Chapter 3

The dog sprang to life within three seconds of swallowing the moon dew—energetic, alert, and barking joyfully.

“Mom Lily, you’re amazing! Master was right—you really can heal anything! But… is this stuff very rare?” Jade Harlan asked, her voice sweet with awe.

Logan Blackwood affectionately tapped her nose. “No matter how precious it is, if it makes my girl happy, I’d give up the world for her.”

I almost laughed out loud.

I wondered how he’d react once he realized his mother’s life had just been traded for a dog’s.

But before the thought fully formed, the animal suddenly convulsed. Foam bubbled from its mouth as it snarled wildly, eyes rolling back in its head. Within a minute, it collapsed onto the floor—lifeless.

Before I could process what had happened, Jade whirled toward me, eyes blazing red with fury.

“Mom Lily, how could you do this?!” she cried, voice trembling with accusation. “I promised to stay away from Master! Why would you poison Buddy with tainted moon dew? He was innocent!”

Tears welled in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks in perfect, heartbreaking streams. Logan’s expression twisted with protective rage. He stared at me as if I were a stranger.

“Lily Hayes,” he said coldly, “why do you insist on tormenting her?”

I frowned, meeting his glare without flinching. “I didn’t do anything. Believe me or don’t—it’s your choice.”

He scoffed, jaw clenched. “And you expect me to think she did it? She treats that dog like her own child!”

Without another word, I bent down and lifted Buddy’s stiffening body into my arms.

“If you’re so sure I’m guilty,” I said evenly, “then let’s send the body for toxicology testing. The truth will come out.”

“No!” Jade shrieked, lunging forward to block my path.

I stepped back instinctively—but she let out a sharp cry and crumpled to the floor, palms and knees scraping against the tile. Blood seeped through the torn skin.

“It hurts!” she sobbed, clutching her chest dramatically. “Mom Lily, please… just let Buddy rest in peace. Don’t hurt him anymore…” Her voice cracked, then her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed completely unconscious.

Logan rushed to her side, scooping her into his arms. When he looked up at me, his eyes were glacial—filled with venomous contempt.

“Don’t you know she has a heart condition?” he snarled. “Just because you’re Mrs. Blackwood doesn’t give you the right to torture her!”

He turned sharply to the guards by the door. “Lock her in the freezer. She stays there until she learns her place.”

My blood ran colder than the ice waiting for me.

He knew—I’d told him a dozen times—how terrified I was of the cold.

They dragged me to the Harlan Freezer Warehouse on Blackwood property and shoved me inside the sub-zero chamber. At minus fifty degrees Fahrenheit, the air burned my lungs. My asthma seized immediately. Every breath felt like shards of glass tearing through my chest. My limbs grew numb; my blood seemed to freeze in my veins.

Just as darkness began closing in, the door slammed open.

Jade stood there—not the weeping damsel from moments ago, but a smirking predator, eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction.

She sauntered over and slapped my face hard, relishing my flinch.

“You’re not even human,” she sneered. “Why did you ever think you deserved to be Mrs. Blackwood? You were never fit for it.”

She leaned closer, voice dripping with mock sympathy. “Oh, by the way—I slipped some chocolate into Buddy’s food before giving him the dew. And guess what? Master actually believed you poisoned him!” She giggled. “Honestly, you’re the worst wife ever.”

I gritted my teeth. “You won’t get away with this. I’ll tell Logan everything.”

Jade burst into laughter, as if I’d told the funniest joke in the world.

“Go ahead,” she said, waving a hand. “Tell him. See if he believes you over me.”

She clapped twice. Two Blackwood security guards appeared behind her, stone-faced and obedient.

Then Jade pressed a hand to her chest, wincing theatrically. “My heart… it’s acting up again. Mom Lily, please—I need your healing moon dew. Just one drop…”

Suspicion coiled in my gut, but I shook my head. “There’s none left.”

Before I could say more, the guards seized my arms.

“What are you—”

A searing, white-hot pain exploded in my left ear.

Everything went black.

When my vision cleared, Jade stood before me, holding something small and bloody in her palm—my severed ear.

Her fingers were slick with crimson, but she smiled innocently, like a child showing off a prize.

“Sorry, Mom Lily,” she cooed. “Master said your moon dew forms at the tips of your ears. Since you refused to share… well, I had to take it myself.”

Agony pulsed through my skull like a thousand needles driving into my brain. Warm blood trickled down my neck, soaking my hospital gown.

Jade brought my ear to her lips and delicately licked the glistening droplet of moon dew forming at the wound’s edge. Her eyes fluttered shut in delight.

“Mmm… so good. You’ve been hoarding this the whole time, haven’t you? Lying about only having three drops in your life? Selfish.”

I curled into a ball on the freezing floor, trembling—but despite the pain, a grim smile tugged at my lips.

She had no idea.

A spirit rabbit truly could only produce three healing doses of moon dew in its lifetime.

Any more—and what emerged wasn’t medicine.

It was poison.

And now, she’d just swallowed death.

Let her choke on it.