The moment I woke up, I saw Uncle Devon instead of Finn, the usual nurse he hired to take care of me at home. Uncle Devon stayed a bit longer in his guest room after hooking the IV into my vein.

My heart dropped the moment I could truly recognize his expression. The crease of his brows, the sad curve of his moustache.

Moreover, he was supposed to be at the hospital monitoring Elric instead of being here, in his house.

“Uncle…” I shook my head, not wanting my biggest fear to come true.

Uncle Devon took my other hand. His cold palm was a soothing build up to the news I knew he was about to say.

“I’m sorry, Sal. Elric is gone.”

I hung my head low as I clutched weakly on his hand. He then pulled me into an embrace and hug me tight. I cried even more and clutched on his shirt.

“I’m so sorry, Sal. I know this is an incredibly painful time, and I’m here to support you through it.”

*

Alone, puffy-eyed, and numb to it all, I faced the heart-wrenching task of handling Elric’s cremation on my own.

The last thing I wanted was for the media to catch wind of this and drag me into a mess with Eddy or Trista—or worse, both. So, I pleaded with Uncle Devon to keep everything under wraps, promising I could manage with the last of my parents' inheritance.

After some persuasion, Uncle Devon agreed, on the condition that he hire me a professional chauffeur, Ridley, until the whole cremation process was complete.

It took five long days to arrange Elric's funeral since my body didn't exactly work like how I wanted it to ever since my scent gland got damaged.

Throughout those days, Eddy never once checked on me. Not that I expected him to. With his stubborn insistence that Elric was still alive the last time I met him, I wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from him as possible. So, I didn’t bother reaching out.

Just as I was about to delete all my social media accounts and tune out any news about Eddy, something caught my eye. A four-slide post from TrisGlam, Trista’s InstaPic account, appeared on my feed.

Trista was basking in a breathtaking view from the top of a tall building in the pack’s Central Metro.

In the first slide, it was a selfie of her, sporting a stunning pearl necklace—definitely not her usual style, but it looked pretty decent on her. As I swiped through, my heart clenched when I saw Eddy in one of the pictures. He stood a little distance away from Trista, chatting with a few people near a barbecue grill.

Beneath the pictures was a caption: [It was a fun experience! I learned a lot from these awesome people!]

I heaved a sigh before deactivating my account.

Once I had my son’s ashes temporarily stored in my room at Uncle Devon’s, I headed to the Winslow manor to pack up most of my things.

Hours passed, and I heard hurried footsteps racing past my door—a clear sign that Eddy had returned to the main manor.

Ignoring the small commotion outside, I continued packing. Just as I was about to close my suitcase, I hesitated, glancing at the blue case of documents I had prepared the day before.

However, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind me.

Eddy entered our bedroom, his expression as monotonous as ever. Yet, I sensed his surprise at the awkward silence that enveloped us as he stood by the door.

I closed my suitcase and pulled it down from the bed.

At that moment, I caught a whiff of wild cherries—Trista’s scent—lingering on Eddy. I shifted my gaze to him, my eyes landing on a small pure white box in his hand and the black bead and fang bracelet hanging loosely on his wrist.

At that moment, I remembered the first time Elric questioned Eddy’s bracelet. It was years ago, during a time of our family picnic in celebration to Elric’s Elementary Academy Graduation…

“Mom, since when did Dad start wearing that weird bracelet?” Elric asked with a frown, hinting his annoyance.

Eddy had just hurriedly excusing himself for some urgent matter, leaving us to picnic alone. As I watched his figure retreating into the distance, I began to pay more attention to the bracelet for the first time.

It hung loosely on his wrist, the black beads and fang glinting in the sunlight.

“Where are you going?”

A voice broke my daydream. I turned around, looking at the source of the voice.

It was Eddy, he had was already standing by the bedroom’s door.

"Away," I replied curtly. His face twisted with confusion and irritation.

"Oh, come on! Are you still mad about yesterday?" Eddy scoffed. "It's just a hunt festival, Sal. Get over it."

"Yesterday?" I spat back, my voice quivering with barely controlled rage. "It's been over a week, Ed!"

If it weren’t for that wretched hunt, Elric would’ve had more time to recover from his fever. He wouldn’t have been left exhausted and dehydrated. He wouldn’t have ended up in Uncle Devon’s clinic.

Most importantly, Elric would still be alive!

“Yesterday, last week, both are in the past. They’re the same. The hunt is over now so all those are in the past. Get over it,” Eddy said dismissively as he walked closer and shoved the box to my hand, barely sparing me a glance.

Unbelievable, how could he just brush it off like that?

“Here, for you.”

Eddy moved past me then, heading towards the vanity mirror and took off some of his accessories.

I stood there in silence, gripping the box, my fingers tracing the infinity logo embossed on top. It was from Eight Jewelry, an expensive brand. I could see dirt smudged the edges, and when I opened it, I immediately recognized the piece inside—

White pearl necklace, this was Trista’s secondhand jewelry.

It was the same exact necklace she flaunted on her InstaPic a few days ago.

“Where is that kid? I rang his phone this afternoon but he didn’t answer.” I heard Elric's voice, accompanied by a clattering sound. “Is he throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t even get into the top ten in the hunting event?”

I turned to Eddy with a smile that masked my seething thoughts. Deep down, I thanked him for giving me another push towards claiming my own freedom.

Eddy chuckled. “Why are you smiling like that? Rare to see that nowadays. You like the necklace that much?”

Without a word, I closed the box and tossed it carelessly onto the bed.

“Have you called your lawyer?” I asked, locking eyes with him. “I’m still waiting for our divorce.”

Eddy’s mood darkened. “Isn’t that necklace enough, Salvia? Stop throwing tantrums. Don’t you see our son has picked up that bad habit from you?”

At least, if you want to make it up to me, don’t give someone’s leftovers, I thought. But I kept silent, handing him a blue case of documents instead.

“Here,” I said, my voice steady. “Since I got the feeling that it might take forever to wait for you, I’ve asked for the necessary papers from the court.” I paused to take a breath. “I’ve signed everything I needed to. Now, it’s your turn.”

Eddy looked stunned, his eyes darting from my face to the divorce papers and back again.