Chapter 6

Lily's POV

After my mother passed, my world completely collapsed.

My only remaining emotional support was a retired search and rescue dog named Snowball.

I'd brought Snowball back from an avalanche rescue. He'd accompanied me through countless lonely days and nights, and was the "child" Ethan and I once raised together.

That afternoon, I was sitting in the yard brushing Snowball's fur when Melody suddenly walked over.

She wore an exquisite dress and carried a lace parasol. After just a few steps closer, she suddenly coughed violently and repeatedly retreated.

"Cough, cough, cough... Ethan! Ethan, save me!"

Ethan rushed out from his study at the sound, nervously supporting her.

"What's wrong?"

Melody pointed at Snowball with tears in her eyes, gasping.

"The dog. I'm severely allergic to dog fur... Ethan, I can barely breathe..."

Ethan's expression darkened. His gaze shot toward me like a knife.

"Didn't I say to lock that beast up when Melody's around?!"

I protectively hugged Snowball, my voice trembling.

"Snowball's always been in the yard. She walked over here herself! And you used to know that Snowball doesn't shed!"

"If Melody says she's allergic, she's allergic!"

Ethan didn't listen to any explanation and coldly passed judgment.

"Someone! Throw this dog out! Send it to the stray dog shelter!"

"No!"

I widened my eyes and held Snowball's neck tightly.

"Ethan, you can't do this! Snowball is a retired search and rescue dog. He saved people's lives! He's old now. He'll die if he goes to a shelter!"

"Better than Melody's allergy!"

Ethan waved his hand without mercy.

Several bodyguards immediately stepped forward and roughly pulled me away.

Snowball seemed to sense the danger. He barked at me anxiously but was grabbed by the throat with a thick rope and forcibly dragged away.

"Snowball! Let him go! Ethan, I'm begging you. I'll lock him in my room. I absolutely won't let him out! Please don't send him away!"

I struggled frantically, my fingernails scratching bloody marks on the bodyguards' arms, but it was useless.

I watched helplessly as the car carrying Snowball drove out the gate, my desperate cries echoing throughout the villa.

A trace of faint reluctance flashed in Ethan's eyes, but it was quickly interrupted by Melody's coughing.

"It's just a dog. I'll have someone buy you a hairless cat tomorrow."

He dropped this cold statement and turned to help Melody back into the house.

I didn't cry or make a scene. I got up from the ground, didn't even put on a coat, and rushed straight out the door.

Heavy rain poured down.

I ran through the storm, searching one by one for stray dog shelters in the city.

Rainwater blurred my vision. The cold penetrated my bones, but all I could think about was Snowball's desperate eyes as he was dragged away.

A full forty-eight hours.

I didn't close my eyes or drink a drop of water. Finally, in an extremely remote, poorly maintained private dog slaughter facility in the suburbs, I found Snowball.

The bodyguards hadn't taken him to a proper shelter at all. They'd sold him directly to dog dealers!

When I spent all the money I had on me to ransom Snowball, this once majestic search and rescue dog had already had one of his back legs broken. Covered in blood, he was curled up in the corner of an iron cage, barely clinging to life.

"Snowball..."

I knelt in the muddy water, trembling as I held his cold body.

Snowball barely opened his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and gently licked the tears from my face. Then he slowly closed his eyes and never woke up again.

In the pouring rain, holding Snowball's corpse, the last trace of warmth in my heart froze completely into ice.