Chapter 4
I didn’t know Chad turned Aurespring upside down looking for me.
Mistormere was where Heather had wanted to go. She hadn’t made it, but I did.
Walking its fading streets, I felt like I was Heather.
No one knew I studied painting, not out of passion. I did it to be more like her, and that made me feel closer to Chad.
By some twist, Heather gave up painting halfway, while I ended up the one hailed as a genius whose work spoke.
The decade I was married to Chad was when my art peaked. Now dozens of my paintings hung in Mistormere’s biggest gallery.
I drifted there for nearly half a month, only visiting the exhibition on its last day.
As expected, it was quiet.
Wrapped in my coat, I lingered at each piece.
I passed “Burning” and “Caged Bird“, stopping at “Bloom“. Someone stood beside me, his eyes set on the withered girl’s face in
the painting.
“Bloom. Fueled by life, but just a moth’s futile dance with fire,” he chuckled, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
His gaze, looking through me to someone else, made my skin crawl. I’d felt that from Chad for ten years.
I stepped aside, but he followed. “You two are alike.”
I paused, my fists clenching on my sides.
He added, “Heather said you had more talent for painting than she did and was more suitable to marry into the Caldwell family.
She said you were born with wings and never meant to be caged.”
My palms grew sweaty.
His tone turned sharp as he scoffed, “But she didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to clip your wings and play puppet.”
My heart twisted. I spun around and glared at him. “Who killed her? Did you forget?”
I stopped short because I spotted another familiar figure in the near distance. His face sullen, Chad closed in and pulled me away from Nick Mills.
His eyes burned with anger, laced with scorn. “Spark, huh? The Bennett sisters even pick the same kind of guys.”
. His other hand shot out, pinning Nick’s throat against the wall. His icy words came through his gritted teeth. “Didn’t I tell you I
never wanted to see you again?”
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ter 4
Instead of fighting back, Nick leaned against the wall.
“You promised more funding. Why would I need to track her down?” he muttered, shrugging.
His glance at me was dripping with disdain. “You owe me Heather’s life. No amount of money makes that square.”
I was stunned, while Chad’s grip tightened. Nick’s face started to turn pale.
“Hold on!” I called out.
+25 Bonus
I’d seen Nick before. Back when Heather’s plane crashed, he showed up at our house like a lost soul. All his vitality was drained
with her death.
He knelt, banging his head on the floor until blood streamed. “I just want something of Heather’s. Her clothes, anything.”
Furious parents, my parents beat him and had him dragged out.
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