Chapter 3
Shawn’s hand landed heavily on my face, causing my head to collide with the pool wall as darkness engulfed my vision.
“You’re still lying!” he yelled, gripping my neck and pulling me from the
water.
“Mermaids can regenerate–how could they die so easily?!”
Despite the pain, I locked eyes with him and forced out my words.
“Shawn, you killed… your own daughter with your own hands!”
“Shut up!” he snapped, releasing me and barking orders at the bodyguard.
“Throw her in the basement! Use high–intensity lights until she tells us where Sophie is!”
I was hauled into the basement, where blinding spotlights immediately blazed, their beams piercing my skin from every angle.
Mermaids dreaded intense light, especially when their scales couldn’t shield them.
The light felt like countless sharp knives stabbing into my exposed skin. I curled up in agony, as the wounds on my tail cracked and festered rapidly under the harsh illumination.
Amidst the unbearable pain, my consciousness began to blur.
In a haze, I drifted back to that summer 15 years ago.
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I had been skipping around in the shallows when I became ensnared in fishing nets and stranded on the reefs.
Just when the scorching sun was about to roast me alive, Maria and her husband arrived and rescued me.
To show my gratitude, I often swam near the shallows to secretly watch them.
Until one day, I saw them leading a child with anxious faces.
“What should we do? Shawn has inherited the same genetic disease as me. This illness is incurable–Shawn might not live beyond 30!”
That day, I made a resolution.
I endured the torment of shedding my scales to become human and offered my blood to Sir Silva and Shawn to drink.
Mermaid blood can slow down genetic diseases, but to truly change genetics, one must bear a child with mermaid blood.
Maria knelt before me, pleading for me to marry Shawn and promising to treat me well.
I gazed at the young man’s striking profile, and my heart, silent for years, began to race.
Unbeknownst to me, this would ultimately lead to my demise.
The basement door creaked open.
Shawn turned off the blinding lights, retrieved a first–aid kit, and gently tended to my wounds.
“Does it hurt?” he asked softly, his voice as tender as I remembered from
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the past.
I stared at him, momentarily lost in memories of our early married days when he cherished me like a precious gem.
“Shawn…” I whispered.
He looked up suddenly, his voice gentle. “Melanie, how can I bring Hayley back?”
I froze.
“Who is Hayley?”
His gaze turned icy, and he pressed firmly on my wound.
“She’s my sister! The one your mermaid kind dragged into the sea and killed 15 years ago! She wore a red swimsuit that day, playing by the shore. Your mermaids‘ songs lured her to her death! How can you deny it?”
A sudden shock jolted through me, reviving long–buried memories.
15 years ago, amid a fierce rainstorm, I rescued a little girl wearing a red dress from the sea, using all my strength to push her to safety.
But back then, she had been breathing.
“It wasn’t like that–I never harmed her…‘
“Enough!”
Shawn interrupted, releasing me and picking up a pair of scissors from the first-aid kit.
“Since you won’t speak, use your fin as collateral. Cut it off yourself!”
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Chapter 3
I shook as I took the scissors in my hand.
For a mermaid, severing a fin is akin to a human stripping skin and
tendons.
Yet, seeing Shawn’s hateful glare, I knew this was the price I had to pay to the Silva family.
“Alright. I’ll pay it back.”
The scissors were sharp, and blood gushed out immediately.
Shawn watched me coldly, his eyes void of any compassion.
Then, the nanny’s voice came from outside the door.
“Something’s wrong, Mr. Silva! Ms. Meane is unwell—I’m afraid she needs mermaid blood again…”
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