He wasn't even wearing slippers.
The moment he saw the white snake bound by the Cinnabar Cord, his eyes went red.
“Janet! Have you lost your mind? Let it go!”
Maya came running in right behind him, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
“Mommy's mean! Why do you always bully Bianca!”
I sat on the bed and held up my wrist.
A thin line of blood ran where the snake's fangs had broken the skin.
“It crawled into my bed in the middle of the night and tried to bite me.”
Sid faltered.
But his expression hardened almost immediately.
“Bianca was just hungry. She's that small. What could she possibly do to you?”
I laughed.
“She's hungry, so she gets to drink my blood?”
Sid looked away.
But Maya sobbed out—
“A little bit won't kill you! Bianca's sick, she needs Mommy's blood!”
The room went dead silent.
Sid's face changed instantly. He clamped his hand over Maya's mouth.
Too late.
I turned my gaze slowly to her.
“Who told you that?”
Maya's eyes darted in panic, and she shrank into Sid's arms.
Sid forced an explanation:
“She's making things up. Too many cartoons.”
I looked at the two of them, father and daughter, and almost found it funny.
In my last life, I'd actually cried over their favoritism. So many tears.
Sid seized on my distraction and reached for the white snake.
I pulled the Cinnabar Cord tight first.
The snake's body arched in pain, and Sid froze.
“Janet, let Bianca go. I promise I won't let her bite you again.”
I studied his face, white with fear.
When I died in my last life, he hadn't been this afraid.
I let go.
The white snake dropped into Sid's arms, limp as a broken piece of white string.
He cradled it, hands shaking.
Maya threw herself over too, crying and blowing soft breaths on the snake.
I got out of bed calmly and went to the bathroom to rinse the blood off my wrist.
In the mirror, my face was pale, but my eyes were clear.
Outside the door, Sid's voice dropped low, coaxing—
“Don't be scared, Bianca. Tomorrow I'll put sleeping pills in her food.”
“Once she's out cold at night, you can drink as much as you want.”
I turned off the faucet.
The water stopped.
Tomorrow night?
He didn't know yet. Bianca wouldn't live to see tomorrow night.
The next morning, Sid came to me with a warm glass of milk, all on his own.
Maya was holding Bianca's terrarium, stroking it gently.
“Bianca, I'll come straight home after school to play with you. Wait for me, okay?”
I sipped the milk slowly and said nothing to give them away.
In my last life, this was the day Sid had started lacing my food with sleeping pills.
I slept longer and longer.
And the snake stopped biting just my wrists.
Every time I woke, there were wounds on my neck, my collarbones, over my heart.
Sid would see me growing paler by the day and just smile:
“Janet, are you not sleeping well?”
And Maya would hide off to the side, giggling behind her hand.
This time, I smiled and said, “You two go to work and school. Leave Bianca to me.”
Sid smiled, satisfied.
Maya still wasn't convinced. She carried the terrarium over and set it in front of me.
“Mommy, you're not allowed to bully Bianca. You have to feed her bird's nest broth later, and change her warm water every hour.”
I bent down to look at her.
“Anything else?”
Maya thought about it seriously.
“If she wants to bite you, you can't run away. Daddy said Bianca bites you to make you better.”
Sid's expression darkened.
Maya shut her mouth immediately.
I smiled. “Okay. Mommy will remember.”
Before they left, Sid reached into the Jade Terrarium and stroked the snake, gentle as anything.
I stood beside him and reached out to do the same.
The white snake lunged and sank its fangs into my wrist.
Maya shoved me away at once.
“Mommy's so dumb! Bianca doesn't want you touching her!”
She stretched out her little hand and petted the snake for a long, smug time.
The snake didn't resist once.
I lowered my eyes and hid the smile pulling at the corner of my mouth.
A few minutes later, Sid left with Maya.
The whole villa was empty now. Just me and the white snake.
Inside the Jade Terrarium, the snake slowly raised its head.
Its tongue flickered out, and then its body began to tremble.
It didn't know that on the very first day after my rebirth, I had mixed a full dose of Soul-Dissolving Elixir into Sid and Maya's shower gel and hand soap.
Every loving stroke from that father and daughter had pushed the white snake one step closer to the grave.
The snake smashed the lid off the terrarium and lunged at me.
I was ready.
A Cinnabar Cord snapped tight around its throat.
The snake thrashed violently, its tail sweeping the cups off the coffee table.
Glass shattered across the floor.
I didn't even blink.
“What do you think their faces will look like when they come home and find your body?”
The snake went rigid.
It understood.
For the first time, fear surfaced in those tiny black eyes.
I carried it out the door.
At the far end of Westgate Row sat a herbal apothecary.
Famous for one thing: steeping snakes in medicinal wine.
Mr. Mason saw the white snake in my hand and turned without a word, pulling aside the curtain to the back room.
Rows of dark wine jars lined the walls. The air was thick with the smell of herbs.
