To my surprise, after I died, I realized that my spirit had somehow left my body. I was now floating in the air right above my dead corpse.

If it weren't for the puddle of blood pooling from my mouth, I would have just looked as though I was asleep.

I floated in a corner of the bedroom, watching as Tina continued calling out to me to no avail.

"Mommy, when are you waking up? I'm hungry…

"Mommy, are you very tired? I'm a good girl. I won't disturb you. Mommy sleep…

"Mommy, I'm going to make you some yummy food! Mommy likes tomato sandwiches, right?"

However, I was dead. My body was lying unmoving in bed, my eyes tightly shut.

I felt my heart breaking when I heard the things Tina was saying. My precious little baby was only a few years old. What would she do without a mother when she grew up?

It had all been my fault. I never should have hoped that Lucas would save me. If I'd taken Tina and left with her when Lucas first brought up breaking our mate bond, I probably wouldn't have been forced by Kael to drink the poison.

Tina didn't try waking me up anymore. She just held on to my arms and lay down by my side. She carefully made her way into my arms so that it felt as though I was coaxing her to sleep, just like every night.

After what felt like a long time, there was a sound at the door. It was Lucas. He'd just come back.

His face was a little red. It was obvious that he had been drinking. He smelled like rose perfume, and I knew that it was the perfume that Mia regularly wore.

There were also a few lipstick stains on the collar of his shirt. I could feel my heart aching. I had been tortured to death by the Rogue King while he was busy smooching another woman.

When Tina heard the sounds, she immediately got up from my arms and ran into the living room.

"Daddy! You're home!"

Lucas frowned when he saw her. "Tina? Why aren't you asleep? Where's your mother? What the hell has she been doing? Why can't she even take care of a child like you? What's the point of even keeping her around?"

Tina shook her head. She didn't know why Lucas always scolded me and made me take all the blame.

Lucas then picked her up and carried her toward the bedroom.

I suddenly felt a little anxious. I didn't know how he would react when he saw my dead body. Would he feel sad for me? Or would he finally feel relieved that I wouldn't be bothering him anymore?

He only opened the door by a small crack. The moonlight shone through the windows onto the bed where I lay, outlining the silhouette of my figure.

"Ava! What the heck are you playing at now? How dare you go to sleep without caring about your child! How do you even call yourself a mother?"

Without waiting for an answer from me, he then put Tina down and told her to sleep next to me.

"I had known all along that she was a useless Luna and a terrible mother. She doesn't deserve to be one. Go to sleep now, Tina."

My spirit floated before his eyes. I screamed as loudly as I could. "Lucas, I'm already dead! Why won't you take care of Tina? She can't sleep with a corpse! She'll get a shock!"

However, nothing worked. He couldn't hear me at all. Also, I was dead, so there was no way for me to communicate with him through our mind link.

Lucas turned angry again when he saw that I didn't move a single muscle.

"Ava! Did you hear what I just said? I can overlook the fusses you made in the past, but this is our daughter! Can't you care for her better than this?"

I screamed at the top of my lungs again. "I am dead! Lucas, I'm fucking dead! Please, for the love of God, look at my body! Look at me!"

I dearly wanted to push him over to the bed, but my hands went right through his body. I was just a floating spirit, after all. I couldn't touch him at all.

When I didn't respond, Lucas slammed the bedroom door in frustration and stormed into his study.

"Think about what you've done! And stop making me worry all the time!"

Ever since Mia came back, Lucas rarely ever slept in the same room as I did anymore. Also, we'd just argued a while ago, and he had refused to step into the master bedroom ever since. He would rather spend the night in his study instead.

I floated in the air, looking at the empty room save for a frightened Tina and my cold, lifeless body. It felt like a deadly knife had plunged straight into my heart. It was so painful that I just couldn't breathe.

Tina then yawned widely and climbed back into bed. She curled up in my arms again like earlier, looking like a lost and frightened little animal.

The next day, Lucas left his study, brushing his teeth while scrolling on his phone. A wide smile played on his lips.

I frowned a little. He was most probably texting Mia if he was smiling that happily.

After he was done washing up, he sat at the dining table as usual. However, there wouldn't be anyone preparing breakfast for him anymore.

In the past, I would always wake up an hour earlier to prepare breakfast for him. Lucas was a very picky eater, and I always poured my heart into making meals for him because I wanted him to enjoy my food.

When he didn't see me in the kitchen, he got up, displeased, and went to find me. He then suddenly caught sight of Tina walking out of the bedroom.

He hadn't noticed in the dark last night, but now he finally saw Tina's pajamas streaked with what looked like dried blood.

His expression briefly froze. "Tina, what's that on your pajamas?"

"Daddy? I'm hungry… Can I please have something to eat?" Tina pleaded.

Lucas saw that there was an opened bottle of ketchup and mustard on the table. He glanced at Tina's dirty clothes again. A flash of irritation then appeared in his eyes.

"What's the point of having your mother around? Doesn't she know how to change you out of those dirty clothes when you've got ketchup on them?"

He then glanced at the time and saw that Tina had to be at preschool in less than half an hour. He asked Tina, "What's your mother doing?"

Tina fluttered her lashes at Lucas. She then pointed at the bedroom and said, "Mommy's sleeping. She has a lot of—"

Before Tina could tell him that there was blood everywhere, Lucas' face immediately turned darker than ever. He looked as if he was about to shoot fire beams from his eyes.

He yelled at my bedroom door, "Ava Lupine! Do you know what time it is? Don't you know that today's the first day of Tina's preschool? You didn't even make breakfast or do the other chores around the house! When are you finally going to snap out of it? You don't deserve to be a Luna! You don't even deserve to be a mother!"

The only response he got from me was silence.

He lost it and stormed over to the bedroom. He had already put his hand on the door handle. With just a slight push, he would finally be able to see my cold body.

However, a split second later, someone started knocking loudly at the door.

"Lucas! Open the door! Look inside!" I screamed in frustration and anxiety. But when I saw who the person at the door was, I immediately deflated. It was Mia, of course.

"Lucas, you have to help me!" she cried.

She was holding her daughter, who was crying loudly, in her arms. "Mary accidentally spilled hot water on herself and burned her arm. We don't have a first-aid kit at home. Can you please help us?"

Mary Grayfang was wailing inconsolably. There was a huge red patch on her arm that looked very painful. I saw Lucas' expression immediately turn solemn, full of worry. It was something I'd never seen before.

When Tina had been sick last time, he was simply indifferent. He had dismissed me with a nod before going back to work. He never even bothered checking in on her after that.

"Don't panic. I'll take you both to the hospital at once."

But just as he scooped Mary into his arms and headed out, he turned around and saw Tina looking at him with wide, innocent eyes. He immediately looked frustrated again.

"Ava! Did you even hear a single word I said? Clean Tina up and send her to preschool now! Mia has an emergency, so I'll be back later than usual."

I tried my best to stop him from leaving by standing in front of him, but I just couldn't. He walked right through me.

"Lucas! I'd never abandon Tina like this if I weren't dead! Did you think I'd have the heart to leave her like this? You're her father, too! How could you leave her alone at home? She's only five years old!

"What if the rogue pack comes back? Who's going to protect her?"

However, Lucas just walked right out the door without another thought. He didn't even turn to look back at the house.

The house was so silent that it was suffocating.

Tina returned to the bedroom and put her hand on my pale, white face.

"Mommy, are you waking up? I'm really hungry. I'm already cold too…"

But nobody answered her.

She then picked up the phone next to me. Alas, it was out of charge. It was just a useless piece of plastic at that point.

"Mommy, I want to call Aunt Alice… Aunt Alice brought me a lot of yummy food last time. Can I, Mommy?"

She still didn't get her answer.

Tina touched my ice-cold face again. She then went over to her bed and grabbed her blanket before carefully spreading it over my body.

"You're really cold, Mommy. It's okay. I have a blanket for you."

Tina then climbed onto the bed. However, in doing so, she accidentally kicked my arm, and it immediately fell off the bed, banging loudly against the frame.

She had a great scare. She turned pale with shock at once.

"Mommy! Mommy, does it hurt?"

It was only then that she realized that something was wrong. She carefully held my hand and asked, "Mommy, why are your eyes still closed? Can you please open your eyes and look at Tina?"

My heart was broken over and over again. I floated right next to her, wanting to reach out to touch her, but I simply couldn't. I could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded.

Tina was scared and upset. She sat beside my body and asked, "Mommy, are you… dead? Aunt Alice told me that death means turning into stone. A dead person also can't talk anymore.

"Mommy, can you please not turn into stone? I don't want you to turn into stone. I will be a good girl. I won't be bad. Mommy, can you please not die?"

I reached out and tried to console her by patting her on the head. "I'm sorry, Tina. It's all my fault. I can't take care of you anymore. You must be strong and take good care of yourself, okay?"

A long while later, familiar footsteps arrived at the door again. Then, Lucas' furious voice rang out. "Ava Lupine! Stop making such a huge fuss today! It's bad enough that you're not replying to any of my messages, but why don't you even care about Tina anymore?

"Why isn't Tina at preschool? Her teacher just called and asked me where she was!"

Lucas saw that Tina was still wearing her stained pajamas and flew into a terrible rage.

"All I did was spend Valentine's Day with Mia! How could you be so selfish? You're my mate! You should be more generous and forgiving instead of being so petty and jealous like this!"

I saw that Lucas was finally about to enter the bedroom. I got anxious again. Was he finally going to see my body now?