Chapter 3

"Daddy? I'm hungry… Can I please have something to eat?" Tina pleaded.

Lucas saw that there was an opened bottle of ketchup and mustard on the table. He glanced at Tina's dirty clothes again. A flash of irritation then appeared in his eyes.

"What's the point of having your mother around? Doesn't she know how to change you out of those dirty clothes when you've got ketchup on them?"

He then glanced at the time and saw that Tina had to be at preschool in less than half an hour. He asked Tina, "What's your mother doing?"

Tina fluttered her lashes at Lucas. She then pointed at the bedroom and said, "Mommy's sleeping. She has a lot of—"

Before Tina could tell him that there was blood everywhere, Lucas' face immediately turned darker than ever. He looked as if he was about to shoot fire beams from his eyes.

He yelled at my bedroom door, "Ava Lupine! Do you know what time it is? Don't you know that today's the first day of Tina's preschool? You didn't even make breakfast or do the other chores around the house! When are you finally going to snap out of it? You don't deserve to be a Luna! You don't even deserve to be a mother!"

The only response he got from me was silence.

He lost it and stormed over to the bedroom. He had already put his hand on the door handle. With just a slight push, he would finally be able to see my cold body.

However, a split second later, someone started knocking loudly at the door.

"Lucas! Open the door! Look inside!" I screamed in frustration and anxiety. But when I saw who the person at the door was, I immediately deflated. It was Mia, of course.

"Lucas, you have to help me!" she cried.

She was holding her daughter, who was crying loudly, in her arms. "Mary accidentally spilled hot water on herself and burned her arm. We don't have a first-aid kit at home. Can you please help us?"

Mary Grayfang was wailing inconsolably. There was a huge red patch on her arm that looked very painful. I saw Lucas' expression immediately turn solemn, full of worry. It was something I'd never seen before.

When Tina had been sick last time, he was simply indifferent. He had dismissed me with a nod before going back to work. He never even bothered checking in on her after that.

"Don't panic. I'll take you both to the hospital at once."

But just as he scooped Mary into his arms and headed out, he turned around and saw Tina looking at him with wide, innocent eyes. He immediately looked frustrated again.

"Ava! Did you even hear a single word I said? Clean Tina up and send her to preschool now! Mia has an emergency, so I'll be back later than usual."

I tried my best to stop him from leaving by standing in front of him, but I just couldn't. He walked right through me.

"Lucas! I'd never abandon Tina like this if I weren't dead! Did you think I'd have the heart to leave her like this? You're her father, too! How could you leave her alone at home? She's only five years old!

"What if the rogue pack comes back? Who's going to protect her?"

However, Lucas just walked right out the door without another thought. He didn't even turn to look back at the house.

The house was so silent that it was suffocating.

Tina returned to the bedroom and put her hand on my pale, white face.

"Mommy, are you waking up? I'm really hungry. I'm already cold too…"

But nobody answered her.

She then picked up the phone next to me. Alas, it was out of charge. It was just a useless piece of plastic at that point.

"Mommy, I want to call Aunt Alice… Aunt Alice brought me a lot of yummy food last time. Can I, Mommy?"

She still didn't get her answer.

Tina touched my ice-cold face again. She then went over to her bed and grabbed her blanket before carefully spreading it over my body.

"You're really cold, Mommy. It's okay. I have a blanket for you."

Tina then climbed onto the bed. However, in doing so, she accidentally kicked my arm, and it immediately fell off the bed, banging loudly against the frame.

She had a great scare. She turned pale with shock at once.

"Mommy! Mommy, does it hurt?"

It was only then that she realized that something was wrong. She carefully held my hand and asked, "Mommy, why are your eyes still closed? Can you please open your eyes and look at Tina?"

My heart was broken over and over again. I floated right next to her, wanting to reach out to touch her, but I simply couldn't. I could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded.

Tina was scared and upset. She sat beside my body and asked, "Mommy, are you… dead? Aunt Alice told me that death means turning into stone. A dead person also can't talk anymore.

"Mommy, can you please not turn into stone? I don't want you to turn into stone. I will be a good girl. I won't be bad. Mommy, can you please not die?"

I reached out and tried to console her by patting her on the head. "I'm sorry, Tina. It's all my fault. I can't take care of you anymore. You must be strong and take good care of yourself, okay?"

A long while later, familiar footsteps arrived at the door again. Then, Lucas' furious voice rang out. "Ava Lupine! Stop making such a huge fuss today! It's bad enough that you're not replying to any of my messages, but why don't you even care about Tina anymore?

"Why isn't Tina at preschool? Her teacher just called and asked me where she was!"

Lucas saw that Tina was still wearing her stained pajamas and flew into a terrible rage.

"All I did was spend Valentine's Day with Mia! How could you be so selfish? You're my mate! You should be more generous and forgiving instead of being so petty and jealous like this!"

I saw that Lucas was finally about to enter the bedroom. I got anxious again. Was he finally going to see my body now?