He hates me with a passion

chapter 3

In my daze, I felt someone hold me close, caressing my hair gently. Hot tears spilled onto my cheeks, making my heart shudder.

"Edwina, if all of this never happened If only things were as they were"

Was that Page? Was he crying?

It took an eternity for me to open my eyes, but Page was no longer there, only a guard that dragged me to the courtyard. The scorching sunlight beat down on me relentlessly, and I quickly felt dehydrated.

Page and Lindsay were there in the courtyard, and seeing me, Lindsay made a show of looking concerned. "You haven't eaten in a long time, right? Are you hungry?"

My throat was dry, and it hurt to even draw in a single breath, so I couldn't respond to her immediately.

At Lindsay's signal, a guard kicked me hard.

The kick landed right on an unhealed wound, and fresh blood stained my clothes again.

Page seemed irritated. He frowned and threw his coat over me. "Enough! Heal your wound and stop playing the victim. You know that Lindsay faints at the sight of blood!"

A devious glint flashed through Lindsay's eyes as she threw dirty meat and vegetables onto the ground in front of me. "You must be hungry! Eat up!"

I turned to look at Page, who only averted his gaze, as if he didn't want to look at me for one second longer than was necessary.

From the looks of it, that moment earlier, with him holding me and crying, must've been a dream. How could he possibly still hold any feelings toward me?

I slowly lowered my head and reached for the food on the ground, pitifully eating like a disgraced mutt.

Suddenly, Lindsay's voice, underlined with malice, rang in my ears, "Why aren't you eating the meat, Edwina? I'm sure you need the nutrition, right?"

Numbly, I placed the meat into my mouth. My sense of taste had long since been dulled from all the pain I suffered, so all I could feel was that the meat was slightly different from anything I'd ever eaten before.

"Is it good?" Lindsay smiled brightly. "They're always in seawater, so I'm sure mermaid flesh is pretty tender, right?"

A piece of meat dropped from my mouth as I raised my head in shock, looking at Lindsay, as if I was processing what she just told me.

Her smile only grew wider, relishing in my pain.

A wave of nausea rose up, and I collapsed to the ground.

Urgh!

"God, my shoes!"

I had thrown up all over Lindsay's heels.

Without waiting for orders, the guards grabbed me by the hair and dragged me away, stuffing a rock into my mouth.

Page held Lindsay in his arms, threw away her soiled shoes, and ordered a servant to fetch her a new pair.

He used to treat me like that too, in the past, but now all he had for me was hatred.

"What's wrong, Edwina? You should have expected this when you merfolk hurt us werewolves. Since you don't want to eat, just throw the meat into the rubbish!"

Lindsay wore a new pair of shoes and kicked the meat away, before turning to look at Page. "Mr. Sheridan, don't blame Edwina. She's just not hungry, that's all.

"How about you let her keep me company while I paint to make up for it?"

Page shook his head helplessly. "You're too kind, Lindsay."

Then, he took the rock from my mouth, wiped away the dirt on my face, and gripped my chin. "Hear that? You upset Lindsay, and now she's giving you the chance to make up for it. Keep her company, and don't make her unhappy."

What else could I do but nod?

Page' grip on my chin became tighter, and he seemed to want to say something, but he was interrupted by an incoming call.

He stood up and bid farewell to Lindsay, before leaning down and kissing her pregnant belly.

Watching them, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness washing over me.

After Page left, Lindsay didn't bother keeping up the act any longer, only rolling her eyes at me. "I don't like being watched while I paint. Go sit by the trash can."

I quietly moved to sit by the trash can. The sun was far too bright for me today, and there was at least some shade by the trash can.

A few moments later, Lindsay's maid came over with a bucket. Pinching her nose in disdain, she looked down at meboth literally and figuratively.

"Hey, monster! Lindsay needs red paint for her drawing. The prettiest red is the color of blood, so extract a bucket of your blood for her."

After that, she threw a rusty dagger in front of me.

"Use this."

I hesitated. "B-But it's rusted"

The maid put her hands on her hips and yelled, "Do you think you're still a princess? Don't be so picky and cut yourself already, or I'm not going to go easy on you!"

All I could do was take the dagger and slit my wrist, allowing the blood to drip into the bucket.

I only stopped when my lips turned purple and I was close to passing out, when the bucket was finally full.

Leaning against the trash can in a daze, I heard a few maids talking in the courtyard nearby.

"Lindsay's paintings are just gorgeous! It's a pity how difficult it is for her to get the materials she needs for her paints. Did you know that she could only get a tiny bottle of pearl powder after killing several merfolk?"

"Why do those monsters only have one mermaid pearl? Since they're freaks anyway, what's a few more?"

The color drained from my already pale face, and I stood up, My face went pale. I pushed myself up, clinging to the wall. Shrill cries echoed faintly in my ears, and I prayed to whoever was listening for it to not be what I thought

The closer I got to Lindsay, the clearer the cries became, and that's when I saw it.

The pile of mermaid corpses around Lindsay's feet.

When I got there, she had her hand around the throat of a mermaid, her knife stabbing into their chest with precision, digging out their mermaid pearl and crushing it in one fluid motion.

At that moment, I felt like my heart was crushed into pieces as well.

Wiping the blood on her hands, she turned to look at me. "Edwina, I didn't know that you merfolk had differently-colored pearls. I just want white ones I hear only royalty has pearls of that color, right?

"You're the mermaid princess, so you must know who's royalty, right? Could you help me get their white pearls, pretty please?"

There, locked in a tank of water, was my younger brother.

He was only ten, and no one had the chance to teach him how to take human form, so he still had his fish tail.

"Big sis, save me!" He banged on the glass, crying and begging for me to save him.

Seeing this, Lindsay smiled interestedly. "Ah, so he's your brother? How cute! I'll go with him next, then."

By her orders, two guards dragged my little brother out from the tank and held his chest up to Lindsay's knife.

I couldn't take watching it any longer, kneeling on the ground and knocking my head over and over again on the ground, begging, "Please, Lindsay! Let him go! He was adopted, so he isn't royalty! My pearl is white, so use mine!"

Even as I begged, Lindsay pressed her blade down, drawing blood from my brother's chest.

"But you're a filthy little liar, so who knows if you're lying now, too? In any case, I'll know once I see it.

"Little boy, I'll take your pearl, then Edwina's Ow! You brat, how dare you?!"

My brother shook himself free of the guards and bit Lindsay's hand as hard as he could!

"Don't hurt Edwina!"

The next second, he was sent flying by none other than Page, who'd rushed to the scene.

My brother's teeth knocked out of his mouth, and he fell right next to me.

Page cradled Lindsay in his arms, his eyes burning with rage.

"Edwina! You already hurt my parents, so are you going to do the same to Lindsay?!"

I shielded my brother and shook my head through my tears. "Please, let him go! I'll take the punishment, so take me instead"

"Shut up!" Page was so angry that he laughed. "Don't make me repeat myself over and over again! If you let me know where my parents are, I'll let go of both him and you!"

There it was again.

I lost all the strength in my body, and I glared at Page with hatred for the very first time.

"...You don't know a damn thing. I already told you that you would know where your parents were when the time was right! Why did you have to torture me time and time again, and even hurt my family?!

"I hate you, Page!"

Page wouldn't listen. He turned his head away, refusing to meet my eyes.

Since you won't talk, fine. Let your brother atone in your place!

Everything happened so fast.

A sharp dagger plunged into my brother's heart.

I heard the sound of a pearl shattering.

My brother's body quickly turned cold and stiff, his soul destroyed.

He was truly gone.

I sat there on the ground, my mind blank. I had completely lost my ability to think.

Lindsay pretended to help me up, but just as she got close, she threw herself to the floor.

Clutching her stomach, she cried and accused me. Edwina, why did you push me? I was just joking, and your brother tried to bite my hand off. Now you're trying to kill my baby too?

I felt like there was a hole in my hollow heart, letting the cold wind blow right through. I didn't know what to say, because I knew that whatever I said, Page would never believe me.

So, I replied with a hoarse voice, "Yes, I want to kill all of you. Kill me."

Page ground his teeth in fury. He wanted to punish me, but at that moment, Lindsay went into labor. Sending a withering glare at me, he said, "Once Lindsay's pup comes, you'll pay the price!"

Watching him anxiously leave with Lindsay, I chuckled bitterly.

That day would never come. I was about to die, after all.

Once more, I was dragged into the dark and gloomy basement.

Right above me was the temporary delivery room, where Lindsay was giving birth. She spent an entire day and night giving birth, while I was locked in the basement for the same amount of time.

At first, I could still hear the pained cries Lindsay let out, but soon enough, I couldn't hear anything anymore.

I'd lost all of my senses, and I could feel my body become lighter and lighter

Finally, Lindsay gave birth safely, and Page breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a guard rushed into the room. "Mr. Sheridan, your parents have returned!"

Page rushed to the entrance of the pack in disbelief, only to see that his parents were there!

His parents' faces were anxious, and the first thing they said upon seeing Page was: "Where's Edwina? Did she come see you? Quick, take her to the sea! If she doesn't have water, she'll die!"

Page' breath hitched as panic filled his heart, but he still tried to put on a brave front, replying nonchalantly, "Stop joking, Dad. Merfolk can't die! She hurt Lindsay just now, so I locked her in the basement!"

Page' father was furious, immediately sending a slap across his face. "You idiot! Enough talk, bring us to the basement now!"

Thinking of my attitude for the past few days, Page suddenly had a bad feeling. As they reached the basement door, he slowed down and took a few deep breaths, stiffly pushing the basement door open.

"Mom, dad, look. She's fine, see?"

WIth a single glance in the door, both of his parents burst out in tears.

Whipping his head around, Page saw

That half of my face had turned into seafoam.