Chapter 3

The whole family was startled by her sudden outburst.

Roger and Amelia frowned in displeasure.

"Summer, you've always been the calm one. What's gotten into you? It's Aster's birthday. Don't let that disgrace of a son ruin the mood!“

Summer didn't reply, stumbling out of the living room as she hurriedly tried to call Charles, but no one answered.

The ringtone rang out again and again in the cold, empty cave.

-

As if summoned by an unknown force, my spirit suddenly and uncontrollably teleported to Summer's side, and I watched her mumble anxiously into the phone.

"Pick up, Charles… Pick up!"

Something seemed to stir inside my empty chest, leaving behind a dull, aching bitterness.

Summer... so you could get worried, after all?

She called for half an hour, but no one answered.

Summer irritably rubbed her temples as the panic in her heart continued to grow.

After all, I had always answered her calls instantly.

Unless... something had happened to me.

"N-No, that's impossible. I left behind supplies for him, and he was still in the mood to frame Aster just now… How could anything have happened to him?"

Suddenly, the tension in her eyebrows eased.

As if something came to mind, she contacted a colleague stationed at the snowy mountain and asked her to go up and check on me.

Five hours later, her colleague called.

"That fiancé of yours is doing perfectly fine. It's as warm as can be in that cave."

Summer let out a cold laugh. "Think you could ignore my calls just to play the victim and target Aster, hmm?"

I laughed, too, though mine was a bitter laugh.

That colleague of hers had been pursuing Aster for three years, so how would she ever tell Summer the truth? Hell, she probably hadn't even gone up the mountain.

Finally able to relax, Summer fell asleep at three in the morning, only to wake up before the clock even struck six.

The house had a separate, antique-style kitchen built specifically for making the traditional desserts Aster loved.

Summer rolled up her sleeves and followed the instructions in the old recipe book, starting with lighting the fire.

She had never set foot in a kitchen in her entire life, much less worked with a traditional wood-burning stove like this one, so it took her more than an hour just to get the pot boiling.

Her face and clothes were covered in soot.

The white dress she was wearing was one I'd sewn by hand, stitch by stitch, staying up night after night for an entire month to make it as an engagement gift.

Now, it was dirty and torn.

I let out a soft sigh as I silently watched Summer knead the dough with utmost concentration.

Suddenly, I remembered the last time I had a fever and asked her to make me a bowl of porridge.

She had said, "Going into the kitchen's going to make me reek of grease and smoke! Do you think I'm some sort of housewife?

"Just order some takeout once the typhoon blows over!"

As it turned out, the kitchen wasn't off-limits for her at all. All that it took was enough love.

Before Aster woke up at nine, she'd finally finished a delicate plate of desserts for him.

After taking a shower, Summer looked at the torn white dress and casually tossed it into the trash.

Then she took out her phone, snapped a photo of the pastries, and sent it to me.

"Want some? I made them myself.

"The latest weather data just came in. The temperature around the snowy mountain is going to drop another five to six degrees.

"Reply to my message now and ask Aster for forgiveness properly, and I'll go get you immediately and let you have these desserts!"

I wanted to eat them, I really did.

But my corpse was already almost completely buried beneath the blizzard sweeping into the cave.

I hadn't eaten a single bit of food for ten whole hours before I died. Even now, as a soul without so much as a stomach or intestines, I still couldn't stop myself from drooling at the thought of food.

I was so hungry, and so very cold…

'Dad, Mom, Summer… your punishment hurts too much…'

Only a few seconds after the message was sent, my parents' terrified screams suddenly came from outside.

"Summer, come quick! This is bad!"