Chapter 9

Felix felt his heart sink to rock bottom.

Luna had done this to get back at him. She had killed Lily out of revenge.

But what had Lily done to deserve this?

Lily was kind and pure, like a crystal.

Outside the cabin, the forensic team was collecting ashes and estimating the time of death. Felix didn’t approach them. He just stood back and watched.

This cabin was where Luna had been held when she was kidnapped at 13. She had chosen to die here, and she had taken Lily with her. She wanted to end everything.

She had told him once that life didn’t mean much to her anymore.

Felix hadn’t believed her. He never thought Luna would take her own life, so he hadn’t taken her words seriously.

She had once said to him, "Living, no matter how hard, is better than dying. As long as I’m alive, I get to spend another day with you. No matter how tough life gets, I’ll never want to die. Just being with you makes everything feel easier."

Those words still echoed in his ears, and yet she had chosen death.

"Mr. Lincoln, we need to collect your DNA to compare with Lily’s."

Lily had already been confirmed as Felix’s daughter years ago through DNA testing. This was just to verify.

Felix stepped back and turned quickly. "No. This isn’t my daughter. My daughter’s still alive. I’m not doing the test. I need to go find her.

"Luna isn’t dead, and Lily isn’t either. Luna wouldn’t kill herself. If she wanted revenge, she would have killed me, not my daughter."

Felix felt disconnected from his own body, like his soul was slipping away. Every step felt like wading through thick mud.

No test meant no need to accept it.

He refused to acknowledge it.

If he didn’t find them today, he would keep searching for a month, a year, even a lifetime. If he couldn’t find them, that would prove they weren’t dead.

Luna wasn’t dead.

Lily wasn’t dead.

How absurd to think they could just show him two bodies and call it over.

He wasn’t going to accept that.

A forensic officer caught up to him, stepping into his path. "Mr. Lincoln, we understand this is hard for you, but we found a letter left by the deceased. It was in a metal box inside a water tank, so the high temperature didn’t burn the paper."

The tightly sealed metal box was opened, revealing a piece of paper.

"Felix, my son was killed by Stella. I’ve taken her daughter in return. This is what you taught me. 'The child pays for the sins of the parents.' Are you in pain now? If you are, maybe don’t do things like this anymore.

"To stop this tragedy from continuing, I’m giving my life in exchange for your mother’s. Don’t think I owe you anything anymore. Lily is my payment for Orion. Between us, the debt is settled.

"I don’t owe you for saving my life anymore. I gave you all the love I had, and that was precious to me. I thought it was enough to repay you. If it wasn’t, well, I don’t have another life to give.

"For you, I even changed my name. You once told me that nights with a bright moon reminded you of your mother, so I changed my name to reflect the nights you liked.

"For you, I gave you one of my corneas, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry. Not that you ever did. You never even looked at me. You probably didn’t know I’ve been blind in one eye for a long time.

"I gave up my world just so you could see more. And now, I’m going blind in my other eye because of the surgery from back then. But that’s okay. Since you can see, it’s like I can see, too.

"Stop hating. Lily was your love, and Orion was mine.

"Stella killed my son, and I couldn’t let her daughter go.

"Felix, we both lost the ones we loved because of each other. These grudges are too tangled to sort out.

"Live your life. You can have as many kids as you want. Let’s leave the past where it belongs."

Felix ripped the letter into tiny pieces.

He couldn’t breathe. His cornea transplant seemed to have failed.

Everything went dark.