Chapter 412 Distrust

Viola was struck with a strange familiarity toward the creature inside the tank, though she concealed it. Hearing her given name spoken by the creature made her take another step backward.

Serena had been her given name at the orphanage, before her adoption, and not many people in Silver knew it. Staring into the mermaid’s blue eyes, she felt a sense of familiarity she couldn’t quite shake from her heart.

“H-how do you know my name?” Viola asked, staring unblinkingly at the magnificent creature she had never truly seen with her own eyes before, though she had heard countless lore and stories about them.

If beauty were a person, it would be this mermaid; if jewels were a living being, they would be those sparkling blue tail and eyes. Her hair was black, resembling Viola’s own, but she shook that off as coincidence, just as she did the eyes.

The mermaid swam around the tank as though searching for an escape before settling back against the glass, looking at her.

“You look so much like my cousin, so I know you’re Serena. What took you so long to come for me?” She asked, her palms flattening against the glass, her sorrowful eyes glistening. “They’re going to kill me in a few days…”

Viola’s fingers tightened around the fabric of her dress as turmoil ran down her spine, her insides twisting. “What cousin?” She asked. “Who do I look like?”

The mermaid parted her lips and replied, “Ivy. My cousin. You have the same face, and she talks about you all the time. I know you’re Serena. Get me out of here before they kill me, my family is waiting for me, and Ivy will be in danger without me.” She said frantically.

At first, emotions so fierce rose in Viola’s chest at the mention of her sister, alive somewhere, that the first thing she wanted to do was ask more, how she had ended up living with the mermaids when she couldn’t breath and didn’t have a tail. But then something held her back, kept her rooted where she stood. Mermaids were known to be manipulators and liars; they lured people into dancing to their tune.

Just as that sea witch had once deceived Sebastian, this one could be deceiving her too. And she felt her heart clench with disappointment at the thought that the creature might simply be trying to use her to get away.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” The mermaid said in a small voice, her head dropping. “Ivy told me you’re headstrong, and—”

“Don’t you dare say my sister’s name.” Viola warned, stepping back again, even as she found herself feeling a pang of sympathy for the creature as pearls began drifting through the water, settling at the bottom of the tank. She was crying.

“Come closer, and I’ll make you believe I’m not lying. Save me, please, they’ll kill me, and if I die, Ivy will too, my mate will kill her. Don’t turn away from her now, not when she needs you. She was there for you. She stood by you.” The mermaid said desperately, banging her palm against the glass.

But Viola kept stepping back, convinced she was being manipulated into turning against her husband, the very man who had put the creature here.

Sebastian hadn’t told her about capturing a mermaid, and she told herself it was simply because he’d been busy. Whatever his reasons were for capturing her, Viola decided she shouldn’t interfere or get in his way, especially knowing how these creatures had already tried to come between her relationship with him once before. When the sea witch had tried to sway him into believing that she was working with them. Viola refused to prove that claim right by helping this mermaid escape from the tank.

She wasn’t going to give Sebastian another reason to believe that she was somehow involved with them, especially when their relationship was already strained enough with Nick’s plans to destroy it.

“Don’t call for me again.” Saying that, Viola turned on her heel and hurried out of the lab-like room, unwilling to be swayed any further.

If her sister truly had become a mermaid, Wave would have known, would have seen her, and besides, Viola wouldn’t have a wolf growing inside her now, she’d have a tail instead.

Thinking about Wave, she belatedly remembered that they had come together, but he had detached himself from her when the guards had almost caught him. She looked around for any sign of him, but when she didn’t see her water companion anywhere, she couldn’t help but mutter,

“So much for protection…”

Getting out proved far easier than getting in. Viola slipped away without any trouble from the guards.

She returned to her penthouse, panting and trying to catch her breath, even though she hadn’t run, only walked as quickly as she could.

How did these sea creatures seem to know so much about her when she wanted nothing to do with them at all?

Viola thought as she jerkily pulled off her clothes and changed into something more comfortable before sitting down on her couch. First, there had been the sea witch, and Viola had no idea why she had been after her, and now there was this one in the tank. Why had Sebastian captured her?

She couldn’t stop thinking about it and soon realized she needed a distraction. She belatedly remembered the doctor’s words about taking care of herself, about eating properly, so she got up and called for dinner to be brought to her.

While she waited for the omega to bring her food, she sat on the couch and forced herself to watch a movie, even though her mind wasn’t on it at all, lost somewhere else entirely.

When the food arrived, Viola only managed to eat a quarter of it before pushing it aside and grabbing her phone to call Sebastian.

“…The number you are trying to reach is unavailable…”

Viola tried again and got the same response before slowly giving up. If he had picked up, she would have asked him why he’d captured a mermaid and locked her in a tank. She needed to understand his reasons before she could judge what the creature had told her.

But without knowing why the mermaid was even there, Viola felt restless. What if they killed her, and the creature really had been telling the truth about knowing her sister, about actually being her cousin?

Though she wanted to act as though she didn’t care, part of her was curious, wondering whether the creature had been telling the truth. She wanted to deny it, but she had seen the resemblance between them, the hair, the eyes.

Viola didn’t know what to do. She sat there, staring at the nearly full moon through the glass wall of her living room. She was caught in a terrible dilemma, and after a long moment of thought, she decided to wait until her husband returned before going back to question the mermaid again.

She hoped he would return soon, because the moment she lay down, the haunting song began to play in her head once more. This time, she grabbed her headphones and put them on.

Normally, she fell asleep easily once she lay down, but tonight was different. While blasting music through her headphones, she picked up her tablet and began researching how to be a good mother, since the anxiety of her pregnancy still lingered at the back of her mind, pressing in alongside everything else.

Where did Sebastian go? When will he be back?

What if he really did want to kill the mermaid? The thought struck her again, and she bolted upright, setting the tablet aside.

She got up, grabbed her husband’s coat, and put it on, slipping her feet into the flip-flops before leaving the penthouse.

It was already late by the time she returned to the place. This time, she sang in pink with ease, and she was let inside without any delay.

Once inside, she found the mermaid in the same position as before, pressed against the tank, palms flattened against the glass.

“I knew you would come back,” the mermaid said, relief crossing her face.

“Don’t get your hopes up, mermaid. I’m not here to set you free. I’m here to ask you a few questions.” Viola’s voice was firm, and she made sure not to let even the slightest weakness slip into her tone. “Don’t even try to lie to me, or I’ll kill you myself, before my husband ever gets the chance.”

The mermaid stared at her for a moment before asking, “What do you want to know? And what can I do to convince you I’m telling the truth?”

“How did you know Ivy?”