He Left Me to Burn, I Rose in the Dark

I opened the door to find Jaeren’s stepmother and Cersei standing outside.

His stepmother handed me a document.

“After the wedding, you will voluntarily give up any and all inheritance rights to the Calder family estate.”

She pressed it into my arms.

“It’s the prenup. Sign it.”

I didn’t even look at it before signing my name on the last page.

After all, it was an agreement that would never truly matter.

Cersei stood beside her, smiling like she was enjoying a joke.

“Elira, you really can’t wait, can you?” Her voice dripped with mock sympathy.

“You’d even sign away the entire Calder inheritance without reading a word?”

“I guess you really are terrified of losing Jaeren.”

I couldn’t even be bothered to respond.

The dead have no use for worldly possessions.

But the next second, a cold voice edged with restrained fury cut down the hallway.

“What are you doing?”

Jaeren strode toward us, his expression dark enough to chill the air.

The moment his eyes landed on the papers in my hand, the coldness in them deepened.

“Didn’t I tell you not to let her sign that?”

I froze.

For one absurd moment, I almost believed—

that in Jaeren’s eyes, I somehow mattered more than the Calder family’s interests, more even than the mother and daughter standing in front of me.

But in the very next breath, his voice turned cold again.

“Whether Elira signs anything, and what she signs, is between her and me.”

“That is not for my father, and certainly not for either of you to decide. Understood?”

So that was all it was.

Not because he cared about me.

Just another round of power struggle between him and the rest of his family.

Jaeren snatched the agreement from my hand, skimmed it carelessly, and let out a cold laugh.

“You’d really sign something that strips you of everything, just for the chance to marry me?”

He lowered his gaze to me, the mockery in his eyes openly superior.

“I guess even you know that other than me, no other heir to a top-tier North American dynasty—with the looks, the name, and the fortune—would ever bother marrying you.”

None of it matters anymore, Jaeren.

I am already dead.

And the dead were always meant to be alone.

So are vampires.

We come alone, and we leave alone.

A servant entered carrying an enormous gift box wrapped in layers of silk ribbon, exquisite as a dream.

“Miss, your wedding gown has arrived. Please try it on.”

As the servant moved to untie the ribbons, I lifted my eyes toward the window instead.

High in the night sky hung a waxing gibbous moon.

Only three days remained until the full moon.

My voice came out so light it was almost loneliness itself.

“There’s no need. This one is fine.”

The servant froze for a moment and instinctively looked to Jaeren.

Jaeren’s expression remained calm, almost dismissive.

“If she doesn’t want to try it, forget it.”

The look on his face carried a natural sense of entitlement.

“The wedding is still happening. She should already be grateful for that.”

“As for whether she likes the dress, what difference does it make? She can’t wait to marry me anyway.”

The servant lowered her head in acknowledgment and withdrew with the box.

“You can all leave. I want to rest,” I said softly.

When everyone else was gone, only Jaeren remained in my room.

I sat down in front of the computer and opened a folder labeled Wedding Preparation.

Photos slid across the screen one after another.

Reception layouts. Invitation designs. Ceremony music. Floral arrangements.

Standing behind me, Jaeren frowned.

“You’re checking these again?”

“You’ve gone over them countless times already.”

Yes.

Countless times.

Every last detail had once been prepared by me, piece by piece, with my own hands.

But the girl who had once looked forward to this wedding with all her heart had already died in that church fire.

Jaeren bent down until he was nearly against my cheek, his voice lowering.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed like this every day?”

“Quiet. Obedient. Listening to me. Following the arrangements I make for you.”

“You’re going to be the future mistress of the Calder family. Cersei is my sister. If the two of you can live in peace and stay by my side, that’s what a family should look like.”

I did not answer. I simply kept flipping through the photos.

Suddenly, he reached out and caught my chin, forcing me to turn and face him.

His brows slowly drew together.

“Why is your neck so cold?”

“I’m cold,” I said calmly.

Jaeren’s palm came to rest against my cheek, and for the first time, something like genuine concern surfaced in his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“You haven’t been right since you came back from that fire.”

I froze for the briefest moment.

So he had actually noticed.

But Jaeren, it’s already too late.

I looked toward the moon outside, growing rounder with each passing night, my voice no more than a sigh.

“Winter is coming. I’m just afraid of the cold.”

At first, he looked puzzled. Then sudden understanding flashed across his face.

“Oh. I get it now.”

“You caught a cold.”

There was even a touch of certainty in his tone, as though he had known it all along.

“That’s what you get for not finishing that vitamin drip. Ungrateful as always.”

With that, he roughly shoved the confiscated ring back onto my finger and stormed out of the room.

I turned back to the screen.

Photo after photo of Jaeren and me trying on wedding gowns and tuxedos flickered before my eyes.

Smiles. Surprise. Sighs. Disappointment.

All the joys and sorrows that belong to being human.

Were they precious? Or were they pain?

To me now, they were nothing but memories.

I had already become a bystander to them all.

I closed my eyes and carved every image deeply into my mind.

Then I deleted everything with a single click.