Chapter 1 — Light Does Not Touch

The year I broke up with my boyfriend Luc Chieu. Because I was short of money, I pooled my money to buy a grave with someone else. Three years after I died, the grave was hit by an earthquake. In the grave I dug up my body, and another male body. In special situations, the family of the deceased reports to the police. That night, the case was officially filed for investigation. Because Luc Chieu's belongings were found in the grave, he was forced by the police to return home to cooperate in the investigation. That night, he cleared away his doubts and prepared to return abroad. But suddenly, he received a contract to buy the same grave. It has my signature on it. That night, Luc Chieu went crazy.

1

At night, Luc Chieu arrived at the grave. I am packing up my things in the tomb tent, preparing to leave for reincarnation. The grave was destroyed by the earthquake, even the coffin was exposed from the ground. If I don't quickly reincarnate, my soul will be scattered. My grave friend, last night also rushed to another life. When I put the cloth bag on my back and walked out of the grave, I saw a large, dark group of people moving towards the forest. The sunset light was dim, and after I died, my eyesight was much worse. I stared intently for a long time, still not recognizing who it was. Until they got close. Suddenly, a familiar but cold voice rang out:

“It's just a necklace, does it have my name on it?”

Like a bucket of cold water splashed straight down on my head. My footsteps stiffened in place, my breath choked. I thought, I must be hallucinating. Luc Chieu and I have not seen each other for three years. Three years ago, when he was extremely disappointed in me, he angrily left. I didn't say a word, quietly followed him to see him off to the airport. Before boarding the plane, he looked at me with cold eyes and said:

“Don't worry, I will never come back again.”

“I also hope you don't disgust me, don't appear in front of me.”

That was the last time we met, also the last time we talked. So, I thought, maybe I'm hallucinating again. Three years after my death, I was constantly plagued by such hallucinations. I know clearly, you will never want to go back. It took me a while before I dared to look up. But at that moment, my heart felt like it was stuck in my throat. The person is dead, his heart has long stopped beating. But the feeling is still as clear as when I was alive. Under the pale sunset, I faced those eyes. The face is familiar, but the eyes are cold and strange. He stood in front of me, cigarette between two fingers. I saw the wedding ring on his ring finger. Even in the dim light, it still sparkled. Haven't seen each other for three years, he seems to be married. He looked at me. Cigarette smoke covered half of his face. I even feel like he is also watching me.

2

My heart sank. Instinctively, I quickly raised my hand and covered my face in panic. Luc Chieu once said, my face is very beautiful. But now, I've been dead for three years. Even though I was buried in a dirt grave and not cremated, on my face, only bare white bones remained. The body has almost no skin left. For the past three years, I have never looked in the mirror. But I can imagine how ugly I am now. Bony fingers pressed against his empty face. That's when I suddenly remembered— He wasn't looking see me. Sure enough, that man still calmly took a drag of his cigarette. He had absolutely no reaction to my actions of covering his face. I was simply standing in front of him, and he happened to be looking this way. I felt a bit discouraged and put my hand down. My throat felt tight, I didn't know whether to feel lucky or sad. Surrounding them was the sound of a middle-aged couple, getting more and more agitated:

“What is ‘just a necklace’?”

“We have investigated!

“This necklace is the work that made him famous!

“You once said publicly that this design will never be sold.

“I only made one, and kept it for myself.

“Then how could it have nothing to do with you?!”

Luc Chieu frowned, his expression showing a bit of impatience:

“That design has been public for a long time.

“There are countless fake products on the market.

“As for the one I kept, it's been lost for a long time.

“What do you want to say?”

My heart ached with pain. That necklace, he gave me a year ago. The day he left, I threw it in the trash right in front of him. So when you said it was lost, it wasn't really a lie. The middle-aged woman burst into tears:

“Even if the necklace was not placed in the grave by you,

“So that dead woman is definitely related to you!

“She lies in my son's grave for no reason!

“She defiled his grave, destroying the destiny of our entire family!

“You... must compensate!”

When buying the same grave, because the other person spent more money, on paper, the "grave owner" is him, and the tombstone is also engraved with his name. I never thought that one day, the grave would be dug up like this. Luc Chieu quietly looked at the woman through the cigarette smoke, his voice cold:

“How much do you want?”

Her eyes lit up and she quickly replied:

“At least… at least a million!”

The man next to her felt a little guilty and gently pulled her hand. She pushed his hand away, her voice filled with annoyance:

“He's not short of money!

“I have investigated, he earns tens of millions every year, what is this compensation worth?!”

The police officer's expression gradually changed, realizing that something was unusual. Luc Chieu stubbed out his cigarette on the ground with the toe of his shoe and laughed lightly. It seemed like he felt that staying another second would be a waste of time. He tilted his head to look at the police, his voice calm:

“If there is not enough evidence to convict me, then stop bothering me.”

The young police officer, seemingly still a trainee, reluctantly whispered:

“Actually, it's because... this woman kept asking for death and wanting to live.

"You kept insisting that it was your necklace, so we called to report it."

Luc Chieu didn't say anything more, turned around and left. Until, outside the police tape surrounding the cemetery, a frantic voice rang out:

“Let me in! Let me see!

“That skeleton, maybe I know!”

That familiar voice made me feel like I was struck by lightning.

3

A police officer sighed:

“It's him again, the one who lost his sister.

“For the past two years, whenever anything happened, I saw him everywhere.”

I can't believe it. Is this person in front of me really the person in my memory? In the past, despite the most miserable days, Even though I had to live under a bridge, he still protected me. He led me through cold winter days, wearing clothes picked from the trash. Even though the clothes are old, my brother always washes them clean, and the buttons are always neatly buttoned. He once smiled and said to me:

“Little Sister, no matter how difficult life is, you must live it properly.”

But now... The pants he was wearing had a large hole torn at the knee. The shirt is buttoned incorrectly, only hastily fastening two buttons. One shoe was missing, the other was covered in mud. His face was so dirty and dirty that he couldn't tell what the stains were. Police stood inside the fence, preventing him from entering. He tried to stretch his neck, trying to look inside. But after being examined, my body was placed back in the coffin, the lid was also tightly closed. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see anything anymore. Until, he heard the middle-aged couple mention the necklace. His emotions suddenly burst out, losing control:

“That's my sister's!

“It's Tieu Sister's necklace!”

The young police officer was surprised when he heard that. Another police officer just replied blandly, as if he was familiar with this situation:

“The hospital once checked him and he had mental problems.

“Last time, a female body was found in the north of the city,

“He also ran to cause trouble, saying that the girl who lost her little finger was his sister.

“But later, that body was received by another family.”

Maybe my brother also realized that the police wouldn't let him inside. His eyes scanned around in panic, as if searching for a glimmer of hope. Until his eyes touched Luc Chieu, who was standing not far away. His eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had grabbed the last life buoy. Luc Chieu also saw him. Apparently he noticed, but just coldly turned away, his eyes full of disgust. He hates me. And because of that, he also hates my brother, hates everything related to me. But my brother no longer cares about that anymore. He knelt down, his voice choked, his eyes red:

“Three years ago, Tieu Sister was not sorry for you.”

“She... she had leukemia, she probably passed away a long time ago.”

“I saw the test results, I saw it with my own eyes.”