My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 8

Theron spoke the word without a moment's hesitation.

Avelisse stood frozen. Her eyes filled with tears, hot and stinging. Deep within her chest, the curse twisted and burned. Pain shot through her, sharp and unending.

Seeing her hurt so deeply, Theron's heart gave a sharp, guilty lurch, and remorse flickered in his gaze.

"Avelisse," he began to speak again, "I said that in anger, without thinking. I did not mean it."

But words spoken in haste often reveal what lies truly in the heart.

Avelisse steadied herself, one hand pressed onto her aching back, and forced herself to endure the pain. "Think about what you will. The cards have spoken. This child is not meant to live. I have no power to change it."

Anger rose in Theron once more, sudden and sharp. "You will not help, so you hide behind fate? Or is this your way of holding power over me?" His words cut like a blade, tearing open every wound she had ever borne.

Her fingers curled tight until the knuckles turned white, her voice shaking as she answered. "What power have I ever held over you?"

Theron's face turned cold as stone. His eyes were dark and full of suspicion.

In that heavy silence, a soft chime broke the stillness.

Theron pulled out his phone, glanced at the message, and the hardness in his gaze faded away. He spoke to her with nothing but cold impatience. "I cannot make you see the reason. Rest then."

With that he turned and left in haste. He had not asked even once about her injury. This man before her now was nothing like the one who had once cherished her, who had grown anxious at the slightest scratch upon her skin.

But what cut deeper still was the name he had saved on his phone, written plainly, Mother of My Child.

Avelisse stood there, breath caught. She could no longer tell which hurt more, the pain in her back, or the pain in her heart.

She waited until she could stand steadily again, then began the slow, painful walk back to her room. Before she had gone far, a loud, furious voice rang out from the school gates.

"A place of tricks and nonsense! Daring to say such wicked things about my grandson! Today I shall tear this place down!"

Avelisse froze. She turned, and saw her standing there.

Theron's mother walked in, her face twisted with scorn, followed by a line of men dressed in dark coats.

When she saw Avelisse, she began to shout. "You! You wicked, worthless girl! Spreading lies that my son succeeded only because of you," she fumed. "Now let's see what you are worth when you have nothing." She turned to the men. "Break everything!"

At her command, the men began to smash and overturn everything before them. Shrines and ornaments were struck down. Those who had come to pray fled in fear. Young students rushed forward to plead and stop them, only to be thrown roughly to the ground.

Theron's mother stood tall and arrogant, shouting all the while. "You dare say my grandson will not live? Then I shall clear this place away, and rid the world of your false magic!"

Avelisse's ears rang. Her heart felt as though it were bleeding.

This school had stood for generations, revered by all who sought help and healing. Never in its history had it been so dishonoured or harmed, not even in the hardest of times. And all this ruin had come because of her.

"Stop!" Avelisse cried out, tears spilling over. She forced her voice to steady, and spoke against everything she knew to be true. "It was a lie. I spoke falsely. Maerith's child shall live. Send for Theron and for her, I shall apologize to them myself."

Seeing her yield, the older woman grew bolder. She stepped forward and poked Avelisse sharply in the forehead, again and again. "You should have bowed your head sooner. And if anything should happen to that child, I shall burn this place to the ground."

Avelisse stood there, her forehead stinging and red, and said nothing.

But Lady Cauldrake was not yet satisfied. She sneered and spoke with cruelty. "Do not forget, your worthless life was saved by my son. If I were you, a creature no one wanted, I should find some quiet place and cease to be."

Most who lived within these walls had been left at the school as infants. Those words fell upon them like salt poured into fresh wounds.

Eyes filled with tears, and the youngest students wept openly.

Avelisse forced her own tears back, hard as stone, then she found the will to speak slowly and clearly. "You know nothing of us. You have no right to say such things. Speak against me if you must, but speak ill of these children again, and I shall use every gift I possess to make you regret it."

The fierceness in her gaze was so great that the older woman stepped back in fear.

Lady Cauldrake stood trembling for a moment before finding her voice once more. "Madness! She is utterly mad! I waste no more words with you!" She spat upon the ground. "You shall hear more of this!"

With that she turned and marched away, her guards following close behind.

When the noise had faded and silence returned, the full extent of the ruin became clear. Everywhere lay broken things, and every sight cut Avelisse to the quick.

She swallowed her grief and talked to the weeping students gently. "Help our guests depart. Then gather what remains. We shall close the gates for a time and receive no visitors."

The young ones wiped their eyes and nodded. "Yes, Avelisse."

Avelisse bowed her head.

With a heavy heart, she closed the great gates, walked to the shrine of the First Seeress, and knelt.

"This school raised me. Now it suffers and is shamed because of me. Forgive me for bringing such unrest upon this house." She could hold back her tears no longer. They fell one by one upon the stone. "I understand now. Fate cannot be turned aside. The debt must be paid. I shall give my life, so that this trial may end, and all may be at peace."

She knelt there for a long while. And when evening came, she rose and lit the incense reverently before the shrine. She watched the smoke rise gently, and turned to leave.

At that moment, a ray of golden sunset fell across the hall.

The statue seemed to close its eyes. And the incense she had just lit snapped clean in two.

It fell, broken, to the ground.