Chapter 3

I followed Connor home. These days, this place felt more like his and Vivian's home.

Vivian was sitting on the couch, her eyes red as if she had just been crying. Her acting skills were as impeccable as ever.

"What's wrong?" Connor immediately walked over, his voice carrying a gentleness I hadn't heard in a long time.

Vivian looked up with pitiful eyes and pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket, her eyes still red.

"I was cleaning your room today and found this under Sylvia's pillow. I shouldn't have looked, but…"

Connor took the paper and unfolded it.

From my perspective, I could clearly see the words on it. The handwriting was a convincing imitation, messy, and agitated. But I had never written anything like this.

"It kills me to watch you smile at someone new while they take my place. Maybe it's better if I just disappear. I'm leaving. Don't look for me."

There was no signature, but Connor recognized "my" handwriting. He gripped the paper, his knuckles turning white.

"Connor, Sylvia wouldn't do anything stupid, would she?" Vivian asked cautiously.

Connor crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash. "No. She's just using this to force me to back down."

Vivian leaned into his embrace and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"It had nothing to do with you." Connor gently patted her back, though it was unclear whether he was comforting her or trying to convince himself. "She chose to leave on her own."

He stared out at the pitch-black night outside the window, the direction where I had died and was decaying.

I stood beside him, my soul trembling.

It wasn't fear. Instead, it was a chill that had seeped into the very core of my being.

Connor couldn't even be bothered to reach out through our mate bond to truly feel for me, even for a moment.

…

Vivian's initiation ceremony was about to begin.

The plaza was brightly lit and buzzing with excitement.

I hovered in the air as an invisible spectator.

Standing in the corner in formal attire, Connor kept calling me and sending me messages.

"If you miss something this important for Vivian, don't bother coming back. You clearly don't see her as family."

Unsurprisingly, he received no reply from me at all.

Connor's eyes kept darting toward the entrance.

Soon, Vivian walked over in an elegant white gown. "How do I look?"

Connor withdrew his gaze and managed a smile. "You look absolutely beautiful."

But the next moment, he spotted the gemstone bracelet on Vivian's wrist.

It was the token Connor had given me when we got engaged. Later, because Vivian liked it so much, Connor gave her an identical one.

"That bracelet…" Connor clearly recognized it too. He must have thought of me, because he asked, "Why are you wearing it?"

"Oh." Vivian touched the bracelet, looking somewhat embarrassed. "It's because you gave it to me. I wanted to wear something meaningful on such an important day. Connor, you don't want me to wear it?"

Connor averted his gaze and replied softly, "No, just keep it on."

The ceremony went smoothly. Vivian's speech earned the elders' approval, and she was officially accepted into the pack, receiving congratulations from everyone.

Some of the werewolves, after congratulating Vivian, asked, "Where's Sylvia? Why isn't she here?"

Instead of answering, Vivian simply glanced at Connor.

Connor's smile turned strained. "She has some personal matters to take care of."

"Oh, that makes sense. You two have been engaged for so long that it's about time for the marking ceremony. She must be busy with that, right?"

"Don't forget to invite me when you hold the marking ceremony."

Maintaining a forced smile, Connor agreed to each request in turn.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Its sound was barely noticeable in the noisy surroundings, but he jolted as if waking from a daze and pulled it out.

When he saw Chris' name on the screen, a flicker of disappointment crossed his face.

"Hello?"

"Connor, we found a dismembered body during our patrol by the southern riverbank."

On the morning I was killed, Connor had told me to help Vivian with the ceremony preparations.

I refused and told him I had already promised to volunteer at the orphanage in the southern district.

"The ceremony isn't over yet. I'll go tomo—"

Chris gently interrupted him, "Even though the face was destroyed, one of the severed hands was wearing the bracelet you gave Sylvia."