My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 5

Inside the school, the air was filled with the scent of burning incense while the statue of the First Seeress remained tall and solemn.

Theron frowned, looking at the card upon the floor. Confusion touched his face. "Avelisse, what does this mean?"

Avelisse knew how deeply Theron and his mother longed for this child. She knew how much they hoped.

She looked down at the card lying there. The words "destined not to survive" weighed heavily upon her heart.

She opened her mouth to speak, and found she could not.

At that moment, Caedryn stepped out from the inner chamber. He saw the card on the floor and paused to read what the reading had shown. Avelisse held her breath, about to finally speak, but before she could, Caedryn looked straight at Theron.

"If you have come to ask for an heir," he paused, then said plainly, then I must tell you. Prepare yourself. This child will not be born."

Theron's face turned dark, anger gathering in his gaze, stormy and sharp. "That cannot be true!" he exclaimed, then his eyes turned suspicious as he looked from Avelisse to Caedryn, his gaze full of doubt. "Is it truly the child who cannot survive, or is it that the two of you do not wish this child to live?"

In all the years of their marriage, Avelisse had never heard him speak to her in such a tone, harsh, accusing, full of rage. Her heart felt as though pierced by a thousand blades. She could no longer tell whether the pain came from the curse eating away within her, or simply from the breaking of her heart.

Seeing this, Caedryn could remain silent no longer.

He spoke sharply. "Theron Cauldrake, is this how you speak to her? Do you remember the vow you swore before the First Seeress, on the day you asked for her hand?"

She remembered it clearly. She was twenty-one then. Heavy snow had sealed the mountain paths. No one could go up or come down. Down in Silverhold, everyone said the school would not survive the winter.

But Theron had not listened. He had climbed the mountain alone, step by step, up paths so steep and dangerous they seemed impossible to cross. When he reached the top, he was bruised, bleeding, and exhausted, yet the moment he saw her, his face lit up as though he had found the most precious thing in all the world.

He smiled and drew from beneath his cloak the most precious treasure of his house, a string of rare, deep-green jade beads worth a fortune. He slipped it gently upon her wrist. Then he led her to kneel before the shrine.

And there, before all, he swore his vow.

"Great Seeress, I have climbed through snow and storm to come here and ask Avelisse to become my wife! From this day forward, she shall always come first. No harm shall ever touch her. We shall be parted only by death, never by choice. If snow buries this school, I shall remain here beside her! If I break this vow, let all I possess be taken from me. Let me walk the rest of my life with nothing at all."

At that moment, it seemed as though heaven itself had been moved by his words. The dark clouds parted. The snow stopped falling. And the ice began to melt away.

They were married with great joy. Lights lit the whole city of Silverhold. Every house and business sent gifts and well-wishes to them both.

Now those memories came back sharp as knives, cutting deep into her chest. Every breath hurt.

She looked at Theron.

His face shifted, grew cold and distant. "And what of it?" he said flatly. "Caedryn, this is between Avelisse and me. It is no concern of yours."

He remembered. He had not forgotten. He simply did not care anymore.

Avelisse's eyes burned. She did not even feel her nails digging into her palms.

Caedryn's calm expression broke. Anger showed plainly in his face. "Do not forget, without Avelisse, your house would never have risen to such heights—"

"Enough!" Theron cut him off, his voice cold and sharp. "I built this fortune with my own hands. It was not given to me by cards, or by old statues, or by any magic at all!"

The words struck Avelisse like a blow. She grew pale, and her voice shook as she found the strength to speak at last. "You may believe what you wish," she said. "But you are standing upon sacred ground. Show respect before the First Seeress."

Silence fell heavy across the hall.

Theron stood facing her. Neither would step back. In that silence, her mind drifted back again, to how things once were.

In every quarrel, in every disagreement before, it had always been Theron who softened first. This powerful man, head of a great company, had learned to bake cakes and hunt for precious treasures, all to see her smile again.

Everyone in Silverhold had said the same thing, he loved her more than his business, more than any heir, more than life itself. How did it come to this?

Lost in those thoughts, she heard a voice from the entrance. Clear, bright, and entirely unexpected.

"Lady Avelisse, I have come to ask the father of my child to walk with me to my appointment."

Avelisse turned.

Standing in the doorway, smiling confidently, was Maerith.