Chapter 2
Shawn’s fingers dug into my infected tail, blood oozing between my scales and dripping onto the cold floor.
I shivered in agony but bit my lip, determined not to make a sound.
“Where is Sophie?” he demanded, pulling my hair to make me look at him.
My vision blurred, yet I could still see the anger blazing in his eyes.
He still believed I was pretending, that I had hidden our daughter.
But Sophie had long since turned to foam, disappearing from this world.
“She’s gone.”
“Liar!”
Shawn bellowed, striking me across the face. My head collided with the edge of the tank, and everything went black.
At that moment, Kellie strutted over in her high heels and playfully slipped her arm through Shawn’s.
“Shawn, don’t hold Melanie accountable. If it comes down to it, I’ll endure quietly–no more using Sophie’s mermaid blood as a remedy. It’s just unfortunate for our baby. The doctor mentioned my pregnancy is fragile…”
Listening to them discuss exploiting Sophie, I shook uncontrollably, every wound–large and small–beginning to reopen.
#
My Sophie was just three years old!
As her biological father, Shawn had the heartlessness to use her blood as a medicinal resource.
In a haze, I thought I heard Sophie’s laughter, her tiny hands splashing the water as she innocently asked, “Mommy, why doesn’t daddy like me?”
Even as she sank, her little hand held onto mine as she said, “Mommy, Daddy dislikes it when I cry. I mustn’t cry so Daddy will love me…”
The pain in my heart made my scales start to fall off, one by one.
Shawn stepped back instantly, a look of disgust crossing his face as he shielded Kellie protectively.
“How revolting. Since you refuse to give us Sophie, we’ll take your blood instead!” he declared.
Following his order, two men in white coats roughly pulled out my tail fin.
I groaned in pain, as the wounds on my fin hadn’t healed, leaving the fresh, tender flesh exposed to the air.
Kellie pointed to an unbroken scale at the base of my tail fin.
“Right here. I’ve heard the blood from this spot is the most nourishing and has the best effects on the skin.”
Shawn nodded without any emotion, signaling his assistants to continue.
As the sharp blade pierced the soft flesh beneath the scale, I let out a piercing scream, my nails scraping loudly against the glass.
Shawn immediately covered Kellie’s ears with care.
He turned to me, his gaze cold and merciless.
“Melanie, savor this pain–it’s your punishment for your clan’s sins!”
Atonement?
What a laughable excuse.
I still can’t fathom what my mermaid clan ever owed to Shawn.
The water in the saltwater pool had been stained crimson.
Shawn reclined on a couch beside the pool, gently holding Kellie’s belly while gazing down at me with a smug expression as I writhed in agony.
“Shawn, aren’t her scales just gorgeous?”
Kellie giggled, reaching out to gather the scales floating on the water’s surface.
Shawn tenderly pinched her cheek.
“If you like them, they’re all yours.”
I lay curled at the bottom of the pool, trembling uncontrollably, every inch of my skin seared with a burning pain.
In my haze, I found myself drifting back to that night three years ago.
At that time, I had just given birth to Sophie and lay exhausted on the delivery bed. Shawn cradled our daughter, his eyes full of warmth.
“Melanie, look at our daughter. She resembles you so much.”
Suddenly, his expression shifted.
Chapter 2
“Melanie, you treacherous mermaid! You murdered my sister! You’ll pay for her death with your own blood!”
He tightened his grip around my throat, his eyes burning with hatred.
Yet I still had no idea who this “sister” he kept referring to was.
My mermaid clan had never harmed humans.
My thoughts were interrupted as a bucket of icy water splashed over my head.
Shawn stood by the pool, regarding me with a cold stare.
“Still not going to tell me where Sophie is?”
With effort, I lifted my head to meet his indifferent gaze and unexpectedly began to laugh.
“Sophie is dead. When mermaids die, they turn into bubbles. Didn’t you know that?”
