My Dreamy Old Husband

Quinton was holding a small baby girl who had just been born; she looked absolutely filthy, and her umbilical cord was still intact.

Quinton pinched the baby girl as though she was a toy and said smugly into the camera, “I have good news and bad news to tell you, Michael.”

Still in a daze, Michael watched the video and stared blankly at the baby girl who was still attached to the umbilical cord.

Is that my daughter?! Sophia has given birth to a daughter for me!

Quinton continued, “The good news is that your wife gave birth at 5.23PM tonight. Congratulations, it’s a girl.”

Shortly after that, he teased in a ghastly voice and said, “Unfortunately, she was not breathing when she was born. Your wife also died of amniotic fluid embolism. I’m currently at a hospital in the small town of Mustka; if you rush over now, you might still be able to see their remains for the last time.”

…

At that moment, the core of Michael’s heart ached so much that it closed off all his senses; he didn’t even know how he managed to get into the car. In his mind, the words ‘She was not breathing when she was born’ and ‘Your wife also died of amniotic fluid embolism’ played again and again.

Sophia is dead. My child is dead. They’re dead, all dead…

Joel roared in anger and hatred as they watched Phantom Wolf’s video. They got into the car with bloodshot eyes and drove as fast as they could, ignoring the feeling of exhaustion from their previous days and rushed to Mustka Town.

It was as though a part of Michael had died; he was oblivious to everything that was going on around him. While his entire body froze, he could only hear Stanley yelling at him as he cried, “Pull yourself together, Uncle!”

…

had already rendezvoused at Mustka Town just after dawn. Meanwhile, Michael finally came back to his senses and followed the troops as they rushed

rounds of war that there were no longer people walking on the streets; there were also more empty rooms than people. The group quickly discovered the hospital where Quinton had sent the video from and pushed open the barely

the war, many of the wounded had been treated and buried hastily at the entrance of the hospital; the air emitted a sickening smell of blood and even a strange

of meat grew stronger as they went further into the hospital. In a place where food and clothing were a rare necessity, it

held on to a faint glimmer of hope as he slowly walked inside the building. He knew what he was about to see

a trail of breadcrumbs,

rooms of the hospital as they investigated the situation, while others followed the

on the stove. It was covered with a lid as the aroma of meat wafted through

coal was about to burn out, and only a small fire was

there were still some bone scraps mixed in the blood, and there were pieces of bloody clothing with long, black hairs spread messily across the ground. Everything seemed to have been trampled

saw the bloody clothes, his breath choked as his eyes stared dully

Sophia was wearing it in

in place as if there was some strange magic affecting him; an invisible force clutched onto his attention so that he couldn’t avert his

as his hands dropped weakly to his sides; he couldn’t even hold

charged in, Hale noticed a bloody ring on the

wedding ring was from ‘The One’—Sophia had one exactly like this. It had been custom-made, and Sophia was the only one who owned this particular design. Now, the lone ring had been

at the small pot of soup stewing slowly over the fire. Cold-blooded as he was, it was the first time he realized that he was capable of crying

said

forward and stood in front of the pot. He fidgeted

the lid as he turned around and

thick soup, but the tiny skeleton frame inside could be vaguely identified