MARY_OMONOWA

Modern dating is already a minefield, but nothing could have prepared Ellie for falling into a twisted love triangle with a ghost. When her seemingly perfect boyfriend, Ben, starts mumbling secrets to thin air and even forgets their anniversary, Ellie knows something is horribly off. Her worst fears come crashing down when she discovers that Victoria—Ben’s dashing, dead ex—is back from the grave, haunting him with a toxic mix of unresolved passion and vengeful unfinished business.

Determined not to lose the man she loves, Ellie embarks on a wild, chaotic journey to outwit this lovesick specter. As she digs deeper into Victoria’s murky past, Ellie uncovers a shocking truth: the ghost’s jealousy is only part of the nightmare. Victoria isn’t just stalking Ben—she’s trapped in an eternal limbo, doomed to suffer unless someone frees her from her own bitter chains. And now, Ellie must face the impossible challenge of saving not just her relationship, but a tortured soul from beyond the grave.

In this surreal battle where romance collides with the supernatural and dark humor, Ellie is forced to ask the unthinkable: Can love really transcend death, or is she doomed to become nothing more than an awkward, unwitting third wheel in a paranormal romance that defies all natural laws?

The ghost who stole my man

The water churned violently as Ben's body sank deeper into the abyss. His limbs, once thrashing in panic, now barely moved. His fingers twitched weakly, his eyes fluttering shut for a brief second before jerking open again—still fighting, still begging.

Ellie's heart pounded against her ribs, her nails digging into her palms as she turned to Victoria. "You don't have to do this!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation.

Victoria didn't look at her. Her empty, hollow gaze was locked onto Ben's fading figure, her lips curled in disgust. "He deserves worse."

Ellie crawled forward, shaking, her body trembling from the icy chill Victoria radiated. "You want revenge, I get it! But this isn't justice—this is just cruelty!"

Victoria finally turned, her ghostly face unreadable. "Cruelty?" she whispered. "*Cruelty was being left to drown while the person I trusted most stood there and did nothing.**"

Her voice cracked, just for a moment.

Ellie's breath hitched. "I know it hurt. I know you're angry. But killing him won't take that pain away, Victoria. It won't undo what happened to you."

Victoria's eyes darkened, and suddenly Ellie was hit with a wave of emotion—grief, rage, sorrow, love—and unbearable betrayal.

She had loved Ben. With every fiber of her being.

Victoria clenched her jaw. "He didn't beg for me. He didn't try to save me." Her voice was shaking now, cold and venomous. "Why should I show him mercy when he showed me none?"

Below them, Ben's body twitched, his lips parting in one last desperate attempt to breathe.

Ellie sobbed. "Because if you do this, you become what he was that night—someone who lets another person suffer and die."

Ellie saw it—the hesitation, the flicker of pain that cracked through the layers of hate.

"Please," Ellie whispered, her voice trembling. "Don't become the monster he made you."

A sharp gasp echoed through the room as Ben's body shot upward, thrown from the abyss as if the darkness itself had rejected him. He landed on the cold floor, coughing violently, water spilling from his lips as he gasped for air.

Ellie scrambled toward him, pressing her hands to his soaked face, her chest heaving. "Ben? Ben, can you hear me?"

His eyelids fluttered, his breaths shaky and uneven. "E-Ellie..."

Ellie turned back to Victoria, expecting to see the same rage—expecting another attack.

But instead, Victoria was staring at Ben, her expression unreadable.

For the first time, her fury was gone.

And all that was left—was grief.

Chapter 39: Ben’s Plea for Mercy II