Jessica:
It had been a heavy day, and a very long one too. News after news came in, and the devastating ones hit me hard. One of them was that Kesha and Charlotte had both been sacrificed. I held the phone close to my ear, shaking, as I sat in Benita’s café.
"Both of them?" I asked Lady Darcy.
"Yes, both of them are sacrificed, and I am afraid you are next in line," she said, making my heart sink.
I had left the house earlier when I noticed they had cut the signals, which made me anxious. The house was filled with people who loved Helanie, and somehow they looked at me oddly, almost like they were keeping secrets.
At that point, I began to feel like they didn’t fully trust me. They had already figured out the mate bond was forged, so of course they had doubts about me.
"Why? I’m not a bad person, and they don’t kill innocent people," I stated, gulping hard.
"Yeah, they don’t. They just find a mistake so they can justify their actions," Lady Darcy replied, nearly driving me out of my mind.
I had been so scared of this day. I didn’t want to die. I was doing everything right. I had killed my ego. The Jessica I used to be was gone. I had chosen empathy and compassion for others. I thought the brothers would be more understanding, that instead of killing so many mates, they would just kill Helanie. That was my hope.
We were accepted as mates, Lady Darcy had told me, only so we could take care of the brothers after their curses were broken. But I hadn’t known we would be used as a means to kill the curse.
"Well, Helanie is way more clever than you. You’re a dumbass. You’re sitting there waiting for your turn," Lady Darcy grunted. "And of course they will never kill Helanie now. She gave birth to their children. If Kaye and Maximus recognized her even in their devastated states, then Norman and Emmet will definitely choose her too."
Everything Lady Darcy said made sense, and I was beginning to understand why it was so important not to make a mistake.
"So what am I going to do now?" I asked softly.
"I don’t know. It’s up to you. I’m not going to fill your ears with poison. You have to learn to save yourself, Jessica. Because you better believe they’re already cooking up something against you," she warned me, making my heartbeat nearly drop.
"Can you save me?" I asked.
After a brief pause, she finally responded.
"Fine. If you bring me Norman’s son, Norman’s daughter, I’ll be able to do something for you. I’ve sent you a text with some things you can say and do to make him get rid of Helanie instead of you. If that’s what you want," she asked, and I instantly started nodding.
I realized everything was just for Helanie. What about us, the others? I understood she had been a victim of abuse and rape, but that was in the past. That didn’t mean she should get whatever she wanted. And even if the others were willing to sacrifice themselves for her, why should I?
So I listened to Lady Darcy. Then I went home to confront Helanie, and as expected, she would never sacrifice herself. She was scared of dying. So I did what I had to do. I waited for her to leave the room, then stormed in, pushing the maid aside.
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