Chapter 5

Everest and Selene had both changed into new clothes, looking as festive as a couple on their wedding day. With Jace by their sides, they looked like a happy, perfect little family.

In contrast, I wore a torn coat soaked with blood, looking like a complete outsider.

I refused to be their backdrop any longer. As I turned to leave, Selene's coy and cloying voice drifted over.

"This stool is too heavy for me, Everest. Could you help me move it?"

Everest's face was full of doting affection as he immediately tended to the tables and chairs for her. Then, she pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead like a devoted wife.

Soldiers in the yard couldn't help but tease them.

"You're one lucky man, Colonel Quentin."

"Exactly. If Selene hadn't married so early back then, Aurora wouldn't even be in the picture."

"Colonel Quentin, why don't you share a cross-cupped wine toast with Ms. Brooks?"

"Yeah! Do it! Do it!"

As the soldiers' cheers grew louder, the smile on Selene's face grew more radiant.

I never looked back. With staggering steps, I walked out, one foot at a time, toward the graves of my parents with blood seeping from my chest, dripping onto the ground along the way.

I curled into the coat Mom had left me and listened to the sound of my own ragged breathing.

Suddenly, all the noise faded away.

On the vast, snowy ground, the only things left were four lonely grave mounds, looking at me.

I could almost see Dad under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, teaching Archer and me how to read, while Mom hummed a soft tune as she combed Seraphina's hair.

A little girl with red ribbons in her hair came skipping toward me, dandelion fluff caught in her hair. She looked up with innocent eyes and called out, "Mom, will you please give me a hug?"

Overjoyed, I reached out to hold her. But in the next second, my body gave out, and I uncontrollably collapsed in front of my parents' graves, the way I had lain in their arms when I was born.

Enduring the agonizing pain radiating through my body, I thought to myself, "This must be the best ending."

My consciousness began to drift, and my body shifted from heavy to weightless. The blood-stained divorce papers slipped from my fingers, the sheets soaked through with red as they fluttered onto the earth like a dead butterfly.

This time, I never opened my eyes again, exactly as Everest wished.

…

Back in the yard, Everest's and Selene's harsh laughter rang out after several rounds of drinks.

Selene wore a soft, shy smile, while Everest's eyes were filled with gentleness.

Just as their eyes met, a young soldier suddenly asked, "Colonel Quentin, where's Aurora? Why haven't I seen her anywhere?"

The atmosphere at the table instantly froze.

After Everest scanned the area and didn't spot me anywhere, he irritably said, "What fit is she throwing on a festive day like this?

"Find her and tell her if she doesn't come back, she might as well not come back at all!"

The young soldier ducked his head and awkwardly shuffled away, clearly aware that he had ruined the mood.

After he left, Selene beamed and resumed urging the guests to eat, even raising her glass to toast Everest. The suggestive gesture turned the heat back up in the yard.

But moments later, the young soldier who had left to search for me frantically sprinted back.

Under the eyes of the crowd, he stumbled and knocked over several tables in his path.

"Bad news, Colonel Quentin! S-Something happened to Aurora!"