Pity Kills Twice

In the Federated States of Meridia, Elena Voss becomes a symbol after her mail-in ballot fails to arrive for the 2024 Referendum 12 vote, leading to the deportation of her undocumented husband and her subsequent suicide. When journalist Lydia Marsh is haunted by Elena’s ghost demanding revenge against Postmaster General Aldric Cain, she embarks on an investigation that peels back layers of systemic sabotage. Yet the ghost’s narration proves unreliable: every revelation draws Lydia closer to the horrifying truth that it was not bureaucratic malice alone, but the consuming, self-congratulatory sympathy of the public that truly killed Elena. A work of social suspense in the tradition of Cho Nam-joo, exploring how well-meaning pity can be the final violence.