Chapter 3

Evan didn’t come home that night.

I called him. Once. Twice. Ten times.

No answer.

By the third day, I gave up pretending I wasn’t spiraling. I opened my social media feed and immediately wished I hadn’t.

There it was—plastered across my screen like a slap from the universe: Evan, on one knee, proposing to Faith on the beach.

The night sky behind them exploded in fireworks, casting golden light over her beaming face. She looked radiant—like she was the only woman in the world who had ever been loved.

I zoomed in on the photo, my hand shaking uncontrollably. There it was. The ring. My ring.

A flawless 12.18-carat diamond glinting on her finger. A custom piece Evan had commissioned for our anniversary—the exact moment he’d told me we were soul-bound.

The air seemed to vanish from the room. My lungs burned. My nails dug deep into my palms until the world blurred around the edges.

And then, the Moon Goddess’s warning echoed in my mind:

"Three-day countdown. As per our agreement, half of your wolf soul will forever wander in darkness, and the other half will be tainted by silver poison."

I had traded my soul for a wedding. All I wanted was one perfect day with the man I loved. I thought he wanted that too.

Evan had once whispered against my lips, “Camila, I’ll never let you lose. Our love is eternal. Even the Moon Goddess will bow to it.”

Lies.

A small, growling bark snapped me out of my trance.

Lucky trotted past me with something soft in its mouth. I looked closer.

No. It couldn’t be. The doll—my doll.

The last thing my mother ever made me. The one she stitched by hand before she died.

I rushed forward, heart pounding, and yanked it from the dog’s mouth. Its teeth had torn through the fabric. My hands trembled. A deep scratch bloomed across my palm—but no blood came.

Of course. I wasn’t really alive.

Evan returned just then, Faith draped on his arm like the final piece of a perfect painting.

Love clearly suited her—her skin glowed, her smile bloomed, and her eyes held no trace of terminal illness.

They froze when they saw Lucky. Evan’s expression darkened. Faith looked stricken.

“Camila,” Faith whispered, “if you hate me, fine. But Lucky’s done nothing wrong. He’s just a dog…”

Lucky whimpered on cue, curling into her arms.

Evan’s voice turned cold. “I’m disappointed in you. Abusing a dog while we were gone? Really?”

I held up the torn doll. “Don’t you recognize this? My mom made this for me before she died. This was all I had left of her.”

Evan’s face hardened. “That thing? Your mom’s been gone for years. That junk should’ve been thrown out a long time ago.”

The words hit harder than any slap ever could.

I couldn’t even hate the dog anymore. I couldn’t hate the doll. All I could feel was empty.

Faith stroked Lucky’s fur with the hand that wore my ring. The diamond caught the light and flared like fire.

Evan once told me the veins in the ring finger ran straight to the heart. That’s why he wanted me to wear that ring—so I’d be forever wrapped around his.

But now it sat on her hand.

“If I ever catch you bullying Lucky again,” Evan said sharply, “you’re out of this house.”

He stepped forward protectively, placing himself between me and them. Shielding his perfect new family.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Evan, please,” I whispered. “Just let me have the Moon Ceremony first. That’s all I ask. Once the wedding is complete… I’ll disappear. You’ll never see me again.”

He didn’t say a word. Just turned his back and walked Faith and Lucky into the kitchen. I followed them silently, unnoticed.

He warmed a cup of milk. Faith held Lucky like a baby while Evan spoon-fed him gently, smiling as he wiped the dog’s mouth with a napkin.

They looked like a picture-perfect family—husband, wife, child. Except I wasn’t in the frame.

A chime echoed from both their phones. Faith’s face lit up.

“The tickets are booked!” she squealed. “Tonga for whale watching, Lake Tekapo for the Milky Way... I can’t wait to travel with Evan. I could die tomorrow and have no regrets!”

I staggered back.

That was our honeymoon plan. I spent months planning every detail of that trip. He knew how much it meant to me.

How I dreamed of standing beneath the stars, kissing him under the swirling lights of the Milky Way.

Now? She’d taken that too.

I blinked hard, tilting my head back to force the tears down. Then Faith gasped, dropping her phone.

“There’s still an unidentified female body found near the collapsed section of the Trudges Expressway,” she read aloud, hand covering her mouth. “Oh God… it says she was burned beyond recognition…”

She turned to me, wide-eyed.

“Camila, you’re so lucky! When I saw the news, I thought you were the one in that accident!”

My blood ran cold. The memory crashed over me like a tidal wave—The car skidding…The metal twisting…The sharp scent of gasoline…The moment the flames swallowed everything.

I could almost smell my own skin burning again. The room spun violently. I lost my balance—And tumbled down the stairs.

Evan rushed over, panic finally etching across his face. I stared up at him, the ceiling blurring behind his head. And for the first time, I felt something close to peace.

Maybe now he’d understand.

“Evan…” I whispered, breath shallow. “The one in that accident… was me.”