Chapter 68  If before I thought it was all just random chance, now I was sure Nicole knew about my death all along. Otherwise, why would she keep giving things containing my ashes to the people closest to me? First, it was Chase, then Grandma, and the rest of the family.  I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I was her older sister. When I was alive, she took everything that was mine: Why couldn’t she just leave me alone now that I was gone? This was beyond twisted! Her boldness in doing this showed she planned for my death to stay a secret forever.  To be fair, my ashes had been scattered, and over time, people would naturally forget about me. They’d assume I was dead or maybe just disappeared into thin air. Did this mean I was stuck in this ghostly form forever? When will it all end?  I found myself appearing beside Grandma, feeling lost and heartbroken. Seeing her frail, aged face made my heart ache  Marian came over with a bowl of mushroom soup. “Ma’am, it’s late, and you haven’t eaten much tonight. Have some soup and try to Arest. Amanda will be alright.”  Grandma sighed deeply. “Look at these shameless people. I don’t know what kind of hold Nicole has over them. Ever since that night Amanda vanished without a trace… Even if she was upset, she would never not reach out to me. Something must have happened to Amanda.”  See, only those who genuinely loved you cared about where you were.  “Ma’am, don’t worry so much. I bet Amanda got mad at Mr. Reyes. If she had reached out to you earlier, wouldn’t that have given away where she was? I think she wanted to make Mr. Reyes look foolish this time.”  “I’ve sent people to find her, and they’ve come back with nothing. She’s never been gone this long without a trace, and then there’s that blood–stained wedding dress. I just…”  How could Grandma not be worried? Without the wedding dress, there might’ve been some excuse for my disappearance.  “I even asked the police about the wedding dress. They found the dress but nothing else of Amanda’s. If something bad really happened to her, we’d know by now, right? We haven’t found any evidence, have we?”  “Even so, I just can’t stop worrying…”  Marian sighed, “Ma’am, Amanda is in her twenties and not a little kid anymore. We live in a law–abiding world, and she always had bodyguards with her. She’ll be fine. She’s just caught up in her feelings. You know young folks today love the idea of just taking off to heal a broken heart. Maybe she’s already found a beautiful spot to heal. Instead of worrying about her, you should take care of yourself. If she comes back and sees you’ve lost weight, it’ll break her heart.”  After Marian’s gentle reassurances, Grandma’s face softened a bit. “Alright, bring the soup over.”  “Okay” Marian said cheerfully, handing over the soup and helping Grandma finish it.  A hint of tiredness showed in Grandma’s eyes. Marian pointed to the set of fine dinnerware set. “Ma’am, what should we do with these dishes?”  She knew Grandma never liked Nicole, and Grandma had tossed out anything Nicole had sent in the past.  “For the sake of the design, let’s keep them. Consider it as gathering blessings for Amanda. Hepefully, shewill come home soon.”  I sighed softly. ‘Grandma, no matter how many good deeds you do for me, I can’t come home anymore.”  But at least this would bring her some peace and help her avoid nightmares tonight.