Chapter 3

Lily's POV

The basement lights flickered dimly.

I crouched before dusty cardboard boxes, my hands trembling as I searched.

The ice axe was there, the harness was there, but the old brass compass was nowhere to be found.

It was the last thing my father left me before he died, and three years ago when Ethan and I got lost in a blizzard, it was the only thing that guided us away from death.

"Looking for this?"

A delicate voice rang out at the stairway.

Melody stood on the steps, looking down at me from above.

In her hands, she toyed with that brass compass.

"Give it back!"

I stood and rushed toward her.

But Melody just laughed lightly and loosened her fingers.

Crack.

The brass compass fell onto the hard cement floor. The glass face shattered instantly, and the needle inside trembled violently a few times before jamming completely, never to turn again.

My breathing stopped abruptly. My mind went blank.

I crouched down and carefully gathered up the broken pieces. Glass shards pierced my palm and blood welled up, but I didn't care.

"You did that on purpose."

I looked up.

"Melody, I'm going to kill you!"

I stood and grabbed Melody by the collar.

"Ah! Ethan, save me!"

Melody immediately let out a shrill scream and deliberately fell backward, tumbling heavily onto the steps.

The basement door burst open and Ethan rushed down.

Seeing Melody trembling on the ground and me with blood all over my hands, he didn't hesitate to shove me aside.

Already exhausted, his forceful push sent me crashing into the rough wall, a sharp pain shooting through my shoulder.

"Lily! What's wrong with you!"

Ethan held Melody tightly in his arms, shouting angrily.

"She smashed my father's compass!"

I held up my hands covered in blood and broken glass, my voice becoming shrill.

"Ethan, that compass led us out of the mountains! She smashed it!"

Ethan's gaze swept over that pile of junk, a flash of impatience crossing his eyes.

He looked at me coldly, his tone full of disappointment and disgust.

"Over a broken compass you'd assault Melody? Lily, when did you become so unreasonable and materialistic?"

Materialistic? Unreasonable?

I stared at him in shock as tears finally broke free.

"Ethan, I didn't mean to..."

Melody hid in Ethan's arms, crying with tears streaming down her face.

"I saw that thing was so old, I thought it was trash and wanted to help Miss Hayes put it away. I didn't expect my hand to slip... It's all my fault. My hand was injured, I can't hold things properly..."

"It's not your fault. She's too aggressive."

Ethan gently comforted the woman in his arms, then pulled out his checkbook from his pocket, scrawled a series of numbers, and tossed it at my feet like throwing alms to a beggar.

"One million. Enough to buy you a hundred top-of-the-line electronic navigation devices. Take the money and apologize to Melody."

That light check fell on my blood-stained shoes like a resounding slap across my soul.

I didn't look at the check. I just stared at Ethan, my heart feeling like it was being slowly carved open with a dull knife, the pain making even my breath taste of blood.

"Ethan," I smiled.

"No amount of money can buy back something dead."

Not the compass, and not his love.