“There’s half a million in here. Leave my son.”
The woman looked every bit the high-class lady, eyes filled with clear disdain. She pulled a card from her bag and dropped it onto the table with a snap, then lifted her coffee for a slow sip, radiating smug confidence.
Like she’d already won.
After all, Lia Grant was caught up in an ugly scandal, accused of being the other woman by the whole internet. Her public image was trashed, and it looked like her career was over. Making that much money again? Probably impossible.
Lia stayed silent, prompting the woman to sneer, “Evan hasn’t cared about you for a long time. Don’t make a fool of yourself—just get out of the way and let him and Sarah be happy.”
What she didn’t know was—there was a whole different soul inside that body now.
Or rather… a ghost.
And this ghost wasn’t about to be bought off with some flimsy little bank card.
Lia finally spoke, “I want gold. Five hundred thousand taels of it.”
To her, only gold was real wealth. That card? Totally useless—neither gold nor silver.
“…What?”The woman’s eyes went wide, like she’d just heard the craziest thing ever. Then she jumped up, pointed angrily at the person opposite her, and snapped, “What a greedy move! You think just because you’re clinging to Evan, you’ll magically become someone important?”
"Important? Please. Is your son royalty or something? If you’re gonna throw money at me, at least make it worthwhile. But hey, if it’s gold you’re flinging, then be my guest—go all in.”
Lia, being a ghost for a hundred years, knew that even in the underworld, you had to burn gold ingots, not cash.
After saying that, she mimicked the woman’s exaggerated gestures, raised a dainty finger, and took a sip from the cup in front of her.
Big mistake.
As a ghost, she’d never tasted coffee before. The bitterness hit her hard and she immediately spat it out.
"Really? Putting on airs but too cheap to spring for decent tea? And you have the nerve to serve this crap to people?”
She thought it was just a particularly nasty kind of tea. Coffee didn’t exist in her ghostly world.
The woman was clearly caught off guard. This wasn’t the timid, push-over Lia she knew. Now Lia was sharp-tongued and fierce, totally different.
Too stunned to argue, the woman grabbed her handbag and stormed off, calling on her way out.
“Evan, that girl Lia has lost her mind, she—”
Meanwhile, Lia watched her with growing confusion. Was this woman okay? Walking around talking to a brick? What kind of bizarre world had she landed in? Everything was weird beyond words.She just snuck off to the Underworld Hall, and boom—a book dropped on her head. Next thing she knew, she'd landed in this totally absurd modern world.
As if being a stubborn ghost who refused reincarnation wasn’t enough, now she was stuck in a human body.
Seriously, could it get any worse?
Life is hard, even harder when you're a ghost... big sigh.
She was sure that sneaky Hades had pulled something behind the scenes to dump her here!
While she mentally cursed him out for the ten-thousandth time, a ringtone blared from her bag, cutting through her inner rant.
She fumbled around and finally realized it was that black "brick" making all the noise.
And there, right on the screen, it said “Evan.”
She had never used this kind of thing before. That harsh noise was driving her nuts, so she just started poking it randomly, hoping it’d shut up—but nope, no luck.
Still, she wasn’t stupid. Her brain worked just fine. That big red circle was hard to miss. She gave it a poke with her index finger—and hallelujah—the ringing stopped.
But then it started again right after. Relentless, like it had a vengeance. She poked that red circle again, this time muttering under her breath, “This brick's definitely grown a mind of its own… It’s screaming like it’s trying to find a mate or something.”
I mean, she'd heard from some little ghost pals that when animals were looking for a mate, they’d make all sorts of noises. This brick acting all wild clearly wasn't much different… Maybe it had a crush on another brick someone else was holding just now?No way, that woman screams shady from a mile away.
She smacked the "black brick" in her hand and said seriously, "Nope, this one’s no good. Pick another."
On the other end of the call, Evan Cooper was fuming. He stared at his constantly hung-up phone, then flung it onto the couch. "Great. Just great. Playing hard to get now, huh? Lia Grant, don’t even think about begging me later!"
Lia used to be all about him—answering calls in seconds, always available.
Didn’t matter if she was at an event, she’d pick up right away whenever Evan called. That’s actually how the gossip about her being unprofessional and acting all diva on set started.
——
Meanwhile, Lia Grant was at a funeral supply store.
Yup, the kind that sells stuff for the dead.
She had herself wrapped up like a zongzi, with just her eyes peeking out.
Not because she was afraid someone would recognize her—nah, she just couldn't deal with the blazing sun out there.
She picked out a carved urn and walked over to the store owner. "I want it in gold, and can you add some tiny gold ingots along the edge? Oh, and also..."
She went on and on, listing out everything she wanted before finally finishing in one breath.The shop owner was a chubby middle-aged man, and honestly, he’d never met a customer this picky—especially one picking stuff for the afterlife.
Still, business is business. Trying to hold back his curiosity, he asked, “Who's this for, anyway?”
Lia casually pointed at herself. “Me. Can you do it?”
Yeah, she was getting a bit antsy. She just wanted the urn done quickly so she could head back to where she came from.
Money talks, so the guy nodded. “Sure, but custom work costs extra, and it'll take about a week, maybe more. That okay?”
Can’t rush funerals, after all—gotta double-check.
“A week?” Lia frowned, then sighed. Guess dying would have to be postponed. She gave a quiet nod and turned to browse for more stuff.
Just then, two more men walked in.
One of them was tall and covered up from head to toe, kinda like Lia, but the whole vibe was completely different.
Dude had on a face mask, big sunglasses, and a hat, nothing special—but something about him just screamed polished.
Lia, on the other hand, had ditched the usual mask and shades combo. Instead, she’d wrapped a flashy scarf over her head, looking like she stepped out of a retro movie from the ’80s.
Funny thing? The guy was shopping for an urn too.The guy dressed like a regular person glanced at Lia Grant, frowned, and leaned toward the man in full gear, whispering, "Think that person's a paparazzo or something."
He shot him a look, gesturing subtly in Lia’s direction.
But the man barely gave her a glance before turning his attention elsewhere, completely uninterested.
The shop owner looked back and forth at them, scratching his head. Since when did people dress like this to come shop for funeral supplies?
“I want a big house,” Lia said seriously. “Three courtyards, must have a fish pond and a garden. Attic would be a plus.”
She was, of course, talking about the kind burned for the dead.
The owner's hand froze mid-air, then he exhaled slowly with a sigh that said it all: money’s hard to earn, and weird requests are harder to stomach.
The normally dressed man nearby let out a chuckle, clearly amused by the fancy order.
Lia, on the other hand, didn’t spare them a single glance. Totally unbothered.
Luckily, the two men didn’t stick around. They picked a small, tidy item, paid, and left. The whole thing took under two minutes.