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Attached was a photo of Ethan kneeling before Lily's Moonstone Tombstone, his head bowed.
My first instinct was protective rage. How dare he visit her now, after ignoring her for so long? But something
else stirred within- a recognition that despite everything, he was Lily's
father.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard before | typed my response: "He's Lily's father. Let him
1. be. He owes her this penance."
| stared at my own words, surprised by them. For the first time, | acknowledged Ethan's right to
mourn our daughter.
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< Chapter 100: Ashes and Rede...
(Ethan's POV)
+15 Points
| knelt before my daughter's moonstone tombstone, the cold ground seeping through my pants. The cemetery
was silent except for the occasional rustle of leaves in the night breeze.
The polished stone gleamed in the moonlight, Lily's smiling face captured in the colored
photograph embedded in the granite. She looked so happy, so alive blood- spattered child I'd seen in the
surveillance footage.
nothing like the pale,
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"Lily," | whispered, tracing her nwith trembling fingers. "I'm so sorry."
The words felt pathetically inadequate. What apology could possibly make up for years of
neglect? For missing her final moments?
| remembered her voice on the phone that last time: "Daddy, can you cbe with Lily? Lily is
sick, and the treatment hurts..."
And my cold response: "Don't be like your mother, full of lies.”
A sob tore from my throat, raw and agonizing. | had failed her in every way a father could fail a
child.
"I built you an amusement park," | said, my voice breaking. "I was going to make it up to you. |
was going to be better."
The tombstone offered no absolution, no forgiveness. Just the stark reality of my daughter's
netched in stone.
Hours passed as | knelt there, memories washing over me. Not memories of tspent with Lily - those were
painfully few - but memories of opportunities missed. Birthdays I'd skipped, school events I'd ignored, bedtimes
I'd missed.
All while | lavished attention on Emma, a child who wasn't even mine.
The eastern sky began to lighten, casting a silvery glow across the cemetery.
Dawn was breaking, marking the end of my night-long vigil.
My joints were stiff as | finally rose to my feet. My Alpha strength, usually so reliable, seemed
diminished by grief.
"I'll return tomorrow; Lily," | promised, my voice hoarse from unshed tears. "Every day, until you forgive me."
| turned and walked slowly toward the cemetery gates, my body heavy with grief.
Maxwell Chen was waiting outside, leaning against my car. His usually impassive face looked
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< Chapter 100 Ashes and Rede.....
troubled, and he straightened quickly when he saw me.
"Alpha King," he greetedwith a slight bow.
| nodded in acknowledgment, too drained for words.
Maxwell shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting away from mine. Something was wrong.
"What is it?" | demanded, my voice sharper than intended.
He hesitated, clearly reluctant to speak.
"Maxwell," | growled, my patience wearing thin. "Tellwhat you're hiding."
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He took a deep breath. "It's about the man who attacked Mrs. Winters in Desolate Hollow."
My jaw tightened at the mention of the incident. "Darius Reed. What about him?"
"During interrogation, he mentioned the necklace he stole from Mrs. Winters," Maxwell said
carefully. "The one you... recovered."
| remembered the crystal pendant I'd taken from Darius Reed after tracking him down. The
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necklace Olivia had fought so desperately to protect.
"What about it?" | asked, though something in Maxwell's expression made my stomach clench
with dread.
"Darius Reed said Mrs. Winters bechysterical when he took it," Maxwell continued. "She
told him it contained her daughter's ashes, kept as a memento..."
The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet. The pendant - Lily's Ashes Crystal Pendant - had
contained my daughter's remains.
And | had thrown it into the Moonlit Reflection Pool in a moment of blind rage.
The horror of what I'd done crashed overlike a physical blow. | had discarded my own daughter's ashes as if
they were nothing.
"Alpha King?" Maxwell's voice seemed to cfrom far away.
"Taketo the Stone Estate," | ordered, my voice barely recognizable. "Now."
Maxwell didn't question me, just opened the car door and slid behind the wheel. The drive passed in a blur of
self-loathing and desperate hope that the pendant might somehow be
recovered.
As soon as we arrived at the estate, | leapt from the car and ran toward the Moonlit Reflection Pool. The morning
sun glinted off its surface, deceptively peaceful.
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Without hesitation, | removed my Black Alpha Overcoat and plunged into the frigid water. The cold shocked my
system, but | barely noticed as | began searching the bottom of the pool with desperate hands.
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