Chapter 3

The body was heavy.

"Oh, and sweetheart, I forgot to tell you."

Vincent stuffed the body into a waterproof bag. Before leaving, he cupped Vivienne's face in his hands.

"That kid might not be all there mentally. She probably won't notice anything off about the house, so don't worry too much."

After all, this was a child who hadn't even flinched when Vincent threatened to eat her. No need to worry about a kid that thick-skinned figuring out how messed up their family was.

Ivy was in the bath. Vivienne cleaned the room as fast as she could.

"Silas, don't just stand around from now on. Keep watch outside. Mommy took care of someone. Even if your sister isn't all there, we should still try not to scare her."

"This family really needs a normal child."

Vivienne sighed, her mind still full of the soft, warm feeling of holding Ivy in her arms just now. Her eldest son was a freak. Her second son felt nothing. What an empty life she'd have without a daughter.

Silas slowly got up from the floor. He didn't understand, but he did as he was told.

He pulled out several bottles of solution from his lab and poured them on the floor to dissolve the dried, blackened bloodstains.

"Mommy, wouldn't it be easier to just handle people outside so you wouldn't have to deal with the mess at home?"

Silas had a point. Vivienne nodded, actually thinking it over.

"That does make sense."

"Once everything in the basement is dealt with, I'm not letting any dirty business happen in this house again!"

Ivy had been wandering the streets for a long time. She was filthy from head to toe. Two hours of washing. The black bathwater ran clear.

When she came out of the bathroom, Ivy had on a pink teddy bear bathrobe that Vivienne had just bought for her. Her small frame was wrapped in layer after layer of fluffy fabric, making her look round and pudgy. A pink teddy bear with big dark eyes sat perched on top of her head, tucked around her wet hair.

Her clean little face was fair and pale. Years of malnutrition had left their mark. The hot bath had brought a natural flush to her cheeks. Her long, thick lashes fanned out like butterfly wings.

Ivy stood there in her thick bathrobe, looking exactly like a delicate little porcelain doll.

Silas had just stood on his tiptoes to put the solution bottles away. When he turned around and saw tiny, adorable, impossibly pretty little Ivy standing under the dim light, his heart, which had never once skipped a beat, suddenly slammed against his ribs. His amber eyes went wide.

So... cute.

"Brother, I'm all clean now."

Ivy was soft and gentle, looking up at her stunned brother with endless patience.

Silas had been emotionally detached from birth. Vincent and Vivienne had raised him. He never understood the feelings people talked about. He lived in the Winter household. Blood ties. Too young to make it on his own. Everything had always come down to conditions.

But the way his heart jumped when he looked at Ivy just now had nothing to do with any of that. He simply thought Ivy was cute.

Before this, he hadn't cared at all about his mother wanting a daughter. Only now did Silas realize he wanted a sister too. And that sister could only be Ivy.

After dinner, Vivienne carried Ivy to her room.

"Mommy still has some very important things to take care of tonight. Ivy should get to sleep early."

Vivienne thoughtfully left the bedside lamp on for Ivy. Her smile was warm and gentle, the picture of a loving mother.

But Ivy's little nose twitched. She caught the thick smell of blood on Vivienne again.

Mommy had to stay up late butchering beef even at this hour? That must be so hard.

"Goodnight, Mommy."

Ivy tucked herself under the covers without a fuss.

This room had been hers in her last life. Sleeping here again felt especially safe.

Three months of wandering the streets hadn't been for nothing. From now on, she had a home.

---

Morning.

Vivienne stood behind the kitchen island with dark circles under her eyes, putting breakfast together. She'd been up all night. Closing her eyes for more than three seconds would knock her out cold. But even like this, her knife work was still clean and precise.

She could chop with her eyes closed and never nick herself once.

"Mommy, let me help you."

Vivienne looked down and found Ivy standing at her feet. Ivy was still in the pajamas Vivienne had bought her, fluffy and loose, making the sleepy little thing look like a soft kitten.

Vivienne's eyes went warm. "Thank you, baby. Mommy's got it. Don't forget, Mommy's a chef."

She looked at the sweet little girl who wanted to help her cook, then glanced over at Silas sitting on the floor, completely lost in his parts. Vivienne was more sure than ever. A daughter was the greatest gift the world could give her.

"Mommy, please let me help."

Ivy frowned and pouted, her soft little face making anyone want to melt. In her last life, when she was sick and hurt, Mommy had worked herself to the bone taking care of her day and night. Now that she was healthy and full of energy, she wanted to pull her weight too.

Ivy squirmed and tugged at Vivienne's clothes.

She tugged, and something fell out of Vivienne's pocket.

It was a pale, severed finger with a few hairs on it, a ring still on the end.

Ivy picked the bloody finger up off the floor and looked it over in her palm for a long moment.

Vivienne's vision went dark. Her heart shot up into her throat. She'd spent all night cleaning out the basement. How had she missed a severed finger sitting in her own pocket?

If she scared Ivy, she'd lose her daughter.

"Ivy, this, this is actually..."

Vivienne scrambled to explain, but before she could get the words out, Ivy looked up at her with wide, innocent green eyes.

"Mommy, were you trying to prank me?"

"But I can tell this is fake. It's one of brother's toys, right?"

Vivienne stared into Ivy's earnest, certain eyes and let out a long, slow breath of relief.

Her husband was right. This child really wasn't all there. The evidence was right in her hand, and she still thought it was a toy.

"Ivy is so sharp. You figured it out right away. Yes, it's just your brother's toy. It's definitely not a severed finger from an adult Caucasian male."

"Since you already know, let's not bring it up again."

Vivienne wanted to move on. She tossed the finger aside. It sailed through the air in a clean arc and landed right in the parts Silas was holding.

Silas's lips twitched. He looked at Ivy's innocent, puzzled face, quietly fished the finger out, and slipped it into his own pocket.

"Don't touch my toys without asking."

A careful, uneasy silence settled over the room.

Ivy stood on a small stool helping Vivienne with breakfast. Her long lashes hid the last flicker of doubt in her eyes.

She wasn't stupid. She knew the difference between a toy and a real finger. But Mommy didn't want to scare her, so she'd play along. Besides, someone as gentle and kind as Mommy wouldn't just have a human finger in her pocket for no reason.

It must have been some awful butcher who'd chopped one off to frighten Mommy.