On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Lucy jumps from her apartment building, ending a life marked by loneliness and a cruel curse: if her brother Lucas doesn’t spend her birthday with her, she will die. But Lucas hates her, blaming her for their parents’ deaths and devoting all his affection to his adopted sister, Ella. As Lucy’s spirit hovers over the scene, she watches Lucas arrive—not to mourn her, but to perform her autopsy as a medical examiner. He doesn’t even realize the broken body on the table is hers. Through her ghostly eyes, Lucy witnesses the twisted love between her brother and Ella, the warmth she was never allowed. But when Lucas begins to suspect something is wrong, it’s already too late. Because for Lucy, death came right on time—and love came one heartbeat too late.

Chapter 1

Lucy

On the night of my 18th birthday, I jumped from the building.

Falling from such a height didn't leave a pretty picture at all.

But somehow, my soul remained.

My soul floated in the air, untethered and weightless.

It was just a bloody mess of dislocated joints and broken limbs spread out across the pavement.

It was late at night. Someone had already called the police. Their sirens cut filled the air, growing louder with each passing second.

People were waking up. Curious faces appeared in windows.

Actually, it wasn't even midnight yet. Half an hour remained until my birthday officially ended. I didn’t mind finishing everything half an hour early.

What difference did it make when I would have died anyway?

It was my curse.

If my brother didn’t spend my birthday with me before I turn eighteen, I’ll die.

But he hated me. Because he thought my birth killed our parents.

Our mother died in childbirth, and our father died in a car accident on his way to th