Chapter 2

Gareth stepped forward and clamped his hand around Ivory's throat. "Like mother, like daughter, huh? Didn't that whore Willow ever teach you manners? How dare you taunt my wife in my presence?"

He lifted Ivory clean off the floor, and with a single swing of his sword, he severed her tail. For a Foxkin, the tail is directly connected to the heart. The agony of losing it was akin to having one's heart ripped out.

Having lost her tail, Ivory gasped in pain. But despite knowing that she would die, she clenched her jaw and refused to let her tears spill. She'd already known that the man who just cut off her tail was her father, whom she had never met.

The howling snowstorm came in through the window, sweeping up the letters I'd written and making them land on Gareth's hand.

Gareth kicked Ivory aside and snarled, "Let me see what kind of malicious curses you've directed at Jillian and me."

He unfolded the yellowed paper, but he didn't see any curses at all. Instead, the words were filled with sorrow. It was as if I'd rested my head against his shoulder and whispered the words into his ear.

"It's July 28th today. Although it's our tenth wedding anniversary, Jillian was the woman Gareth slept with on this day ten years ago.

Gareth stiffened, his hands still clutching the letter. He would never forget that night.

"He'd gotten drunk and entered Jillian's room instead. My parents kept me locked in the tiny room next to hers. The walls were thin, and the sounds they made throughout the night felt like daggers stabbing me in the heart.

"The next day, he came to me and kneeled before me. He slapped himself across the face, saying that he had done me wrong. I loved him. I felt bad for him. Why would I blame him?

"All I could do was comfort him by repeatedly assuring him everything was alright. I knew he didn't do it on purpose. Out of everyone in the whole wide world, he loved me the most."

Gareth continued reading the words I'd written.

"I'm the illegitimate child Father had with a mistress, while Jillian is the oldest daughter of the family. She was incredibly talented too. She's always the one everyone chooses.

"Mother loathes me, so she rips my fur off to turn it into clothing for Jillian. She also cut my tail off to make a scarf for Jillian. In the dead of winter, she kicked me out of the house. I had to cower in the snow while covered in blood.

"Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I collapsed into a warm embrace. He wrapped his coat around me. It was the first time I felt warmth from another."

Perhaps the words stirred up the memory of a beautiful past in Gareth's mind, for his expression became a little distant. He flipped the letter over and continued reading.

"I still remember the ghastly scar beside Gareth's heart. He'd gotten it when he'd gone to the East Sea in search of merfolk tears to heal me. A merfolk had stabbed him, and the blade had struck a little over an inch away from his heart.

"Carefully holding onto the merfolk tears he'd gathered, he traveled over tens of thousands of miles, making the arduous journey back to me. He protected me for seven years, and once I was of marriageable age, he proposed to me.

"On the day of our wedding, he took me by the hand and swore to treat me well for the rest of my life. After the wedding, he fulfilled his promise. He did everything I asked of him. At the time, I thought I was the most blessed being in the world."

There was a darkened patch on the letter that made it look like the person who wrote it couldn't stop herself from shedding a tear.

Ivory struggled back onto her feet and said, "You used to love my mother so much. Why did you betray her?"

Infuriated, Gareth roared, "She's the one who betrayed me first! What right does a promiscuous slut like her have to speak of love and devotion? She deserves to be torn from limb to limb!"

Jillian hastily hid her uneasiness and threw herself into Gareth's arms. Weeping, she said, "I'm sorry. Willow only got jealous and chose to betray you because I showed up in your life."

Gareth's expression instantly softened. Taking Jillian's hand, he comforted her. "It's not your fault. I know you're a kind-hearted soul. If not for her, you wouldn't have been pushed down the stairs, and I wouldn't have lost my child."

Everyone began sticking up for Jillian, listing all the ways she'd been wronged.

However, Ivory simply shook her head and chuckled. "What a bunch of ignorant fools. Is this what Mother fought to protect with her life?"

She whispered, "Wait for me, Mother. I'll come and join you once I clear your name."

Ivory secretly drew out the crystal necklace, which was tainted with blood, and murmured a spell.