Present day.

  "……And there you have it. One of the worst love stories in history, I tell you. Kaden is always one for the dramatics, I swear," Holton snorted.

  "Papa, it's loud…" Hazel complained, nudging her head irritably against his shoulders. Seated on his lap, she was brought all the way from Wraith to comfort Uncle Kaden, but her Papa had been telling a bedtime story for far too long.

  "There, there, your Papa just likes to share stories from his youth," Holton snickered, patting his younger daughter. She let out light laughter, for it made her Papa sound older than he appeared.

  "You two are useless," Mia deadpanned. She had flown them to Ritan in hopes that the duo would be able to cheer Kaden up. They only made the situation worse by speaking of some silly tale about star-crossed lovers in an era far too away from modern day.

  "I swear every time I hear you talk, Holton, I lose brain cells." Mia impatiently tapped her feet whilst remaining by the guest area of the hospital room.

  "As if you have any to lose…" Hazel mumbled to her Papa, earning a howl of laughter from him.

  Seeing his face light up with joy, Hazel instantly brightened. She had forgotten to sleep and decided to watch his happy expression. Sometimes, she'd catch her Papa staring into the distance, pain in his eyes, and a wrinkled picture in her hand. When she'd ask who it was, he would only carry her back to bed.

  If there was a love story more tragic than Kaden and Lina, it would be Holton and his wife.

  "This child has no respect," Mia deadpanned.

  "Who'd respect you?" Hazel whispered, burying her face into her father's shoulders, just so she could avoid looking at the glaring woman.

  "My daughter is so smart," Holton happily sighed, caressing her little spine. He loved her snarky remarks that only came out when she felt comfortable around someone.

  "Your daughter was supposed to be cheering up that statue," Mia hissed, shooting an accusing finger towards the unmoving Kaden.

  "I'm surprised he doesn't piss his pants sitting there all day long," Holton scoffed. "You know when he got up earlier to use the bathroom, I saw his thighs tremble. He's so good at putting the tough man act up, but we all know his legs fell asleep!"

  "You're no help!" Mia cried out, throwing her hands up in irritation. "I should've left you to rot in Wraith. What's the point of wasting money to bring you two here?"

  "All I heard was a free trip, nothing about paying for it."

  "You're useless," Mia spat out, angrily crossing her arms and glaring at the little twat in Holton's arms. Like father, like daughter, except Hazel's light brown skin was nothing like Holton's pale complexion.

  "Hey, hey, at least we're better than freeloaders who get things for free and still complain," Holton scoffed, leaning back in his seat.

  "You are freeloaders!" Mia shouted. "I told you to help him—"

  "His wife almost died in her coma from taking immortal blood. Her chances of survival were already low prior to it, but his foolish actions only made her worse. You think anything I say or do can fix the mistakes you and he made?"

  Holton threw her an incredulous glance. And to think she viewed him as shameless. These two were dumber and dumbest. Meanwhile, Holton prized himself as dumb. Just that. At least he wasn't as bad as dumbest, who was definitely Kaden.

  "Well, I thought—"

  "You thought wrong." Holton adjusted Hazel in his arms so that she was flush against him. Her little legs hung on either side of his waist, her arms limp from exhaustion. The jetlag finally got to her.

  Holton was instantly relieved, for he was worried about her lack of sleep. She didn't sleep a wink on the plane out of excitement. Now, Hazel had argued all the energy out of her. He patted her hair and softly kissed her frizzy hair that bounced back with each push. People never believed she was his daughter, for even her eyes resembled her mother.

  "But she's healing, isn't she?" Mia complained, plopping herself onto the smaller couch next to the large one that Holton occupied. She ran a tired hand through her hair and groaned.

  "I'm surprised neither of you got arrested. You know blood transfusion between humans and vampires have been outlawed. It always has been," Holton slowly said.

  "The doctors don't know anything. Kaden barely even lets the nurse in for the daily vitals and IV bag changes," Mia grumbled. She angrily plucked at the ends of her lovely skirt. Kaden got it for her birthday last year. It was one of her favorite presents.

  Now, Mia was simply growing aggravated by him. She didn't understand why her heart always ached at the sight of him. It was as if she knew him from another lifetime, but they didn't have enough time with each other. She always felt this bewildering bond with him… almost like that of a sibling. They've known each other for five years, of course, but it was more than that.

  It certainly helped that on their first encounter, the heartless Kaden paused and smiled at her—an act no one had ever heard of. And instead of falling in love with him, Mia felt an overwhelming sense of comfort.

  "You just have to give him time," Holton finally said after a long silence. He heard Hazel's quiet snoring and ushered Mia to her feet.

  Mia rolled her eyes, but still did so. She had no choice. Just this morning, Holton threatened to make her Hazel's god-mother if Mia continued to be irritating. And Mia would rather die than have kids.

  "You have to pay for that," Mia said when she handed him her coat sitting by the rack.

  "I'd rather burn it afterwards," Holton responded whilst tangling the item in between his fingertips. "Give me Kaden's instead."

  "No, he'll need it—"

  "That man has a heart as cold as ice and skin thicker than the glaciers. Just give me his damn camel wool coat. My baby deserves the best," Holton bit out.

  "Crazy fathers and their spoiled daughters, I swear," Mia muttered under her breath, whilst storming to the coat racks and picking up Kaden's untouched jacket.

  Only when Mia handed it to him did Holton finally reveal a slight smile. He draped the thick material over his young daughter. Hazel whimpered, shifting on his lap. Instantly, Holton rubbed her back and tenderly kissed her on the hair. Realizing where she was, Hazel let out a soft sigh and snuggled into her father.

  As someone who grew up with a loving father, Mia could do nothing but helplessly watch the two of them. Sometimes, she missed her father, but he was always busy. Frowning to herself, she continued to pluck at her dress—a bad habit of hers.

  "You're prettier when you're quiet," Holton said.

  "I've always been pretty," Mia snapped.

  Holton let out a low whistle. "Someone grew up being fed lies."

  "You—"

  "Would the two of you shut up?!" Kaden barked, causing both of them to jump.

  Mia and Holton exchanged a knowing glance, for this had been one of the rare occasions that Kaden spoke. His voice was hoarse from not being used for a while, but the underlying threat was still there.

  "Star-crossed lovers and their dramatics, I swear," Holton sighed. He leaned against the couch and glanced towards Lina.

  "Except, our dear Romeo didn't drink the poison when he saw his dead lover because he can't die," Holton mused to himself, feeling accomplished. "Well, you can still try to take your life if your dear Juliet doesn't wake up."

  Just then, he saw something he could never have imagined.

  Rubbing his eyes, Holton said Kaden slowly rose to his feet. Mia followed, their expressions filled with bewilderment.

  Lina… her fingers had just twitched!