Chapter 6 He's in the Shower

(Evelyn's POV)

Adrian set the drenched Vanessa down on a lounge chair by the pool. He turned around and looked down at Stella, who was hiding behind me.

"Stella, tell me the truth. Did you push Ms. Reed in?" Adrian's voice was stern.

Stella was so scared she was trembling all over. She clutched my skirt with both little hands, crying and shaking her head. "It wasn't me, Daddy. I didn't push her. She slipped and fell in by herself."

I crouched down and held my daughter in my arms, then looked up and met Adrian's eyes. "Stella doesn't lie. If she says she didn't push her, then she didn't."

Lying on the chair, Vanessa broke into a fit of coughing. She reached out weakly and caught the hem of Adrian's wet shirt.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice trembled. "Adrian, don't be mad at Stella. I wasn't steady on my feet at the edge of the pool. Stella probably just wanted to play with me and accidentally pushed me from behind... That's how I lost my balance and fell in. She's just little. She definitely didn't mean it."

My hands curled into fists. On the surface, Vanessa was making excuses for Stella. But in reality, she'd just made it sound like there was no question Stella had pushed her from behind.

Sure enough, Adrian's face darkened. He looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment. "Evelyn, look at what you've turned our daughter into. She does something wrong, won't own up to it, and now she's learned to shift the blame."

"Adrian, you'd rather believe her than your own daughter?" My voice shook.

"Enough." Adrian cut me off, his tone cold. "If all you can teach her is how to lie, then maybe it's time she lived somewhere else for a while."

At that, Stella fell apart completely. She threw her arms around my neck and sobbed. "No... Daddy, please don't send me away. I don't want to leave Mommy."

"Adrian..." Right on cue, Vanessa let out a pained moan and sagged limply toward him. "My chest hurts so much, and the water was so cold. I can't quite catch my breath..."

Adrian immediately bent down and swept Vanessa up in his arms. His eyes flicked to Stella for a second, but Vanessa moaned again, and he strode out of the house with her.

"Mommy..." Stella tugged at my sleeve and turned her pale little face up to me. Her voice was hoarse. "I really didn't push her..."

I held her tight against me, and my throat ached so much I could barely speak. Her own father hadn't even asked her what really happened, and there was nothing I could do to protect her from him. All I could do was stroke her hair, over and over. "Mommy believes you, baby, Mommy will always believe you."

The words were barely out of my mouth when Stella let out a sudden, violent cough.

She opened her mouth, and blood came gushing out, all over my chest and her hands. Bright red spread fast across the white dress.

"Stella..." Her name caught in my throat.

All the strength went out of Stella's body at once. She went limp in my arms, her eyes closed.

...

I had no idea how I got us to the pack's private hospital.

All I knew was that I was covered in my daughter's blood. I carried her into the ER lobby, my voice breaking as I begged for help. "Healer Jenkins... please. Please save her."

Healer Jenkins rushed over with a team of nurses and a gurney, and they wheeled Stella into the trauma room.

I stood outside the doors, my hands covered in my daughter's blood, shaking uncontrollably.

Half an hour later, the trauma room doors opened.

Healer Jenkins trudged out and took off his mask. He looked at me, at the blood all over me, and his eyes were red-rimmed. He shook his head in grief.

"Luna..." He struggled to get the words out, his voice low. "Stella's heart... is giving out. She's in complete organ failure, and there's no stopping the bleeding."

He lowered his head and stepped aside. "Go in and say goodbye to her. She's still barely conscious. She's waiting for you."

Everything went black for a second. I stumbled into the room and sank to my knees beside that cold hospital bed.

Stella had a huge oxygen mask over her face. Her beautiful green eyes had lost all their light. They were dull and unfocused now.

When she saw me, she fought to lift her little hand, raising it bit by bit. There were IVs stuck all over it. Her fingertips, stained with her own blood, brushed my cheek as she tried to wipe away the tears pouring down my face.

"Mommy, don't cry..."

With the last of her strength, she struggled to pull the heavy oxygen mask away. Her voice was as thin as a thread, but every word was clear. "When I'm gone, Mommy has to... has to be happy..."

I bit down on my lip until it bled. My tears kept falling, one after another, onto her blood-soaked hospital gown.

"Mommy..."She gave me a weak smile, far too grown-up for her age. "After I die, you should go and... sever the mate bond with Daddy."

A jolt went through me. I was sobbing too hard to speak.

She looked at me, her eyes full of heartache for me. "I know about it... how you always hide in the bathroom by yourself and cry..."

"Stella, don't say that... You're going to be okay. Mommy won't let you go." I held on to her hand, which was getting colder and colder, and sobbed like my heart was being ripped out.

"I'm just... just a little worried about you, Mommy."

A single clear tear slid from the corner of Stella's eye and fell onto the snow-white pillow. "When I'm gone, Mommy will really be all alone... There won't be anyone to protect Mommy..."

She fought to draw in a shallow breath. Then, haltingly, she told me the last wish of her short life.

"If... if there really is a next life, like my teacher said... I don't want to be Daddy's daughter again."

"Daddy doesn't like me... That's okay. But I still want to be Mommy's daughter again..."

Her eyes were drifting out of focus, and her voice was so low I could barely hear it. "Mommy, in the next life... will you still want me?"

"Yes. Mommy will always want you. You're all Mommy wants." I pressed my face against her chest, my answer breaking apart into sobs.

It couldn't end like this.

Adrian had to see her one last time. She was his daughter. She'd been waiting for him her whole life.

Shaking all over, I fumbled my phone out of my pocket with bloody hands and dialed Adrian's number.

Ring... ring... ring...

It rang for a long, long time. Every second was like a thousand tiny cuts to my heart.

Finally, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

But the voice on the other end belonged to Vanessa. It was lazy and syrupy sweet.

"Please put Adrian on," I begged, my voice shaking. "Please. It's about Stella."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Evelyn. Adrian's in the shower right now. We've had... a long afternoon."

She paused on purpose, and her tone turned light and mocking. "How about I have him call you back when he's done?"

Ice spread through my whole body.

My daughter was lying in a cold hospital room, coughing up blood and dying, while her father was in another woman's shower in the middle of the day.

I opened my mouth, but my throat had closed up. But I never even got the chance to make a sound.

Beeeeeeeeep.

The heart monitor suddenly let out a shrill alarm.

Slowly, I turned my head. Stella's little hand had slid off the edge of the bed and hung there, perfectly still.

My daughter. My heart, my world, my reason for living.

She was gone.

And the man who should have been here, holding her other hand, telling her he loved her, was in another woman's shower.

"Stella... my little girl..."