Chapter 3

My eyes instantly filled with tears.

"Mr. Lewis, you're overthinking this. I may have hated my father, but I would never want him dead. He was still the only family I had left in this world.

"If he died, no one would pay for my education or give me an allowance.

"I really don't know how my father died. If Ariel really killed him, then she must have transformed into a mermaid and escaped back into the sea. It's true! She really is a mermaid!"

Desmond's lips moved twice, and he looked at me with a complicated expression.

"How about we end today's questioning here? Miss Scott, tomorrow is Sunday, and the day after is Monday. You still have school.

"So I hope you'll think carefully about everything tonight. I'll continue questioning you tomorrow."

I heard him quietly tell the policewoman, "Find time to give her a psychological assessment."

"Understood, sir."

Just then, another officer pushed open the door and entered.

"Sir, the autopsy report is ready. We also received the test results for the water found on the floor at the crime scene."

The officer's expression was complicated.

"There were no traces of any sedatives in the victim's stomach. The skin tissue under his fingernails didn't belong to Azure Scott. It most likely belonged to Ariel Mills. As for the water… it was seawater."

Desmond's eyes widened. He stared at me in disbelief.

"That's impossible! The nearest sea is thirty kilometers away. Why would she go to all that trouble to drown Steven Scott with seawater? It makes no sense!"

I continued clutching the paper cup in my hands without looking up.

"Mr. Lewis, I already told you. Ariel is a mermaid. If my father treated her badly, the sea would avenge her!

"Ariel told me that herself. I'm not lying!"

The moment I finished speaking, darkness clouded my vision.

Desmond's panicked expression and moving lips were the last things I saw before I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

The policewoman sat beside me, concern filling her eyes.

The moment she saw me wake up, she handed me a cup of warm water.

"Miss Scott, you're awake."

I accepted the water and thanked her softly.

"Captain Lewis just received word. They found Ariel Mills."

My heart clenched. I choked on the water and started coughing violently.

"Slow down. Are you all right?"

This time, the policewoman looked at me with suspicion too.

"We reviewed the surveillance footage and saw Ariel wandering around the train station. She must have used someone else's ID to buy a ticket.

"Captain Lewis immediately had his officers stop her at the ticket gates. She's being held in the security office now, and Captain Lewis has gone there to arrest her.

"Miss Scott, are you shocked? Or do you actually not want the police to find Ariel?"

My lips trembled slightly.

It wasn't that I didn't want them to find Ariel.

It was that the secret would no longer stay hidden if they found her.

I drifted into my memories and told the policewoman everything in broken fragments.

The first time I met Ariel, she told me she was a mermaid.

At first, I didn't believe her at all.

But she filled the bathtub every day and soaked in it for an hour, making the entire house damp and humid.

She also swallowed raw, pungent-smelling fish from the sea without removing the organs.

I truly began to feel afraid.

The next second, the hospital room door was thrown open.

Desmond strode in with a dark expression, skipping all pleasantries.

"Azure, tell me the truth. Who—or what—is Ariel Mills?"