Page 198 of The Heart of Winter

"I used to think you didn’t care," I muttered. "I’m just a beta, right? Second choice. The one nobody wants. The infertile child…"

Father let out a sharp, angry sound, a rare burst of emotion from someone usually so composed, and Dad nearly crushed me with his hands on my shoulders.

"How can you say that, Winter!? You’re my blood. You grew under my heart, listening to its song. You’re a part of me, Winnie! Beta or not, you’re my child. I love you so much…"

Father shook his head, clearly upset. "Winter, our love doesn’t hinge on gender. Or whether you’ll have kids. That’s never what mattered. You matter. You’re part of us, and we’re so damn proud of you, son!"

"Blue Lowen sent us a text yesterday evening. One word: FOUND! It was… like a star falling from the sky. We cried for a few hours. We’re so happy you’re back with us…"

I couldn’t respond. My throat was too tight.

"Let’s go," I muttered finally. "Because I really need to talk to Snow and Summer!"

They exchanged a glance. I’d find out why soon enough.

When we pulled into the driveway, Snow’s car was already there. He must’ve gotten home from the airport a few minutes before us.

Feeling impatient, I rushed into the house, searching for him, and found him out on the patio, sitting with Summer, who was sipping tea.

"I know everything!" I called out, spreading my arms. I hurried toward them, only for Summer’s eyes to flash with panic.

He shot to his feet.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for saving my life…" I began, but like a startled deer, he bolted, straight through the patio door and disappeared inside the house.

My jaw dropped.

Snow slowly got to his feet, calm as ever, and started to walk toward the house as well, but I grabbed his arm.

"Snow, what the hell? I just wanted to thank you! You both saved my life! I wasn’t trying to scare—"

Snow glanced down at my hand on his arm. I let go immediately.

"There’s no need to thank us," he said. "I’m just glad you’re back."

And with that, he walked past me and went inside. A bit dazed, I stood on the patio, staring at his figure disappearing into the house. Yep. My brother Snow in a nutshell.

It was the first moment of solitude I’d had since landing at the airport.

Then… I realized. Somewhere deep down, my body was trembling, something was wrong, deeply wrong. A vast emptiness, like an abyss, was opening in my chest.

But I forced myself to pull it together and went back into the kitchen, where my parents were already pulling snacks from the fridge for dinner.

Soon, the conversation picked up again, and once more they were urging me to stay with them for a few days. I agreed, to give myself a smoother transition between the emotional chaos of returning and settling back into my old life.

My parents also told me the airline had informed them that both Sariel and I would be receiving a fairly large compensation, even though they weren’t directly responsible for the crash. But since the rescue operation had been called off, and we’d spent three weeks in harsh conditions without any assistance, the airline’s owner decided to make it up to us. I had a feeling the passenger name ‘Lowen’ wasn’t exactly irrelevant.

This news was reassuring, I was hoping that with that amount, I could finally pay off my mortgage, and my entire salary would finally go straight into my own pocket.

As the excitement of the first few hours wore off, the emptiness began to creep back in.

By evening, I already felt… oddly numb.

The conversation with the psychologist began to loop in my mind, stubbornly, gratingly.

I was sitting with my family on the patio. Father was grilling, Snow played his harmonica, Summer sat in silence, staring into the fire, and Bay chatted with Uncle Van, who, as always, tried to dominate the conversation. My dad was pouring tea, serving snacks, and smiling the whole time. That worked in my favor, since my mind couldn’t settle enough to focus on whatever they were talking about.

That damn conversation from the plane kept replaying in my head.

---