When The Fire Went Out | chapter 3

After work, I went home first, then took Henry to the mall to shop for clothes.

He was tall, gorgeous, and impossible to ignore.

The moment he stepped into the mall, the sales associates practically forgot how to blink.

“Your boyfriend is insanely handsome. Like—movie-star handsome.”

My heart puffed up like a balloon.

I grabbed clothes straight off the racks without even checking the price tags and pushed him toward the fitting room.

That was the plan.

Once he went in to change, Aves would swoop in.

A few minutes later, she showed up—wearing a ridiculous wig she insisted was necessary for “stealth.”

We’d already arranged everything.

When he stepped out in new clothes, she would slip into the fitting room behind him and steal the jade cicada.

Henry soon came out, and honestly, with that outfit on, his attractiveness leveled up again.

It was hard to look away.

But I remembered the mission.

I didn’t let him take off the new clothes yet—not until I saw Aves emerge from the fitting room and subtly flash me an ‘OK’ sign.

Only then did I send him back in to try the next outfit.

He was basically born to model clothes. Everything looked amazing on him—casual, formal, streetwear, whatever.

I ended up buying him five full sets from the inside out.

The sales associate was so happy she nearly bowed at us.

When he tried to go back in to change out of the newest outfit, I grabbed his arm.

“Don’t. Keep it on—you look great.”

I had the associate cut the tags and bag up his old clothes.

After leaving the mall, I took him out for dinner.

Aves popped up pretending to “run into us”, and I invited her to join.

The moment she sat down, she fired right at him:

“Henry, when are you getting a job? You’re a grown man—you can’t just let Gia support you forever.”

I nearly choked on my own tongue. I shot her a look so sharp it could slice glass.

“It’s because I don’t want him working,” I said quickly. “My job keeps me busy. If he works too, no one will handle things at home.”

No matter what, I had to give him a bit of dignity.

“Handle the house? Ever heard of hiring a maid?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay—food’s here. Let’s eat.”

I put a steak on her plate to shut her up.

But the mood was already ruined.

The whole meal felt flat; nobody ate much.

I paid the bill.

“Gia, I need the restroom. You coming?”

“Yeah.”

I told Henry to wait for us by the entrance, then headed to the restroom.

Inside, she pulled out the jade cicada.

She held it with a folded napkin, and that’s when I finally saw it clearly.

The jade was high quality—crystal-clear, cool, and polished. You couldn’t find something this pure on the market anymore.

The carving was exquisite, even the fine lines on the wings were etched perfectly.

But something felt… wrong.

Its mouth was open, like it was inhaling.

The eyes bulged unnaturally.

Not serene like the ones you see in museums—this one looked fierce. Almost predatory.

“Gia, this thing reeks of yin energy,” she whispered. “Who knows how old it is. Your boyfriend is absolutely a corpse. This jade cicada is the only thing keeping him looking human. Without it, he’ll show his true form.

And you’re still sleeping with him—God knows how much energy he’s sucked out of you already.”

I didn’t fully believe her… but I couldn’t argue, either.

“How long before he changes back?”

“At most one night.”

“Then stay at my place tonight, If anything happens, we’ll deal with it together.”

The certainty in her voice made a cold tremor crawl down my spine.

“Okay.”

We left the restroom—

but when we reached the entrance,Henry was gone.

Thinking he went to the parking lot, we rushed downstairs—

nothing.

“Call him,” she said.

Hands shaking, I dialed.

A moment later, the automated voice answered:

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

My heart dropped like a stone.