Chapter 4

Later, my friend and I were confined to bed for a full two weeks before we could barely walk again.

During that time, we asked a nurse to go back to the house and bring us some clothes.

The nurse told us it was a woman, pale to an unsettling degree, who handed over the luggage she had packed.

Lucien and Ethan never called again in those two weeks.

I checked their social media.

They had already gone to several resort lodges, traveling and sightseeing with Vicky.

In the photos, the three of them were smiling brightly.

The smiles were painful to look at.

Lucien and Ethan had always claimed they were too busy with work.

They had refused to spend even their annual leave with us.

Above the photos, I saw the caption.

“Family forever.”

If I had seen this while trapped in the fire, I might have cried.

I might have completely broken down.

But now, I felt nothing at all.

I calmly contacted them through the lawyer and asked them to come the next day to discuss the divorce.

After being discharged from the hospital, Claire and I went to the police station together.

The suspicious woman she had seen that night, the door sealed with vampire magic, and the silver beads scattered through the crack of the door all pointed to one thing.

This was a planned murder towards us.

We tried to contact the driver who had demanded money from us that night so he could act as a witness.

But the phone number he left was fake. It could not be reached.

The police asked why we had waited so long to report the case.

“So much time has passed. The location was deep in the woods. Any evidence at the scene was probably washed away by the rain.”

I had no choice but to explain everything.

My husband had run off with his lover.

My friend had miscarried while saving me.

There was no one left to help us, so we could only come to the police ourselves once we were barely able to leave the hospital.

A trace of guilt appeared on the officer’s face.

“Ladies, I will do everything I can to find the criminal.”

After leaving the station, Claire and I moved back into the apartment I had bought before marriage.

The place was covered in dust.

The empty beer bottles from the night before our weddings were still there.

Back then, we had been happy for each other, convinced we had both found true love.

We threw the bottles away and decided to support each other once again, starting over.

I had completely blocked Lucien’s number.

I did not expect him to call me using Ethan’s phone.

“Where have you gone? Why aren’t you at home?” he shouted.

“You’re pregnant. Why are you out wandering around instead of staying home? My assistant said you haven’t been home for two weeks. Caroline, my patience has limits.”

“You ran off yourself, fine. But why did you drag Claire with you?”

“You’re always good with sweet talk. No wonder your stupid friend listens to you.”

Claire snatched the phone from my hand.

“Limits? You keep talking about limits, but you clearly don’t have any,” she snapped.

“Who are you calling stupid? Take a look at yourself. Why would we go home? To get infected by you? You make me sick.”

That night, the two of us sat together and blocked every contact related to them.

The next morning, we arrived at the agreed location with our lawyer.

To our surprise, Vicky arrived before they did.

Her eyes were red from crying. Her shoulders trembled.

She lowered her head and walked up to us.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“I’m here to explain. Lucien and Ethan are just old friends of mine. We made plans long ago to travel together once I came back.”

She sniffed and continued.

“We were having too much fun. We forgot about you.”

“I really didn’t know they hadn’t contacted you. I sent them messages, and they would checked their phones. I don't know they are ignoring you.”

I took a deep breath and held Claire’s hand.

I could feel how close she was to losing control.

Vicky looked like she was apologizing, but every word was a display.

Old friends. Long standing promises.

We were just humans who had known them for a few short years.

“Fine,” I said coldly.

“If you’re here to explain for them, then I hope you can sign the divorce papers for them too.”

I pushed the documents toward her.

Vicky froze. It was as if she smelled something in the air.

Suddenly, she lunged at me and grabbed my necklace.

I instinctively shoved her away, and she fell to the ground.

She cried out, revealing burn marks on her palm.

On my necklace, a small cross I had never seen before was now visible.

Lucien rushed forward and ripped the necklace off, throwing it aside.

“Caroline! Why would you do something like this?” he shouted.

Then he noticed my flat belly.

His already pale face turned completely white.

“Where is our baby?”

Ethan was still at a distance when he received a call.

“The fire department wants me to investigate a cabin fire in the woods. They suspect arson. I need to go.”

He took a few steps closer and finally noticed that Claire’s pregnant belly was gone.

He froze.

The voice on the other end of the call kept talking, but Ethan could no longer hear anything.

“Claire?” he whispered.

“What happened to you? What happened?”