Her words struck like lightning.
For a moment, rage swallowed everything inside me. No sound left my throat, only fury, raw and blinding.
Then I snapped.
I lunged at Sarah.
My claws curled. Nails tore into her skin.
I yanked her hair, dragged her to the ground, clawed at her face and throat.
“You monster. Give me my mother back.”
But before my fingers could do real damage, agony ripped across my back. Then my ribs. The guards were on me, kicking and striking until I curled on the ground like a broken doll.
Gasps cut through the night air of the clan garden.
Evan pushed past them, his face stone-cold.
He didn’t even look at me.
He went straight to Sarah… trembling, crying, performing beautifully… and wrapped her in his arms as if she were fragile crystal.
When his gaze finally slid to me, it was cold enough to freeze bone.
“You’ve gone too far. Kneel. Apologize to her. Now.”
I stared at him, stunned.
But he wasn’t finished.
“Your mother was weak. She was abandoned and died chasing coin. And now you blame Sarah? Everyone here saw what you did. Are you proud of yourself?”
The murmurs around us grew louder, uglier.
“I heard her mother once stole the Luna’s jewels,” one woman whispered. “They say she died during a rogue kidnapping with her organs missing. Sounds like she got what she deserved.”
“And the daughter is no better,” another spat. “Ungrateful brat. Just like her mother. Raised to seduce any male she sees.”
I was still on my knees. I wanted to scream that they were wrong, to tell them my mother wasn’t a thief, that I wasn’t what they called me.
But my throat burned. No sound came.
Evan’s patience thinned.
“Apologize, Holly. I’ll count to three. One… two—”
Disappointment scorched me, hollow and deep.
I gave in.
My knees hit the cold stone. I lifted my chin… and slammed it down in a bow so hard I tasted blood.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Blood mixed with tears as my vision blurred.
I looked up with a twisted smile, empty and bitter.
“Is that enough, Evan? Did your precious darling get her apology?”
He froze. His pupils shrank as if, for a heartbeat, he finally saw me. Saw what he’d made me become.
He took half a step toward me.
But Sarah clutched his arm, voice trembling with false fear.
“Evan… she looks unhinged. I’m scared.”
He hesitated. Then stepped back. And held her closer.
His eyes turned away.
“Go home, Holly. Try not to shame yourself again.”
I rose, shaky but standing.
I looked at him one last time.
Then I walked away.
The night winds were bitter when I reached the Bonefire Hall. I stood in silence as my mother’s body was reduced to ash, her remains scattered into the sea beyond the cliffs.
As the last ember died, so did the last tether of my heart.
Gone. Just like that.
At midnight, I slipped off the bonding ring. I placed it gently into the nightstand drawer.
No need for dissolution rites. His love had never been real.
How convenient.
I packed my travel satchel, opened the door of my den.
My message stone pulsed.
Evan: Did you see a healer? Sarah forgives you. Let us forget tonight.
Another pulse.
Evan: I collected a new gown. It is beautiful. I will bring it later.
Silence.
Another pulse.
Evan: Are you asleep? Why ignore me? The bonding ceremony is tomorrow. Behave yourself.
I blocked him. Every rune, every channel.
I crushed the linkage stone between my fingers and let the fragments scatter across the path outside.
A spirit cart waited by the gate.
I climbed in.
“To the sky harbor.”
The night forest sped past, lanterns blurring like ghosts.
Ten years of love, pain, and foolish devotion… fading like mist.
“We will not meet again, Evan. And by sunrise, your wedding gift will be waiting. Exactly on time.”
