My life was left behind in that church fire.

When the flames broke out, Cersei lied to me and said Jaeren was still inside.

I didn't hesitate. I rushed into the fire without a second thought, only to save my fiancé, Jaeren.

Then Cersei shoved me into the flames.

By the time Jaeren found us, he picked Cersei up and turned away.

He never looked back at me.

I was swallowed little by little by the smoke and fire.

Later, I stumbled out of the fire alone, covered in soot from head to toe.

Jaeren frowned, his face full of impatience.

“I didn't take you out first, sure. But couldn't you just call yourself a cab?”

“Be glad Cersei is unharmed. Even your death in that fire wouldn’t clear your fault.”

He didn't know that I had already suffocated to death in the flames.

The one who walked out of the ruins was nothing more than a body still breathing.

I made a deal with the vampire in the church basement, trading away my love for Jaeren and every tear I had ever shed for him.

In seven days, on the night of the full moon, I will open my eyes again in the dark as one of her kind.

From then on, I will no longer be trapped by love.

And I will never shed another tear for Jaeren.

When he saw me stumble out of the fire on my own, covered in ash and barely able to stand, the tightness in Jaeren’s brow loosened for a brief moment.

The next second, his expression hardened, his voice low.

“Why can’t you ever make things easier for me?”

He stepped closer, his tone turning sharp.

“To get you out, I had over thirteen hundred people deployed. The church—and half the block—was destroyed.”

“Two firefighters are dead. Do you even realize what the hell you’ve done?”

His voice dropped further, as if he were forcing it under control.

“Setting a fire just to test whether I love you is already insane enough. Why did you drag Cersei into it?”

“Do you ever use that brain of yours?”

Only then did it become clear to me.

Cersei set the fire.

And she told him it was me.

And he believed her.

I lowered my head and said nothing.

Jaeren kept staring at me, something like confusion beginning to surface in his eyes.

“What happened? Usually, I only have to say a few words and you cry like the world’s ending.”

“You’re not crying this time?”

He frowned slightly, his voice edged with questioning.

“Where are your tears?” he asked slowly.

My tears had already been traded away to the vampire who wanted to taste what human emotions felt like.

Once.

To make his birthday gift, I carved him a one-of-a-kind wooden eagle by hand.

The carving knife sliced my fingers until they bled, and I kept carving through tears.

He only glanced at it and scoffed, saying it was too ugly to suit the heir of North America’s most elite financial dynasty.

At his birthday party, the one standing beside him and cutting the cake with him was Cersei.

With the knife in her hand, Cersei hacked through the cake, ruining the eagle-shaped frosting until it was unrecognizable.

He merely ran a hand through her hair and looked at the guests with effortless indifference.

“It’s cake. Once it’s in your mouth, it all tastes the same.”

The crowd laughed along.

I was the only one standing there with tears spilling down my face before I turned and ran.

He still came after me.

Out in the cold wind, he grabbed my wrist, scolding me for making a big deal out of nothing.

“Cersei’s young. She likes to play around.”

“She’s my sister. What, do you think she can steal your place as my fiancée?”

Then he took the wooden eagle from my hands and placed it on his car dashboard.

If not for that fire, I might have gone on living inside that illusion forever—being criticized, being dismissed, yet still being kept.

My tears had long since run dry.

All that remained was the ash the fire had left behind.

I lifted my head numbly and said in a low voice,

“I didn’t set the fire.”

Jaeren froze for a fraction of a second.

But just as quickly, the corner of his mouth curled into a cold, knowing smile.

“What, did your innocent act level up?”

“You think not crying this time will make me soften faster than tears?”

At that moment, Cersei trembled against his shoulder, tears spilling instantly.

“Jaeren…” She clutched at his shirt. “Elira didn’t mean it… She just heard you were giving me something that was supposed to be hers. She got upset and lost control for a moment.”

“Elira, you already have the ring that makes you the future mistress of the Calder family. Why can’t you still tolerate me?”

Her voice broke, almost too choked to continue.

“If you hate me, I’ll leave. But why would you set a fire that could have killed me?”

Jaeren Calder. Cersei Calder.

To outsiders, they looked like siblings. In truth, she was only his stepsister, with no blood relation at all.

The air seemed to freeze solid.

Jaeren drew in a slow breath, his voice frighteningly cold.

“Your possessiveness has gotten so bad you’d burn down a church over it?”

“Elira, are you out of your mind?”

Cersei sniffled softly.

“Elira… can you really be Jaeren’s wife after this?”

“Maybe the wedding in seven days should be called off…”

Jaeren cut her off almost instantly.

“Who said it’s canceled?”

Cersei fell silent at once.

He looked at me, his gaze cold.

“You are exhausting.”

“Selfish. Reckless. Always making a scene.”

He paused.

“But the wedding will go on.”

His tone left no room for argument.

“You’re just my stepsister,” he said, turning slightly toward Cersei. “I’ll protect you, but you don’t get to make decisions for me.”

Then he reached out and took the engagement ring off my finger.

“For the next seven days, reflect on what you’ve done,” he said. “I’ll give it back to you at the wedding.”

With that, he put an arm around Cersei’s shoulders and walked away, without looking back.

I stood where I was, filled with something that should have been grief, yet unable to cry.

Seven days later, on the night of the full moon, what awaits me is not a wedding, but the completion of my transformation.

And when I become a vampire, I will finally be able to go home.

The doctor finished examining me and removed his stethoscope, an odd look crossing his face.

“Miss Elira appears to be fine for now.” He frowned slightly, hesitating. “It’s just… why…”

I knew what he wanted to say.

He couldn’t hear my heartbeat.

But before the words could leave his mouth, Jaeren cut in coldly.

“I told you she’s fine. She can walk, stand, eat, sleep. She’s not dying.”

He did not even spare me another glance. His gaze shifted straight to Cersei in the other hospital bed.

“Check Cersei again. She’s been coughing ever since we got back from the fire. I’m worried she inhaled too much smoke. ”

“If anything happens to her, I’ll have to answer to my stepmother.”

The doctor lowered his eyes to the lab report and spoke carefully.

“But Miss Cersei’s bloodwork only shows a common cold. It doesn’t appear related to the fire…”

Bang.

Jaeren kicked over an empty chair beside him.

He tapped the doctor’s name badge with one finger, his eyes terrifyingly cold.

“If you’d like to keep your license, run the tests again and make sure Cersei is fine.”

The doctor’s face went pale at once.

“Then… then I’ll start her on an IV vitamin drip to help her recover faster.”

Jaeren let out a cold laugh.

“Vitamin drip?” He stared at the doctor, sarcasm sharp in his voice. “That’s the best your degree can do?”

He leaned closer, his voice dropping into something almost threatening.

“Use whatever works. The best drugs, the fastest treatment. I want her fully recovered before sunset.”

Sweat broke across the doctor’s forehead, his voice shaking.

“If you need Miss Cersei to improve immediately… steroids are the only option.”

Jaeren held his gaze.

“Then use the steroids. I’m not paying for comfort. I’m paying for results.”

Reclining against the pillows, Cersei shot me a smug glance from where I sat silently in the corner.

That look said everything.

See? His heart only ever chooses me.

The doctor did not dare argue further and turned back to the computer to revise the prescription.

Just as he was about to delete the original vitamin order, Jaeren spoke again.

“Wait. Leave it.”

Both the doctor and Cersei looked at him.

Jaeren’s tone was indifferent.

“Hang that vitamin bag on Elira.”

So there I was, a soon-to-be vampire waiting for the full moon, quietly hooked up to a bag of vitamins.

Across from me, Jaeren sat beside Cersei on the bench, adjusting the flow of her IV with his own hands before draping his coat over her shoulders.

They sat close, speaking in low voices, laughing softly—like the real engaged couple.

“Jaeren.” Cersei coughed lightly, gratitude sweet and soft in her voice.

“This is the most expensive steroid treatment in the world. I can’t believe you’d really spend that on me.”

Jaeren’s voice turned cold.

“If Elira hadn’t lost her mind, you wouldn’t be suffering like this.”

He cast a sideways glance at me, his tone still edged with restrained fury.

“I’ve indulged her too much before. This time, I’ll consider it money well spent on teaching her a lesson.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep her under control from now on. I won’t let her put you through this kind of hurt again.”

Hurt.

I had already died in that fire.

And all he cared about was Cersei’s hurt feelings.

Cersei looked toward me with practiced concern.

“Jaeren, ever since we came back from the fire, Elira hasn’t said a word.”

“I’m really worried… maybe she was so shaken by what happened that she still can’t admit she impulsively set the fire.”

Jaeren followed her gaze to me and spoke coldly.

“She’s silent because she feels guilty.”

“She knows if I lose my temper, I could cancel the wedding at any time. That’s why she’s sitting there behaving herself.”

At that moment, my phone buzzed.

I lowered my eyes to the screen, expressionless, pulled the needle from the back of my hand, and stood to leave.

Behind me, Jaeren’s voice suddenly darkened.

“Elira Kade.”

“Do you still want to recover in time to be my bride?”

“If you dare start coughing too, don’t expect that ring back. Ever.”

I opened the door to find Jaeren’s stepmother and Cersei standing outside.

His stepmother handed me a document.

“After the wedding, you will voluntarily give up any and all inheritance rights to the Calder family estate.”

She pressed it into my arms.

“It’s the prenup. Sign it.”

I didn’t even look at it before signing my name on the last page.

After all, it was an agreement that would never truly matter.

Cersei stood beside her, smiling like she was enjoying a joke.

“Elira, you really can’t wait, can you?” Her voice dripped with mock sympathy.

“You’d even sign away the entire Calder inheritance without reading a word?”

“I guess you really are terrified of losing Jaeren.”

I couldn’t even be bothered to respond.

The dead have no use for worldly possessions.

But the next second, a cold voice edged with restrained fury cut down the hallway.

“What are you doing?”

Jaeren strode toward us, his expression dark enough to chill the air.

The moment his eyes landed on the papers in my hand, the coldness in them deepened.

“Didn’t I tell you not to let her sign that?”

I froze.

For one absurd moment, I almost believed—

that in Jaeren’s eyes, I somehow mattered more than the Calder family’s interests, more even than the mother and daughter standing in front of me.

But in the very next breath, his voice turned cold again.

“Whether Elira signs anything, and what she signs, is between her and me.”

“That is not for my father, and certainly not for either of you to decide. Understood?”

So that was all it was.

Not because he cared about me.

Just another round of power struggle between him and the rest of his family.

Jaeren snatched the agreement from my hand, skimmed it carelessly, and let out a cold laugh.

“You’d really sign something that strips you of everything, just for the chance to marry me?”

He lowered his gaze to me, the mockery in his eyes openly superior.

“I guess even you know that other than me, no other heir to a top-tier North American dynasty—with the looks, the name, and the fortune—would ever bother marrying you.”

None of it matters anymore, Jaeren.

I am already dead.

And the dead were always meant to be alone.

So are vampires.

We come alone, and we leave alone.

A servant entered carrying an enormous gift box wrapped in layers of silk ribbon, exquisite as a dream.

“Miss, your wedding gown has arrived. Please try it on.”

As the servant moved to untie the ribbons, I lifted my eyes toward the window instead.

High in the night sky hung a waxing gibbous moon.

Only three days remained until the full moon.

My voice came out so light it was almost loneliness itself.

“There’s no need. This one is fine.”

The servant froze for a moment and instinctively looked to Jaeren.

Jaeren’s expression remained calm, almost dismissive.

“If she doesn’t want to try it, forget it.”

The look on his face carried a natural sense of entitlement.

“The wedding is still happening. She should already be grateful for that.”

“As for whether she likes the dress, what difference does it make? She can’t wait to marry me anyway.”

The servant lowered her head in acknowledgment and withdrew with the box.

“You can all leave. I want to rest,” I said softly.

When everyone else was gone, only Jaeren remained in my room.

I sat down in front of the computer and opened a folder labeled Wedding Preparation.

Photos slid across the screen one after another.

Reception layouts. Invitation designs. Ceremony music. Floral arrangements.

Standing behind me, Jaeren frowned.

“You’re checking these again?”

“You’ve gone over them countless times already.”

Yes.

Countless times.

Every last detail had once been prepared by me, piece by piece, with my own hands.

But the girl who had once looked forward to this wedding with all her heart had already died in that church fire.

Jaeren bent down until he was nearly against my cheek, his voice lowering.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed like this every day?”

“Quiet. Obedient. Listening to me. Following the arrangements I make for you.”

“You’re going to be the future mistress of the Calder family. Cersei is my sister. If the two of you can live in peace and stay by my side, that’s what a family should look like.”

I did not answer. I simply kept flipping through the photos.

Suddenly, he reached out and caught my chin, forcing me to turn and face him.

His brows slowly drew together.

“Why is your neck so cold?”

“I’m cold,” I said calmly.

Jaeren’s palm came to rest against my cheek, and for the first time, something like genuine concern surfaced in his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“You haven’t been right since you came back from that fire.”

I froze for the briefest moment.

So he had actually noticed.

But Jaeren, it’s already too late.

I looked toward the moon outside, growing rounder with each passing night, my voice no more than a sigh.

“Winter is coming. I’m just afraid of the cold.”

At first, he looked puzzled. Then sudden understanding flashed across his face.

“Oh. I get it now.”

“You caught a cold.”

There was even a touch of certainty in his tone, as though he had known it all along.

“That’s what you get for not finishing that vitamin drip. Ungrateful as always.”

With that, he roughly shoved the confiscated ring back onto my finger and stormed out of the room.

I turned back to the screen.

Photo after photo of Jaeren and me trying on wedding gowns and tuxedos flickered before my eyes.

Smiles. Surprise. Sighs. Disappointment.

All the joys and sorrows that belong to being human.

Were they precious? Or were they pain?

To me now, they were nothing but memories.

I had already become a bystander to them all.

I closed my eyes and carved every image deeply into my mind.

Then I deleted everything with a single click.