Chapter 2

I didn't sleep that night.

At dawn, a message came from Cole Manor saying Mother was ill. I dropped everything and rode back, my chest tight the entire way, while the system repeated the same prompt in my head over and over.

[Exchange your remaining merit either for passage home or to delay the world's destruction. Please make your choice as soon as possible.]

I still couldn't answer.

If I chose to leave, the world would begin to fall apart the moment I died. Everyone here—countless people and my parents—would be caught in it without warning.

In my real world, I had no one, no family to return to, no place that had ever felt like home. Here, at least for a time, I had that.

Even if they had grown cold toward me because of Vanessa, they were still the only family I had.

When I walked in, Mother was lying on a chaise, her face pale.

"Your sister will be joining the royal court. Your father and I have already agreed," she said, her eyes fixed on me. "You will not stand in the way."

My throat tightened. "You knew? All of you?"

So everyone knew. They had all been lying to me, helping my husband and my sister carry on right under my nose. I had been the fool, the only one left in the dark.

Before I could say another word, a bowl came flying at me, striking me squarely in the forehead. I clutched the wound as blood streamed through my fingers. The pain was so intense that my entire body trembled.

"Are you questioning me?" Mother snapped. "I heard you've been talking about dying and destroying the world, trying to force them apart! How can you be this selfish? How long are you going to keep using that story about saving the world to fool us?"

The words stuck in my throat.

I should have known. I was her daughter, but I hadn't grown up with her. I couldn't compete with 20 years of shared history.

Vanessa might not have her blood, but she was still the child Mother cherished most.

There had always been a condition to her love for me: I would always come after Vanessa.

"I've never lied to anyone." I pressed my hand against my forehead, trying to stop the bleeding. "I saved this world. I saved everyone in it."

Tears blurred my vision, mixing with the blood as they fell to the floor.

"Mother, you keep hurting me for her. One day, you're going to regret it."

She let out a short, cold laugh.

"So now you're threatening me. Those little tricks you picked up in the countryside don't work here."

Her gaze hardened. "You're not breaking them apart."

The words settled, and something inside me went quiet. On my way back, I had been worried about her.

"Don't worry," I said. "I won't interfere. That shameless couple deserves each other."

Derek had already made his choice. If Vanessa wanted to be his mistress, she could have it. After I was gone, if she wanted my place, that could be hers, too.

A sharp crack cut through the air. Mother grabbed a porcelain vase and threw it straight at me.

"How dare you call Vanessa shameless! You're the one who came in from nowhere!"

The heavy vase came hurtling straight for my head. I jerked back, but still hit the edge of the table, pain shooting through me and stealing my breath for a second.

When I first returned to Cole Manor, Mother had cared about me. She had stood by me when people talked, when I didn't know how to act or what to say.

"You are a Cole. You carry my blood," she had told me. "Don't look down on yourself. I'm here for you."

I believed her. I loved her. I even gave up years of my life to keep her safe, to keep her healthy.

And now, she stood there and called me someone "who came in from nowhere."

"Don't think being my daughter gives you the right to go after Vanessa," she said. "If I hear you talk like that again, I won't let it go!"

She looked at me as if she could rip me to pieces without a second thought.

Just then, a deafening boom ripped across the sky.

The color drained from my face.

First the violent thunderstorm, now this inexplicable blast...

This world was already on the brink of collapse. There wasn't much time left.