Sable turned to Vincent with wide, innocent eyes. “Vincent, I really like this one.”
Before Vincent could respond, I cut in firmly, “That’s mine.”
My tone was sharp and Vincent’s face darkened.
“It’s just a stupid bracelet. She’s giving you some face by even liking it. Stop making a scene,” he snapped.
I was fuming. “That bracelet was my mother’s!”
I was an illegitimate child, raised secretly in the countryside with my younger brother. My foster mother was poor. That bracelet was a gift she saved up for months to buy me for my coming–of–age.
Vincent knew that.
His brows furrowed; he hesitated as he glanced at Sable.
Sable, ever the manipulator, quickly played innocent. “I’m so sorry, Andrea. I didn’t realize it was that important to you. Here, I’ll give it back.”
She reached out, but as she did, her fingers conveniently slipped.
The bracelet fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
My outstretched hand froze mid–air, as I watched the last thing my mother ever gave me break. beyond repair.
The tears came before I could stop them, but I swallowed my sobs and slapped her across the face.
Sable stumbled back in shock, hitting her head on the dresser, a bruise immediately forming on her forehead.
Vincent exploded. He slapped me so hard I fell to the ground, my ears ringing. My hand landed in :he broken shards, instantly drawing blood.
Sable burst into tears, wailing, “Vincent, my face! Am I going to be disfigured?”
Her face–so much like my sister’s–only fueled his fury.
Vincent scooped her up protectively. “It’s okay, Sweetheart. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
He stormed out so fast that he knocked over the decor by the cabinet. A plaster statue crashed down, landing squarely on my head, blood gushing down my face.
But he didn’t even glance back.
was used to this. Calmly, I pulled out my phone and called for an ambulance.
When I woke up, Vincent was sitting by my hospital bed, face like stone.
Usually, he would be screaming at me by now.
Instead, he glanced at me coldly and said, “Tomorrow, we’re going to Emerald Island. You used to train for mermaid shows, didn’t you? Sable’s willing to forgive you if you perform for her. Consider it your apology.”
I had learned mermaid performances because Vincent loved watching underwater shows. I
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wanted to be closer to him.
I had even secretly rented an entire aquarium for his birthday, just to surprise him.
But the moment he saw me in that tank, the revulsion in his eyes was searing.
He ordered the guards to rip off my oxygen mask, leaving me trapped underwater for nearly an hour.
I blacked out from oxygen deprivation before he finally let me out.
Since then, I’ve been terrified of water.
“I’m not going,” I said instinctively.
He didn’t even bother to argue.
The next morning, he had me forcibly dragged onto a helicopter.
As the rotors lifted us into the sky, my stomach twisted into knots.
The sea surrounding Emerald Island sparkled under the sun, stretching endlessly into the horizon. To anyone else, it was paradise.
But as I stared at the waves gently rising and falling, all I felt was a suffocating dread tightening around my chest.
The moment we landed, I broke into a run, sprinting toward the far edge of the island.
Strangely, he didn’t come after me.
A surge of unease crawled up my spine.
Suddenly, the clear blue sky darkened.
The bright sunshine vanished as thick storm clouds rolled in.
The wind howled and I knew a storm was coming fast.
Panicked, I called him.
“Where are you? Where am I supposed to stay tonight?”
He chuckled coldly on the other end.
“After everything you’ve done, you still expect me to give you shelter? You really do live in a fantasy world.”
My anxiety spiked. “What do you mean?”
The wind picked up sharply, but his voice was even colder. “We’re taking the chopper back. The signal here will be cut soon. If you want to survive, figure it out yourself.”
The line went dead, his words slicing through me like knives.
Clutching my jacket tighter around me, I heard the first rumble of thunder in the distance.
And then it started.
Large raindrops pelted down, the horizon disappearing as the sea grew wild and angry. My eyes widened in terror.
I turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Thunder cracked, wind roared, waves swelled like monsters and crashed down on me. The churning sea swallowed me whole.
Chapter 3
5:36 pm DDD &.
My screams were drowned out by the violent water.
Lightning slashed through the sky, illuminating everything for a brief, terrifying moment.
As my consciousness slipped away, I saw them-
In that flicker of light, my adoptive parents smiled at me gently.
“Sweetheart, your birth father has been looking for you. Do you want to go home with him?”
No.
If this was the price of being a Leighton, I’d rather stay in that quiet little mountain village forever.
I didn’t want blood ties.
I didn’t want to know Vincent.
5:36 pm
