He Saw My Ghost All Along, And Grew Tired Of My Clinging Chapter 01

He Saw My Ghost All Along, And Grew Tired Of My Clinging Chapter 01

For three years, I was a ghost.

I ran my hands over Reid Vaughn’s abs. I watched him shower unabashedly. And every time he got lost in his work, I stole a kiss.

I thought this was forever. Then, in the fourth year, Reid brought a woman home.

Her name was Nadine Keller.

One look at Nadine, and his whole face changed. It was a tenderness I’d never seen in four years, like watching a frozen lake crack open under the first real sun of spring.

The second I drifted toward them, Reid went still. He told the housekeeper to take Nadine to the bedroom.

Then he turned and looked straight at me. His voice was ice.

“Four years, Elise. Four years you’ve been clinging to me. You couldn’t even take the hint and let me go. Don’t you think it’s time to leave?”

…

The accident came out of nowhere. I threw myself in front of Reid, and everything went dark.

The last thing I felt was Reid pulling me into his arms, my body going still in his arms, his grip refusing to let go.

My spirit hovered beside him. I wanted to brush the tears off his face and tell him it didn’t hurt anymore.

But my fingers went straight through him. And I understood that there was a wall between us now that nothing could break.

I thought about moving on. But the afterlife rejected me because my ties to the living were too deep. I couldn’t let go of Reid, and the other side wouldn’t take me. So my spirit stayed.

For four years, he was alone. Most nights he locked himself in his study and didn’t come out.

I’d sit beside him and nag him to get some sleep, to stop skipping meals.

And he’d listen. He’d put his work down and eat. He’d turn off the light and sleep. For a while, I believed he could hear me. But he walked through me like I was air and never once looked in my direction. I tried everything. I hid in corners and jumped out at him like a bad horror movie. He didn’t even flinch.

So I stopped holding back.

When he showered, I touched his abs.

When he ate, I slipped a pinch of salt into his food.

When he drank too much, I cursed him out for it.

I thought this was how it would be from now on.

Even if he couldn’t see me, at least he wasn’t alone.

But today, he told me he’d been able to see me. All four years.

Ghosts aren’t supposed to feel pain. But something in my chest cracked wide open the second those words left his mouth.

I turned away from him. My edges were already starting to blur. “Reid, if you could see me this whole time… why didn’t you just say so?”

Reid answered coldly, “I wanted to see how long you’d keep making a fool of yourself.”

So… I was just a nuisance to him. That’s all I ever was.

“I’m sorry.”

The words barely made it out. I drifted further from him, and with every inch, something inside me tore. Cold flooded in where the warmth used to be.

Within half an hour, the news had spread through all of Ravenport’s elite. Reid was engaged.

I watched him disappear into the bedroom with Nadine. My spirit stopped at the door. I couldn’t make myself go any further.

Every few minutes, her laughter drifted through the door. And his voice was low, warm, and indulgent.

My eyes burned. Then I looked down at myself and saw a faint glow pulsing through my skin.

I was fading.

Not gone forever. Fading meant I could finally cross over. Be reborn.

And just like that, I understood.

My anchor was Reid.

I’d stayed because I believed he still loved me. Because I couldn’t stand the idea of him grieving alone. I told myself that even dead, I could still be with him.

Now Nadine was here. And he didn’t need me anymore.

“Reid… I hope she makes you happy.”

My mouth twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. I pulled myself into the shadows, as far from his line of sight as I could get.

The next morning, Reid drove to Hollowcrest Chapel. He went every week, following the same routine since I died.

After my funeral, he’d carried my ashes there himself. My spirit was tethered to him. Wherever he went, I followed. I had no choice.

Something about the prayer room kept me out. I never learned what he did in there.

This time, he brought Nadine along. They lit a candle together and wrote their names side-by-side in the chapel’s prayer book.

A week before the accident, I’d asked Reid to take me there. I wanted us to light a candle together, ask for a blessing.

He’d laughed and said, “I don’t need a written prayer. I’ve got you.”

But now he was standing there looking down at their names on the page, smiling like it meant something.

I waited outside until sunset. Reid finally walked out.

He passed right by me without a glance.

I stared at the glow at my fingertips. It was dimmer than yesterday.

I didn’t have much time left.

Reid would live a long, full life.

Soon, I’d finally be able to move on.