Chapter 4

Debbie pressed her lips together and said in a small voice,

"Logan asked me and the baby to move in, but back where I'm from there's a saying: you can't hang photos of the dead in a bedroom. If they're already up, they all have to be burned, or the child will have nightmares."

"I was worried about the baby, and I didn't want to disturb your rest at the hospital, so I burned the photos first. Vivi, we're both mothers. You can understand that, can't you?"

My eyes went to the trash can in the corner.

Nothing was left inside but the curled, charred scraps of burned photographs.

"Baby, Mommy never even got to see your face..."

I stumbled down into a crouch, and the moment my fingertip touched them, they crumbled to ash.

Someone had smashed a beer bottle last night, and the shards were mixed in. They sliced my finger open.

Logan frowned and hauled me up.

"Vivienne, act normal. They're just a few photos. Do you really have to put on this act like the whole world's wronged you?"

"Debbie was only thinking of the child. The dead have to make way for the living."

"If it matters that much, I'll have someone get in touch with the photographer from back then and see if he still has the negatives."

He said it as if it were nothing.

As if he'd forgotten that the elderly photographer had retired and gone traveling the world not long after taking our daughter's photos.

He'd even sold off his equipment online. There was no telling if the negatives still existed.

And the ones stored on Logan's phone had been wiped clean when his device malfunctioned once.

In all those years I couldn't see, I traced my daughter's brow and eyes over and over with careful fingers.

Imagining that one day I'd get my sight back and see her sweet little face with my own eyes.

Even that small hope, they had destroyed.

Logan glanced at my still-bleeding finger.

"I'll go get some iodine and a bandage. Don't let it get infected."

The moment he stepped out, Debbie smiled and held up a small ceramic photo.

"Vivi, don't be sad. See, there's still one left. I dug it off your daughter's headstone myself, just for you."

On the tiny black-and-white photo was the little face I had drawn from memory more times than I could count.

A terrible feeling rose in me.

"What did you do to my daughter's grave?!"

Debbie's smile turned knowing.

"My precious boy has been crying at night lately, and he isn't sick, so Logan called in a master to look into it."

"He said little children are frail and easily attract unclean things. He needs to wear an accessory rich in yang energy, and it's even better if a relative has worn it, because then the energy won't reject him."

"Sadly, neither Logan nor I had anything like that. Luckily your daughter's birth chart was pure yang, so Logan made the call and had her ashes made into two bracelets for my son. So the useless thing who wouldn't leave was good for something after all."

She dropped the ceramic photo into my pocket and studied my expression.

"Vivienne, don't you regret being able to see now?"

"Otherwise you could have gone on being a stupid, happy idiot, living in that pretty dream where you thought Logan really loved you."

My mind went white with a roar, and I stared at Debbie.

I couldn't hold back the rage. My hand flew up and I slapped her. "You two are animals!"

I started toward the crib, meaning to take the bracelet off him.

But Debbie suddenly shrieked, "Vivi, if you have a problem, take it out on me, not my baby!"

The next second a figure rushed in and struck me hard across the face.

Blood flooded my mouth at once and ran down from the corner of my lips.

Debbie clutched the baby and hid behind Logan, crying.

"Logan, Vivienne's furious that you're holding the wedding with me. She hit me, and she tried to strangle our son."

"Take us away from here. I don't want to stay anymore."

Logan looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment.

"Vivienne, when did you turn this vicious?"

"You lost your own child, so now you have to make someone else suffer that same loss?"

I pointed at the bracelet on the baby boy's wrist, my eyes bloodshot as I screamed,

"You're the vicious ones. Do you dare say what that thing is made of?!"

Logan froze for a moment, then looked away, uncomfortable.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"If I'd known getting your sight back would turn you into a lunatic who won't even spare a child, I'd have rather you stayed blind your whole life. At least then you were kinder than this."

He took the baby, slid an arm around Debbie's waist, and looked at me without any warmth.

"I'm going back to Debbie's hometown with her. We've got a flight to catch, so I won't hold this against you today."

"Sit at home and think about what you've done. When I'm back, I expect you to apologize to her properly, or you can forget about the marriage license."

Ha. He still thought I cared about that fake license?

After they left, I packed my bags and my documents.

Audrey couldn't bear to watch. She tried to press an egg to my face to bring the swelling down, but I gently refused.

"Audrey, I'm leaving. Do me a favor and tell Logan that he and I are over."

With that, I walked out without a moment's hesitation.

At the Pearl City harbor docks, a private yacht had been waiting a long while for me.

"Miss, the head of the family sent us to bring you home."

I turned and looked back at Pearl City, ablaze with lights.

At thirteen I had come here, lost and afraid.

Later I met Logan, and I poured every girlish dream and every bit of romance I had into this place, imagining the family we'd build, a lifetime of happiness together.

Now that I was leaving, all that remained was hatred.

Logan, enjoy these few days.

We'll see each other again soon.

And when we do, I'll have you kneel in front of me and repent for everything you've done.