabbit’s.

"I never left."