Before Sebastian could speak, I interrupted sharply. "That belongs to me."
My voice cut through the air like glass.
Sebastian's expression turned stormy.
"It's just some cheap trinket," he snapped. "Chloe's doing you a favor by even looking at it. Don't embarrass yourself."
Rage burned in my chest. "That bracelet was my mother's!"
I grew up as an illegitimate child, hidden away in rural poverty with my younger brother. My foster mother struggled to make ends meet. She saved for months to buy me that bracelet for my eighteenth birthday.
Sebastian knew this story well.
He hesitated, his eyes flickering between me and Chloe.
Chloe, always the actress, immediately put on her innocent act. "I'm so sorry, Alayna. I had no idea it meant so much to you. Here, take it back."
She extended her hand, but as she did, her fingers conveniently loosened their grip.
The bracelet hit the marble floor with a sickening crack.
Pieces scattered everywhere.
My hand remained suspended in air as I watched my mother's final gift destroyed forever.
Tears welled up instantly, but I choked them back and slapped her hard across the face.
Chloe staggered backward, her head connecting sharply with the dresser's edge. A purple bruise bloomed immediately on her temple.
Sebastian erupted. His palm connected with my cheek with such force that I crashed to the floor. My ears rang as my hand landed in the broken shards, blood welling from the cuts.
Chloe began sobbing dramatically. "Sebastian, my face! Is it ruined? Will I be scarred?"
Her features—so hauntingly similar to my sister's—only amplified his anger.
Sebastian gathered her into his arms protectively. "Don't worry, darling. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."
He stormed out so violently that he knocked over a decorative stand near the cabinet. A plaster figurine toppled down, striking my head squarely. Blood trickled down my forehead.
He never looked back.
This was familiar territory for me. Calmly, I retrieved my phone and dialed for emergency services.
When I regained consciousness, Sebastian sat beside my hospital bed, his face carved from ice.
Normally he'd be shouting by now.
Instead, he regarded me with frigid detachment. "Tomorrow we're going to Santorini Island. You used to train as a mermaid performer, didn't you? Chloe's willing to forgive you if you perform for her. Consider this your apology."
I'd learned mermaid performances because Sebastian adored aquatic shows. I wanted to bridge the distance between us.
For his birthday one year, I'd secretly rented an entire aquarium to surprise him.
But when he saw me in that tank, the disgust in his eyes scorched me.
He ordered security to tear off my breathing apparatus, leaving me trapped underwater for almost an hour.
I lost consciousness from oxygen deprivation before he finally allowed them to pull me out.
Since that day, I've been terrified of deep water.
"I'm not going," I said reflexively.
He didn't bother to argue.
The next morning, his security team physically dragged me onto a helicopter.
As the rotors lifted us into the sky, nausea twisted my stomach.
The sea surrounding Santorini Island glittered under brilliant sunlight, stretching toward infinity. To most people, it looked like paradise.
But as I watched the rhythmic swelling of the waves, only suffocating terror tightened around my chest.
The moment we landed, I broke into a sprint, racing toward the island's remote coastline.
Strangely, he didn't pursue me.
A cold dread crept up my spine.
Abruptly, the brilliant blue sky darkened.
The cheerful sunshine vanished behind churning storm clouds.
The wind began howling, signaling the storm's rapid approach.
Panicked, I called him.
"Where are you? Where am I supposed to go tonight?"
His laugh was icy through the phone.
"After everything you've done, you still expect me to provide for you? You truly live in a fantasy world."
My anxiety spiked. "What does that mean?"
The wind intensified, but his voice was colder still. "We're taking the helicopter back. The island's communications will be cut soon. If you want to survive, figure it out yourself."
The call disconnected, his words slicing deeper than any blade.
Pulling my jacket tighter, I heard the first ominous rumble of thunder.
Then the storm broke.
Heavy raindrops hammered down, the horizon disappearing as the sea transformed into a raging monster. My eyes widened in pure terror.
I turned and ran blindly in the opposite direction.
Thunder cracked, wind screamed, waves rose like leviathans and crashed over me. The furious ocean swallowed me completely.
My cries were silenced by the violent waters.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating everything in one terrifying instant.
As consciousness faded, I saw them—
In that fleeting brightness, my adoptive parents smiled at me tenderly.
"Sweetheart, your biological father has been searching for you. Do you want to go home with him?"
No.
If this was the cost of being a Prescott, I'd rather have remained in that peaceful mountain village forever.
I never wanted family ties.
I never wanted to know Sebastian.