Chapter 5
When Leo woke up, the sky had already dimmed into dusk.
The room was cast in a soft, flickering light. He had been placed in our bedroom.
The blanket covering him carried my familiar scent of vanilla, and the figure by the bed, with long hair cascading down like mine,
was wringing out a warm, damp towel for him.
Mia…
A surge of emotion hit him, and he pulled the woman into his arms without thinking.
“You’re back!”
But the scent of roses snapped him out of his daze.
“Leo… I thought you weren’t going to complete the ceremony. I thought you were really going to leave me!” Jasmin sobbed,
burying herself against his chest.
“Don’t worry, I already drove those wolves out! I’ll stay with you since you like it here. You, me, and the child will live here
together!”
For the first time, Leo found Jasmin’s scent unbearable. His expression darkened as he pushed her away with clear disgust.
“Get away from me! Your scent is revolting! Don’t come near me!”
He stumbled out of bed, scanning the room, desperate to find me. “Mia…”
But there was no trace of me or Cayden. Everything that belonged to me was gone.
The closet no longer held our clothes. The photographs and documents in the drawers had been burned to ashes.
“No… No, this isn’t possible!” He refused to accept it. He crawled to one of the drawers, where a once–delicate wooden box now
lay charred and blackened.
