Chapter 4

Days dragged on. My body remained discarded in that damp, forgotten alleyway.

It was a dead-end street where not even city sweepers went. The corpse of a former champion was left there to rot.

Meanwhile, Serena and Tyler spent their days celebrating. They hit luxury parties, accepted sponsorships, and flaunted their connection.

Tyler's fans were already shipping them as the ultimate power couple.

To the public, I was a disgraced runner who hid like a rat, completely unworthy of Serena.

They had completely erased me from their minds.

The only people still looking for me were my parents.

Both over sixty, they walked the streets from dawn to dusk, checking every corner of the city.

Every abandoned warehouse, every shadowy alley, every hospital.

Dragging their frail, aching bodies, they searched endlessly.

They didn't care about titles or money. They just wanted their boy to walk through the door and call them Mom and Dad.

Maybe it was parental intuition. They wept every single day, looking as though their hearts already knew I was gone.

Wandering the streets aimlessly, I saw my parents countless times, leaning on their canes by the curb, weeping into their hands.

On the morning of the sixth day, I drifted back to our house.

Serena and Tyler were having breakfast in their robes, laughing and chatting. My name never once crossed their lips.

A knock sounded at the front door.

Serena went to open it. It was my mother.

"Serena... please, I'm begging you," my mother wept, her voice trembling.

"You have connections. You have people. Please, send someone to look for him!"

"He's been your husband for five years! If you just help find him, we won't ask for anything else, please..."

Mom looked terrified of offending her, keeping her head bowed low.

Both my parents were wearing worn, dusty clothes. Dad stood behind Mom, rubbing his aching lower back.

Days of frantic searching had worn them down to the bone. They had completely abandoned their pride just to find their son.

Seeing my parents trembling on the porch made my soul bleed.

Serena didn't care. She wouldn't even let them step past the threshold.

She blocked the doorframe, glaring down at them like they were stray dogs.

"I told you already, I'm not looking for him. Are you deaf?"

Her voice was ice-cold, carrying the same condescending tone she used on interns at the gym.

"I just want to see my son... please let me see my boy..."

My phantom self threw myself between them, trembling violently.

*Mom, Dad, I'm right here! Look at me! Can you see me?!*

I reached out to hug them, but my hands passed straight through their hollow frames.

"Your son isn't here. You probably know exactly where he's hiding," Serena scoffed.

"The nerve of you people, coming to harass me!"

With a loud *slam*, she shut the heavy door in their faces.

Mom leaned against the wooden frame, sobbing uncontrollably, refusing to leave.

Dad wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders, tears streaming down his wrinkled face, gently pulling her away.

My spirit was tethered to Serena. I had to watch helplessly as she locked my heartbroken parents out in the cold.

I should have realized it years ago: she never loved me, and she never respected my family.

If I had left her sooner, maybe I wouldn't have ended up dead, and my parents wouldn't be suffering this humiliation.

They spent their whole lives working to give me a good future.

And my wife had just murdered their only hope.

Right after closing the door, Tyler stepped up behind Serena and wrapped his arms around her waist.