Serenity looked down and silently continued her work on mending the purple dress in her hands, paying no heed to Jackson.

The faint smile on his lips gradually faded.

"Stop," he said.

But she continued as if she hadn't heard him, her hands focused on the task.

His eyes narrowed further, and the feeling of jealousy grew even stronger.

It seemed as if she only had the existence of this dress in her eyes.

Or perhaps, Lucas' presence in the dress.

"I told you to stop!" he suddenly snapped, grabbing the purple dress from her hands.

Serenity let out a small cry as the needle pierced her other fingertip. A bright red drop of blood oozed from the pricked finger and dripped onto the dark floor.

It hadn't been a light prick. Her blood flowed more quickly from the wound. A fair amount of blood had oozed from her fingertip in a matter of moments.

Seeing this, Jackson quickly discarded the dress and crouched down, cradling Serenity's injured hand. He brought her finger to his lips, gen