Chapter2

The layer of snow-white fur began to shed from the ferret, bursting with a blinding white light. When the glow finally faded, a naked woman appeared in the center of the room, rising from the floor to throw herself directly into Caleb’s arms.

Caleb looked down and kissed her forehead, his eyes red-rimmed. "Sylvia, you've had to endure so much these past three years... Now that her lifeblood has been drained dry, you can finally come back."

Leo rushed over and threw his arms around the woman's legs, tilting his face up as he cried out, "Mom!"

In that moment, I had finally understood. There was no holy beast; it was Caleb’s first love who had died years ago. And I was nothing more than a nutrient source they had handpicked to feed her.

Since I had been granted this second chance at life, I was going to make sure absolutely none of them stepped over my corpse for their happy reunion ever again.

"Elora? Are you listening?"

I snapped back to reality and looked down at the webbing of my hand. Then I looked over at the ferret in its nest, which was staring unblinkingly at me.

"Caleb, I'm still afraid it's going to bite me," I said, rubbing the blood off my thumb. "Let's just send it away."

Caleb froze in his tracks. Leo suddenly threw his small body over the nest, shielding it with his arms. "No way!"

A trace of panic flashed across Caleb’s face. "Elora, it's its first day here. It doesn't recognize you yet. You have to give it some time to adjust. Besides..." He glanced sideways at Leo. "This is the holy beast Leo has wanted to keep. He's been looking forward to this for a long time. Can't you just try keeping it?"

I didn't answer right away. I merely looked down at Leo, who was guarding the nest as if terrified I was going to snatch something away from him.

Suddenly, the whole charade felt utterly exhausting.

"Alright." I curled the corners of my mouth. "Since my son wants to keep it, I'll keep it."

Caleb let out a heavy sigh of relief. Leo's tears gave way to an immediate grin.

Only the ferret shifted, poking half of its head over the edge of the nest. It looked at me, its snout twitching.

It was almost as if it were saying—You should have known your place sooner.

I met its gaze, the smile on my lips slowly turning stone cold.

Sylvia.

I was going to make you pay it all back, drop by drop.

I casually leaned against the doorframe. "Does it absolutely have to be kept in my room?"

Caleb’s footsteps paused. "It’s a holy beast. Being close to it is the only way it works."

Leo slipped through the open door, hugged my leg, and shook it. "Mom, it's so easily scared. You were bullying it."

Easily scared?

I walked over to the nest and bent down. The ferret stayed curled up inside, completely motionless, looking entirely harmless. But the exact second I leaned closer, it sprang out like lightning, its jaws snapping straight for my wrist.

I didn't pull away. Instead, my hand shot forward to meet it, pinching the exact clump of fur at the dead center of its nape.

The ferret dangled in mid-air, its mouth still gaping wide as all four of its limbs flailed wildly in panicked resistance.

Leo burst into loud wails. "You're hurting it!"

Caleb’s face instantly drained of color. He crossed the room in two long strides. "Elora, what are you doing?"

I released my fingers. The ferret tumbled back into the bottom of the nest, glaring up at me with a vicious, spiteful look. Caleb immediately scooped it up and cradled it in his palms, his thumb stroking its fur over and over. "Don't be afraid. Shh, don't be afraid, I'm right here. No one will dare touch you."

He cradled that animal as though it were some priceless, fragile treasure.

When I was pregnant with Leo, I had suffered from relentless morning sickness. Caleb would sit by the bed, flipping through his books, complaining that my retching was too loud. Later on, when the ferret had drained me so badly that I passed out in the hallway, Caleb had merely walked past, glancing down only to say, "Why are you always so weak?"

But now, just because I had pinched this beast's neck for a second, the heartache brimming in his eyes was practically overflowing.

I watched his dramatic display. "Didn't you say it was a holy beast? I just figured I should get closer to it so it could help remove the dirty things inside me. What's wrong?"

Caleb’s Adam’s apple bobbed. In the end, he swallowed his temper, clutching the ferret even tighter to his chest and turning sideways to avoid looking at me.

Leo glared at me with red, teary eyes. "You're not allowed to touch it anymore!"

I crouched down to his eye level.

"Leo, it just bit me again."

Leo froze for a split second, but in the very next moment, he fired back with unapologetic righteousness. "Then it must be because you're too dirty! It never bites Dad or me!"

I had heard those exact words in my past life.

Even the stubborn angle at which he tilted his chin was exactly the same.

A dull ache still pierced through my chest. In my previous life, right up until my dying breath, I never understood why the child who had come out of my own womb would treat a filthy ferret as his real family. It wasn't until I died, floating as an untethered spirit near the ceiling, that I finally learned the answer.