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.

The full moon is tomorrow.

I was lying in bed more and more, holding the same position, as if I were asleep.

Through the haze, the bedroom door was shoved open.

Jaeren stormed in, anger all over him, and reached out to yank me up from the bed.

“Why hasn’t Cersei’s arm healed yet!?”

With effort, I turned my head and glanced at Cersei behind him.

A large patch of dark red and purple bruising had spread across her arm.

Jaeren’s face darkened.

“If Cersei’s arm scars, I’m holding you responsible.”

As the words left his mouth, the hand gripping my arm suddenly froze.

Only then did he seem to realize how cold my skin was, colder than any living person’s should be.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You lie here every day, eat, sleep, sleep, eat. So why are you getting weaker by the day?”

Cersei bent down beside me, close to my ear.

“Elira, I know you’re upset.”

“But you can’t keep making yourself like this on purpose, just to use Jaeren’s soft spot and force him to look at you.”

The moment Jaeren heard that, his expression sank.

“Elira, with how much you love to cry, even if you were in a coffin, you’d still better explain how Cersei’s arm ended up like this.”

My eyes stayed closed, but the corner of my lips moved slightly.

A coffin.

Yes, I would be seeing one soon.

But tears—I had none left.

Soon, the door slammed shut.

From outside came Jaeren’s lowered voice as he scolded Cersei.

“Who told you to meddle in what’s between me and her?”

“If you really scare her off, where is she supposed to go without me?”

A vampire’s hearing was always sharp.

Even the breathing and anger outside the door came through clearly.

I was getting closer.

Farther and farther from the girl who used to tear up from a single word of Jaeren’s disapproval.

On the day of the full moon.

I lay in my bed as voices kept calling my name.

“Miss Elira! Wake up! It’s your wedding day!”

The door was shoved open.

Jaeren came in, his face dark.

“Are you out of your mind? Everyone’s waiting for you. What are you pulling this time?”

Cersei grabbed his arm at once.

“She’s doing it on purpose. Dragging it out until the wedding starts so you’ll lower yourself and coax her again.”

Jaeren’s face darkened further. He grabbed the family doctor who had come in behind him.

“Give her something. She’s been lying here pretending to be sick every day. Hasn’t she had enough?”

The doctor stepped forward, took out his stethoscope and penlight, and bent over to examine me.

Jaeren’s voice was cold.

“Elira Kade, I’m warning you. Get up on your own.”

“The wedding has already started. If you don't marry me today, don't expect another chance.”

Using all the strength left in me, I slowly opened my eyes.

I wanted one last look at this world.

Everyone was standing in front of me.

Some were anxious. Some were watching the show. Some looked impatient.

From this moment on, none of it had anything to do with me anymore.

Jaeren said coldly to the others,

“See? Didn’t I tell you? She’s awake.”

“Get her makeup done. Change her clothes. Move.”

Then he looked down at me again.

“If you still won’t get up, then don’t blame me if I stop coming after you.”

Our eyes met, and I suddenly smiled.

He was still as devastatingly handsome as the day we first met.

But the line between us had long since become life and death.

At that moment, the doctor lifted my eyelid, then slowly pressed his fingers to the side of my neck.

He straightened and gave a solemn bow.

He looked at Jaeren.

“Sir, Miss Elira is dead.”

Jaeren froze for a second, then let out a mocking laugh.

“You useless excuse for a doctor. You’re fired.”

“She just smiled at me. How could anything be wrong?”

The next second, I closed my eyes.

My hand slipped from his palm and dropped hard against the edge of the bed.

Jaeren looked down at me.

“Elira?”

He pulled me into his arms and gently patted my cheek.

“Elira, wake up!”

“Don’t scare me like this.”

But there was no response from me anymore.

Jaeren finally seemed to panic. He held me tighter and turned to rush outside.

“Get the car! We’re going to the hospital!”

The others behind him grabbed him and held him back.

“Sir! She’s already gone!”

“Please calm down!”

Jaeren struggled wildly, nearly out of control.

“Let go of me!”

“Elira—!”