Aiden spent three days with his family, memorizing every detail.
His mother's laugh. His father's terrible jokes. The way sunlight streamed through their penthouse windows—sunlight he could never touch again.
"You seem different," Sophia observed over dinner. "More... intense somehow."
"I'm just processing everything. The attack, my relationship with Kieran, the future." All true, if incomplete.
"About Kieran," Richard said carefully. "We're still concerned. The investigation—"
"I know what you found. And I know it looks bad. But Dad, I love him. And I'm choosing this life with him, whatever that means."
"Even if it costs you everything?"
"Even then."
His parents exchanged worried glances but didn't push further.
That night, alone in his childhood bedroom, Aiden cried blood tears into his pillow. Tomorrow, he'd say goodbye forever. They'd think he was just going back to Kieran's place, but he'd never see them again. Not as their son.
Maybe decades from now, he could reappear as a distant relative. Marcus had done that multiple times over his centuries. But for now, this was goodbye.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to his sleeping parents through the walls. "I'm so sorry."
The next evening, the plan was set.
A car accident on a remote road. Aiden's car would go off a cliff into the Hudson River. No body recovered—the current was too strong, the water too deep.
Marcus had arranged everything with his usual efficiency. False witnesses, police reports that would stand up to scrutiny, even DNA evidence from hair Aiden had left behind.
"You don't have to do this," Kieran said one last time. "We could find another way."
"No. This is cleanest. And it's not like I'm really dying." Aiden tried to smile. "I've had enough practice with death. What's one more?"
They drove to the location—a scenic overlook that became treacherous in rain. Marcus had arranged for a storm, using weather magic to make the accident believable.
Aiden sat in the driver's seat of his expensive car, rain pounding the windshield. Kieran stood outside, looking anguished.
"I love you," Aiden said through the open window. "Tell me again that this is worth it."
"It's worth it. A mortal lifetime with you could never be enough. I need forever."
"Then let's do this."
Aiden put the car in drive. Let it roll forward, picking up speed. At the last moment, he vampired-speed out of the vehicle, and the car sailed over the cliff, crashing into the dark water below.
Explosions. Fire. The perfect accident.
From the shadows, Aiden watched emergency vehicles arrive hours later. Watched his parents arrive, screaming, being held back from the cliff's edge.
Watched his mother collapse when told no body had been found, probably swept out to sea.
It was the hardest thing he'd ever done—harder than dying, harder than transformation. Watching them grieve while he stood in shadows, unable to comfort them.
"Come away," Kieran said gently. "You can't help them now. This is the price we pay."
They left as dawn approached, and Aiden Luxury was officially dead.
Long live Aiden Ashford, vampire.