Chapter 3

Diana sobbed uncontrollably and banged her head hard against the reef, causing blood to flow down along her forehead and quickly smearing her whole face.

"I'll personally guarantee the protection of these waters as long as you save him, and I'll never allow anyone to bring harm to the merfolk, Ms. Merrow!"

I was slightly moved as I caught sight of her graying hair and bloodied forehead, so I said, "I'll save him this time for your sake, but this is a one-time exception. After this, I will no longer care about his life or death."

Diana bowed her head repeatedly, her eyes filled with immense gratitude.

I saw Ruby bound tightly to a pillar as I entered the Gunter residence.

Upon spotting Ruby, Diana flew into a rage. She grabbed a nearby whip and, without saying anything, struck her with it. "You shameless tramp! Justin was doing perfectly fine! You're the one who shamelessly entangled yourself with him and wore his body out, causing him to fall into a coma!"

Ruby kept shaking her head, yelling, "It wasn't me! It was Celeste! She was jealous of my relationship with Justin, so she drugged him out of spite!"

"How dare you shift the blame onto someone else!" Diana, becoming even more furious, ordered her men to lock Ruby in the basement.

I paid no attention to their arguing and made my way into Justin's bedroom. He was lying quietly in bed, where the blood seeping from his split skin had turned the bedsheets red.

Upon realizing that the mermaid tears couldn't save him anymore, I had no choice but to take out a blade. I endured the sharp pain as I dug out one of the Sacred Heart Scales from my chest. I ground it into powder and mixed it with mermaid tears before feeding it into Justin's mouth.

It wasn't long before Justin's cracked, bleeding skin returned to normal; his shallow breathing finally evened out.

I stumbled out of the bedroom as the loss of blood left me greatly weakened. "He's out of danger for the moment."

Diana's eyes welled with tears at the sight. She tried to kneel before me to thank me, but I caught her before she could. "I hereby announce that whatever history I had with the Gunter family ends today, so please take care of yourself, Mrs. Gunter."

I turned and walked toward the door after saying that. I had completely severed any lingering connection between Justin and me from that moment forward.

That youth, who had once saved me on the shore years ago and won my heart, had long since died in my past life.

I intended to leave the island for good, but shortly after leaving the Gunter residence, I was intercepted by Justin's bodyguards, who suddenly tied me up. I found myself locked inside a glass tank after regaining consciousness. I couldn't help but widen my eyes in horror as I looked at the familiar setting before me.

Justin stood outside, his cracked skin appearing significantly healed, though his expression became even more sinister. "You filthy bitch! You're seriously courting death! How dare you drug me and incite my mother to move against Ruby!

"I truly underestimated how malicious you are! I'll make you repay this debt many times over, Celeste!"

I hadn't even had the chance to defend myself when the bodyguards brought over metal buckets and dumped the contents into the glass tank.

It was piranhas—the natural enemies of merfolks. They instantly swim toward me in a frenzy, their sharp teeth tearing into my flesh and turning the water crimson with blood.

That excruciating pain forced me to swim wildly around the tank to escape them.

Ruby burst into laughter outside the tank, her body shaking. "She looks so wretched right now, Justin!"

Justin nodded with a smile and led her by the hand into the adjacent room.

It wasn't long before the scandalous, indecent sounds of the two of them echoed from inside.

They happened to come out of the room when the bodyguards roughly hauled me from the bloody water.

Justin's skin along the neck began cracking and bleeding again. He took a cup from a bodyguard and swallowed a painkiller, then turned to look at me with contempt. "It's all your fault for screeching like a slaughtered pig and ruining the mood."

He then turned to Ruby, his tone instantly softening while saying, "I've had your favorite jewelry sets prepared for you as a way to make amends, Ruby."

Ruby snuggled bashfully into Justin's embrace, her eyes filled with spite as she glanced at me. "I've heard that nothing enchants the human heart quite like a mermaid's voice. You'd better watch out, Justin, lest her song completely captivate your soul."

Justin's face instantly hardened. He signaled the bodyguards to pin me down, completely ignoring my frantic struggles. He used his hands to roughly pry my mouth open and poured a bowl of scalding hot soup down my throat.

In that instant, a searing, unbearable pain burned through my throat.

I huddled on the ground in agony, unable to stop convulsing. I rasped as a sudden mouthful of blood leaked from the corner of my mouth, "Do you not fear the vengeance of the merfolk for treating me like this, Justin?"