The words hit me like a gunshot to the chest.
For a second, I couldn’t breathe. Then I turned on my heel and ran—straight through the cold night air, past the rows of silent tombs, everything else fading into nothing. The only thing that mattered was Ashley.
Ashley… she had always been full of light. Bright, warm—like she carried her own sun wherever she went. She loved daisies more than anything, those simple flowers that followed the daylight. I still remembered her telling me once, eyes shining, that she wanted to fill our entire backyard with them someday.
She never got the chance.
So I did it for her.
After we buried her, I covered her resting place with daisies—no headstone, no name carved in stone. Just endless white blooms, growing quietly, holding every piece of love I could no longer give her.
Thorian… look at this, I thought bitterly, grief clawing at my chest. Look how many daisies there are. Danny would’ve liked this place, wouldn’t he?
But the moment I arrived—
Everything inside me snapped.
Selindra was already there.
An urn had been placed into the ground—her ground—while two of Thorian’s men shoveled dirt back into the grave. The daisies I had planted were crushed beneath their boots, torn apart without care. And off to the side—
Ashley’s urn.
Discarded like it meant nothing.
“What the hell are you doing?!” My voice broke into a scream as I rushed forward, shoving the men away with all the force I had left. My hands trembled violently, barely holding back the urge to lash out. “Who gave you permission to touch her grave?!”
Selindra recoiled instantly, pressing herself against Thorian as if seeking protection. Then her voice slid into my earpiece again—soft, trembling, perfectly crafted.
“There was no marker,” she said gently. “It looked… abandoned. But it was beautiful, covered in flowers. I thought Danny would find peace here.” She paused, her tone turning fragile. “I even had the caretaker reach out to the family… offered compensation. Why are you reacting like this? You’re scaring me.”
Every word made my skin crawl.
I didn’t waste another second.
Grabbing a shovel from one of the guards, I dropped to the ground and started digging frantically, clawing through the disturbed soil, desperate to undo what they had done—to bring Ashley back to the place I had made sacred for her.
“Morwen, stop!” Thorian barked, stepping in and yanking the shovel from my hands.