Chapter 8 Fireworks for a Dog

(Evelyn's POV)

I didn't answer. I didn't even turn around. He came closer, and when he saw my face, he went still. My eyes were red and swollen from crying, and there wasn't a trace of color in my face.

He hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Evelyn, I said some things yesterday I shouldn't have. I'm not going to send Stella away." He tugged at his tie, a little awkwardly. "And that trip to Disneyland I promised her? It's still on. We'll go today, the three of us. Go get her dressed."

I slowly got to my feet and turned to look at him. The collar of his white shirt was open, and there was a clear reddish-purple hickey on the side of his neck.

I looked at that mark for a long moment. "You don't need to," I said quietly. "She doesn't need it anymore. She'll never ask you to take her to Disneyland again."

Adrian frowned, but his voice stayed low. "I know I was too hard on her yesterday. If she's still upset, I'll apologize to her myself. Where is she?"

I didn't move. I just stood there, looking at him.

When I said nothing, Adrian assumed Stella was hiding somewhere in the room, still upset with him. He walked past me toward the closet and the bathroom, calling out as he went, "Stella? Daddy's home. Daddy didn't mean what he said yesterday. Daddy just wants you to be a good girl with good manners. Come on out, and Daddy will take you to Disneyland right now."

Listening to him call out for her like he actually cared, I thought of Stella in her last moments, eyes still open, staring at the trauma room doors. I thought of how, when Stella stopped breathing, he'd been standing naked in Vanessa's bathroom. My stomach churned, and nausea rushed up my throat.

I walked up to him and slapped him across the face. "She's dead."

The sound of the slap echoed through the room. Adrian's head turned with it. He stood there, stunned, for a few seconds. Then he looked back at me in disbelief.

"Evelyn, have you lost your mind?" His voice was low and tight. "Stella was running around just fine yesterday. She was even strong enough to push Vanessa into the pool. How could she be dead? I know you're angry with me, but you can't say something like that about our daughter."

Just then, the phone in Adrian's pocket rang. Still frowning, he answered it.

We were standing so close that I could hear Vanessa's soft, sugary voice clearly. "Adrian, didn't we agree we'd take Stella to Disneyland with us today? I've got the dog with me too. When are you two heading out?"

I froze for a moment. Then I burst out laughing and couldn't stop. I laughed so hard my shoulders shook, and tears streamed down my face.

He wasn't just taking Stella. He was bringing Vanessa and that dog along too. What had my daughter been to him? A prop to show the woman he adored what a good father he could be?

"Stop calling for her," I said when the laughter finally died. My voice was hoarse. "You can call her name all day, Adrian. She'll never answer you again."

Adrian's grip tightened on the phone. "Evelyn," he said slowly, "I'm asking you one more time. Where is Stella?"

I pointed to the white urn on the desk. "I told you. She's dead," I said quietly. "While you were at Vanessa's place, in her shower, getting ready to go to bed with her, your own daughter stopped breathing in the hospital."

A muscle in Adrian's cheek jumped. He followed my finger and looked at the urn in disbelief, and a small tremor ran through him. But then he shook his head hard, as if he could shake the thought away.

"That's disgusting, Evelyn." Adrian's jaw tightened. "Vanessa spilled coffee on me at lunch. I borrowed her bathroom to clean up and change my shirt. That's all." He looked at the urn again, then back at me, and his voice dropped. "And you'd make up something like this... just because you're jealous?"

"A clean shirt or her bed, it doesn't matter to me anymore," I said quietly. "Sooner or later, you would have ended up there anyway."

Adrian stared at me for a long moment, as if he didn't recognize me. "I don't know what game you're playing, Evelyn," he said at last, "but when you're ready to tell me where Stella is, call me." Then he turned and left, and the door closed hard behind him.

The room was quiet again. I went to the desk, picked up the white urn in both hands, and gently wiped the lid with my sleeve. "Stella, in your next life, don't pick someone like him to be your daddy. He doesn't deserve you."

That afternoon, I took Stella's urn to a private cemetery outside the city. With money I'd saved from my own part-time work, I bought the plot on the highest ground there.

I crouched on the ground and watched the groundskeepers fill in the grave. From this spot, if you looked up, you had a clear view of the giant Ferris wheel at Disneyland in the distance. Now Stella could see the place she'd wanted to go more than anywhere else, every single day.

The sky slowly grew dark. Suddenly, there was a loud boom, and the sky above the cemetery lit up.

I looked up and saw fireworks bursting one after another in the direction of Disneyland, lighting up the night sky over the whole city.

One of the groundskeepers stopped shoveling, looked up at the sky, and said, "I heard some rich Alpha bought up all the fireworks today, just to celebrate his girlfriend's dog's birthday. His girlfriend's been showing it off all over town."

I looked down, took out my phone, and opened Vanessa's Instagram.

Her newest post had just gone up. In the photo, Vanessa was wearing a pretty dress and holding the golden retriever in her arms. Adrian stood right beside her, his tall frame leaning in toward her a little. The two of them were looking up together at the brilliant fireworks lighting up the city.

The caption read, "Happy birthday, baby. We'll love you forever."

I looked up again at the huge bursts of color in the sky. So dazzling. So festive. And yet so absurd.

My Stella was dead, lying all alone in the cold ground. Her own father even thought it was a lie to win his attention, and then he turned around and put on a fireworks show in front of the whole city, all for a dog's birthday.

I stood there, looking at Adrian's profile in the photo, at how gentle his face looked. I truly regretted it all. I regretted agreeing to his grandmother's plan six years ago and becoming his mate. And what I regretted even more was bringing Stella into this world, only for her to be pushed aside and ignored.

I'd always known Adrian didn't love me. But I'd wanted Stella to have a whole family, so I'd clung to my place as Luna and refused to leave.

Now my Stella was gone. There was no point in staying in this empty house anymore, no point in staying by Adrian's side.

Since the two of them were so in love, and since he was in such a hurry to make it up to Vanessa, fine. I would step aside for them.

First thing tomorrow morning, I would submit my request to sever the mate bond.