Fated To Not Just One, But Three

silver, but it didn’t calm me. It only made the ache sharper.

Then | heard footsteps behind— fast, urgent.

"Selene!"

| turned, and my stomach twisted. Frederick. He looked... wrecked. His usual calm was gone. His eyes were wide

with worry as he reached for me. "Selene—"

"Don’t," | hissed, jerking back. "Don’t touch me."

He froze, his hand halfway in the air. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"Alright?" | let out a broken laugh. "You think anyone in that room is alright?"

He looked down, guilt flickering in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn’t csooner. | didn’t know—"

"Stop." My voice cracked as | cut him off. "Just stop lying."

He frowned slightly. "Selene—"

"| hate you."

He blinked, startled, his brows drawing together. "I know you're angry," he said softly, "but this isn’t the time—"

"No," | interrupted, my voice sharper this time. "You don’t understand."

His eyes met mine, confusion spreading across his face.

"I don’t mean | hate you because of what happened," | said, shaking my head slowly. "I mean, | hate you. Truly.

Deeply. And | don’t want to pretend anymore."

He looked at me, completely lost. "What are you saying?"

My hands curled into fists. My chest rose and fell quickly as | took a shaky breath. "You remember a woman

named Deborah?"

The nmade him still. His eyes narrowed. "... Deborah?" he repeated carefully, as if the word were a ghost he

hadn’t expected to hear. "You mean—"

"Deborah Voss," | finished for him. "My mother."

His face went pale.

"Yes," | whispered. "I'm her daughter. The woman you killed."

His lips parted, but no sound cout.

Frederick's eyes widened slightly, his voice barely a whisper. "You're her daughter...?"

I nodded slowly, my chest rising and falling. "Yes."

For a moment, he actually looked... happy. His lips parted in disbelief, and for a split second something warm

flickered in his eyes. "Selene," he said quietly, as if tasting the name. "You're that Selene? Deborah's little girl?"

My jaw clenched. "Yes."

He smiled faintly, almost in awe. "She spoke about you all the time. She—"

| cut him off coldly. "The Deborah you killed."

His face went blank. "Killed?" he repeated, his tone shifting. "Deborah is... dead?"

My blood boiled, and before | could hold back my emotions, | slapped him hard across the face. "Don’t you dare

pretend!" | shouted, my voice trembling with anger. "You know exactly what you did!"

He didn’t even fight back. He just looked at— stunned, confused — as if my words made no sense.

| felt my throat tighten, but | pushed through it. "Before my mother took her last breath from the poison you

gave her," | said, each word shaking, "she toldeverything."

Frederick’s brows furrowed. "What—"

"She told me," | spat, "that you sent one of your maids to deliver a drink to her — a glass of wine, a gift from

you." My voice broke. "She thought it was a peace offering, Frederick. A token of friendship. But it was poisoned."

His lips parted slightly, but no sound came.

"She barely made it halive," | went on, tears burning my eyes. "I watched her collapse in front of me,

coughing blood — and before she died, she said your name. She said you did it."

| stepped closer, my voice trembling but fierce. "You killed her, your own student. All because she made a

discovery that should have been hers — a discovery you wanted credit for."

Frederick just stood there, staring atlike the world had stopped moving. His breathing slowed. His eyes

darted back and forth between mine, searching for something — maybe truth, maybe denial.

"Tell me," | said, my voice breaking, "was it worth it? Taking her work, her life, her n— was it worth it just to

be called a genius?"

He stared atlike I'd lost my mind. For a second he didn’t say anything — just looked, like he was trying to

read ssecret I'd carved into my face.

"That's not true," he finally said, his voice low. "You're saying things that aren't real."

| laughed, sharp and bitter. "Not true? Don't lie to me."

He ran a hand through his hair, the motion small and restless. "Listen," he said. "Listen to me. | didn’t kill

Deborah. | didn’t order anyone to poison her."

"You expectto believe that?" | spat. "You expectto just swallow that and move on?"

n :

He swallowed. "One morning | woke

up and there was a letter on my desk.

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Deborah's handwriting. She said she

had an CSTE] gndDecdéd 3

return Hone. She said she would be

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back." His eyes were hollow now,

f "

almost pleading. "After that — | never

saw her again. | asked everyone. |

searched. | had people look for her. |

f P : )

didn't know where she was. | didn't

" :

know who to ask." The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

My laugh died in my chest and cout strangled. "You bloody liar."

He flinched as though the words hit him. "Why would | poison her?" he said sharply. "Why would 1—"

"Because you take what you want," | snapped. "Because you steal people’s work and their names. Because you

couldn't bear someone else being brilliant without you stealing the glory."

He looked as if I'd shoved him. "Why would | lie about something like this?" he demanded. "If | had done it, why

hide? Why pretend? | will never hurt Deborah. She was dear to me—"

"You said that already," | hissed. "You said a lot of things to get what you wanted. Charming words, promises. You

were charming until you needed the knife."

His face cracked then — not with anger, but confusion. "What are you saying? Why would | lie about this?"

I" : : [1

You should have died that night," |

said without meaning to hold back.

The words cfrofrfSomewhere

ow;

dark \"} Nod have killed you when |

had the chance. | cinto your life

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to end you." The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

Silence slammed down between us.

He blinked. For the first this confusion gave way to something else — a raw, stunned fear. "You... you would

have done that?" he whispered.

"I almost did," | said. "You were just lucky."

He took a step back, like my words pushed him. "Selene... I—"

"Don’t," | cut him off. "Don’t say another lie."

He looked lost, like he'd been thrown into a room without walls. "You're telling| killed her," he said. "Tell me

exactly what you wantto say. Say it."

. . ,

My hands were shaking. | didn't feel

[1

brave. | felt small and too loud, hell

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