My life had entered its final countdown, and I finally decided to let go of everything. I abandoned the noisy, exhausting city and moved back to my small hometown. My neighbor told me that the local sheriff’s deputies handled just about everything around here. Folks went to them for any kind of trouble—including welfare checks and handling arrangements when someone passed away alone. I was terrified of falling asleep one day and never waking up, with no one to take care of my body. But I never expected that when I walked into the local station, I would run into my ex-boyfriend from six years ago. When enemies meet, their eyes blaze red. He didn’t give me a single shred of warmth. He just scowled and told me to get lost. I had no way out, so I braced myself and asked, “I can’t get lost just yet. Can you wait a little longer?” With him around, my death wouldn’t be so quiet. After all, he was the one who said it. He once promised that the day karma finally killed me, he would buy fireworks to celebrate. 1 On my very first day back in my hometown, I spent hours cleaning up the old house. Then, I lay down on the bed to wait for death. Suddenly, my neighbor knocked on the door. She had brought over a plate of homemade apple pie to welcome me. She enthusiastically told me, “Sweetheart, you’re living all alone. If you ever run into any trouble, just go to the sheriff’s station down the street.” “A young woman by herself needs to be careful. I have Deputy Miller’s number. Why don’t you add him? If anything happens, you can just text him.” “Plus, he’s about your age. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a match made in heaven,” Mrs. Higgins teased, covering her mouth with a laugh. A match made in heaven didn’t matter to me. I only had about a month left to live anyway. I wasn't about to drag anyone down with me. Right now, my only hope was finding someone who could handle my funeral arrangements. Thinking it over, I realized her suggestion made sense. Having a deputy as a contact would definitely be reliable when the time came. Mrs. Higgins quickly texted me Deputy Miller’s contact info. His profile picture was a silhouette of a girl standing against the sunlight. So much for a match made in heaven, I thought. He clearly already had a girl he loved. I sent a friend request. A moment later, he replied with a single question mark. Were all cops this cold nowadays? Looking closer, I realized I had forgotten to include an introduction message. I quickly typed: “Hi, I’m Harper. I just moved back to town.” That should be enough for him to accept, right? But this time, he didn’t reply at all. It wasn’t until late that night, when I had almost forgotten about it, that my phone buzzed. He sent: “What the hell is your problem?” 2 I froze. Why was he cursing at me? I went next door to ask Mrs. Higgins, double-checking the number just to make sure I hadn’t added the wrong person. “Mrs. Higgins, does this deputy have a really bad temper?” “No way! Deputy Miller looks tough, but he has a heart of gold. Whenever anyone in town has an issue, he’s the first to help.” That was weird. I hadn’t even done anything to him. Why was he mad at me? Patiently, I typed out a long paragraph explaining why I had added him. But he never replied. Mrs. Higgins offered a solution: “Don’t worry about it. I’m free tomorrow, I’ll take you down to the station so you can introduce yourself in person. It’ll make things easier later.” The sky grew dark. My failing body couldn’t handle staying up late anymore. I thanked her sincerely, went back home, washed up, and got into bed. But lying there, I couldn’t sleep. My brain felt heavy and chaotic. I was sleeping in my old childhood bedroom. I hadn’t cleared out the other rooms yet—especially Grams’s room. I tossed and turned. Suddenly, my nose felt warm. I reached up to wipe it. My fingers came away slick with thick, sticky blood. That woke me up instantly. Relying on the moonlight filtering through the window, I clutched my bleeding nose and struggled to sit up. I blindly stumbled into the bathroom. When I flicked on the light, I saw that my pajamas were already stained dark red. I went through the familiar routine of stopping the nosebleed, but a wave of dizzying vertigo hit me hard. I gripped the edge of the sink, staring at my reflection in the mirror. Tangled hair clung to my sweaty face, and my skin was as pale as a ghost’s. When the dizziness finally faded, I started scrubbing the blood out of my clothes. It was a good thing I chose to come back to my hometown. If my friends from the oncology ward saw me like this, they’d be heartbroken. They always said it was incredibly unfair for someone as young as me to get this disease. They naturally pitied me and tried to take care of me. I loved spending time with them. But I couldn’t endure the pain of laughing with them one day, only to see their beds empty and their names crossed off the whiteboard the next. So, I chose to leave. My head was pounding. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I walked out onto the balcony. Unexpectedly, I saw Mrs. Higgins limping up the sidewalk. A tall man was helping her walk. I instinctively opened my mouth to call out to her, but the man supporting her suddenly lifted his head. There was a bright streetlight right next to them. The glare was blinding. I didn't know if my vision was failing me, but I couldn't clearly make out his face. 3 I rubbed my eyes hard. He was still standing there. But his gaze... it was filled with absolute disgust and cold indifference. I swayed on my feet. I guess my illness is affecting my brain now, I thought. I’m actually hallucinating Liam. The way he was looking at me was exactly the same as the day we broke up six years ago. Filled with hatred and bitter resentment. That day was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. He had just received his acceptance letter to West Point. He came running to me, ecstatic, wanting to share the joy. But I shattered his excitement with three cruel words: “Let’s break up.” He froze, staring at me in disbelief. “What did you just say?” “I said, let’s break up. I’m bored of this. I don’t want to be with you anymore.” He ground his teeth together, his voice trembling. “Harper, are you serious right now?” Things got incredibly ugly that day. We said a lot of things designed to cut each other to the bone. And he looked at me exactly the way he was looking at me now—like he wanted to strangle me. Suddenly, reality snapped back into place. The man standing on the sidewalk down below wasn't a hallucination. It really was him. Cold sweat prickled down my spine. For some reason, a wave of intense guilt washed over me. Thankfully, he didn't stand there for long before turning and walking away. I let out a massive sigh of relief, my legs trembling beneath me. Over the past six years, I had imagined what our reunion would look like a thousand times. But I never imagined it would be like this. 4 The next morning, an energetic Mrs. Higgins dragged me down to the sheriff’s station at the end of the street. She introduced me to the deputies working the front desks one by one. When her eyes landed on a tall man wearing a pressed tan and green uniform, I froze. “Harper, this is Deputy Miller! I told you about him. He patrols our neighborhood. If you ever need anything, you just let him know.” Liam’s face was stone-cold. There wasn’t a single ripple of emotion in his eyes. He acted as if this was the very first time we had ever met. I held out my hand to greet him. “Hi, Deputy Miller.” His expression remained indifferent, as if to say: Why are you acting? He stood perfectly still, making no move to take my hand. Embarrassed, I pulled my hand back. Thankfully, Mrs. Higgins was there to smooth things over. She brought up the text messages from last night. Liam reluctantly pulled out his phone, his voice dropping to absolute zero. “When you text me, you’d better have a damn good reason.” I knew what he meant. He was telling me not to annoy him like I used to. I nodded and said with total sincerity, “Don’t worry. I’ll only bother you when I’m about to die.” Otherwise, there would be no one to collect my body. Liam’s fingers tightened around his phone, his eyes turning vicious. “See that you do.” 5 His gaze felt like a literal sword piercing my chest. I never expected that even after six years, he would still hate me this much. But that was fine. With him here, I could finally rest easy. After all, he had made a promise once. He said that the day karma finally came for me and I died, he would light fireworks to celebrate. At least that meant my send-off wouldn’t be totally silent. 6 Liam and I grew up together. My parents were always out of state, working odd jobs to send money back. It was just me and my bedridden Grams in our rundown little house. Liam’s dad was the town sheriff. He was a warm, incredibly kind man. Knowing my family was struggling, he was always quietly looking out for us. When we were kids, I wasn't very smart and always did poorly in school. Liam, on the other hand, was always top of the class. His dad suggested that Liam tutor me, so I started spending every afternoon at their house. Liam was only ten at the time, the same age as me, but he was already a head taller. Unlike his friendly dad, Liam was quiet and reserved. He looked intimidating, like someone you shouldn't mess with. I used to follow him around timidly like a little shadow. He rarely talked to me, but whenever his parents bought him snacks or treats, he would always silently push half of them toward me. Later, in middle school, the other kids found out my parents practically abandoned me. So they bullied me. They called me an orphan and a stray dog. Sometimes they would corner me in the alleyway after school and demand money. When I refused, they would beat me up. One day, they hit me particularly hard. I was covered in bruises, limping my way home. Liam was walking back from basketball practice and saw me. He grabbed the back of my collar, stopping me in my tracks, and asked through gritted teeth, “Who did this?” I was too scared to answer. The bullies had promised that if I snitched, they would go after my sick Grams next. Seeing my silence, he let out a dark, angry laugh. “Fine. You don't want to tell me? Let’s go show your grandmother what you look like and see how you explain it to her!” I panicked. Stuttering and crying, I finally gave him their names. The very next day, he brought his dad—the Sheriff—directly to the bullies' houses, one by one. No kid isn't terrified of a cop showing up at their front door. After his dad handled the situation, he looked at me sternly. “Harper, this is malicious bullying. If you tolerate it once, they'll just get bolder. If this ever happens again, you come straight to me.” From that day on, Liam waited for me at the school gates every single afternoon. He walked me home. Whenever anything went wrong at my house, he was the first one there. He never tried to hide how much he cared about me. 7 In high school, Liam announced he wanted to apply to West Point. He wanted to be a good man who protected his country, just like his dad protected our town. Desperate not to be separated from him, I studied until I made myself sick, aiming for a teaching college right across the river from his academy. But he was scared, too. He was scared I would leave him behind. He used to tell me, “If you don't get into that school, it's fine. Go wherever you want. I can always just come find you.” At the end of senior year, the day his acceptance letter arrived in the mail, he ran to my house to celebrate. Instead, I said, “Let's break up, Liam.” “I only agreed to date you so people would stop bullying me. Now that I’m leaving this town, there’s no reason for us to be together anymore.” Under the moonlight, the bright, boyish smile on his face completely shattered. The shadows from the trees made his face look deathly pale. The hand gripping his acceptance letter was shaking uncontrollably. It took him a long time to finally speak. “Harper... are you serious?” My hands, hidden deep in my pockets, clenched into tight fists until my nails dug into my palms. Then, I forced them to relax. As if I had made the easiest decision in the world, I said coldly, “Yes. You deserve someone better, Liam.” His eyes filled with a desperate, furious refusal. He clenched his fists tight. “Harper,” he spat viciously. “You had better never, ever come back to this town.” “If I ever find out that karma finally got you and you died, I swear to God I’ll light fireworks to celebrate.” He didn't know that on that exact same day, I had lost my Grams forever. And I had lost my so-called parents forever, too. Back then, I never imagined his curse would actually come true. If he knew that karma had actually caught up to me, he’d probably be thrilled.
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