Free Web NovelChapter 72: Chapter 72 Strong Resolve
Jade’s POV
I closed the door behind me without a sound.
The room didn’t change. It didn’t react. It just stayed exactly the way I had left it, as if time had paused here, waiting for a version of me that no longer existed. The bed was still neatly made. The curtains were half drawn, letting in a thin band of afternoon light that cut across the floor and stopped just short of my feet.
I stood there for a long moment, hands hanging uselessly at my sides.
No rage came.
No tears either.
Just... emptiness.
It was strange how quiet grief could be when it was done screaming. How it could hollow you out so completely that there was nothing left to break. I felt like a house after a fire, not smoldering, not collapsing. Just standing there, charred and vacant, pretending to still be a place someone could live in.
I took a few steps into the room. Each one felt distant, like my body was moving and my mind was trailing behind, delayed. Everything looked untouched, it was exactly how it was before I left for the trip. It was unsettling how normal it all was, as though the world hadn’t noticed that something essential had been taken from me.
And Ronan, Ryder and Renzo.
They didn’t come for me when I needed them.
But that is not surprising.
They already have a habit of abandoning me when I need them the most.
Then I realized.
I wasn’t angry at them anymore.
The realization came quietly. It didn’t hurt the way I thought it would. It simply settled into place like a truth that had been waiting for me to be tired enough to accept it.
Anger required expectation.
And I didn’t have any left, not for them, not for anyone. freёweɓnovel.com
I’d spent so long swinging between hope and disappointment, telling myself that if I just tried harder, if I endured more, loved better, stayed softer, they would eventually choose me without hesitation. But the truth was painfully clear now. They always chose Linda first. Every time. Not because she demanded it, but because they were already looking in her direction.
If they ever cared about me at all, it was always conditional.
My mind drifted, uninvited, back to the island.
The resort had been drenched in sunlight and salt air, laughter woven into every moment. Warm hands. Lingering glances. Lustful moments. The illusion of being wanted so badly it had felt like a physical thing, like warmth pressed against my skin after a lifetime of cold. I remembered thinking, foolishly, that maybe I had finally stepped into a different life. One where I wasn’t just surviving, but chosen.
Now it felt unreal.
Like something I’d dreamed while starving.
The door knocked once.
Then opened.
I didn’t turn around. I didn’t need to. The air shifted, heavier, colder, and I knew exactly who it was.
Alpha Ashford stepped into the room like he owned it. Like he owned me.
“I hope the night in the dungeon was able to finally keep your anger contained,” he said, his voice calm, clipped, authoritative. “Your mother’s death was an accident.”
That did it.
Something sharp slid into place inside my chest
I turned slowly to face him.
“Do you even have any human feelings at all?” I asked.
My voice didn’t shake. That surprised me. I felt like I was speaking from somewhere far beneath the surface, where emotions had burned down to their core and left only truth behind.
He frowned slightly, as if irritated by the question.
I laughed under my breath, a soft, humorless sound. “You know,” I said, “when I was younger, I used to admire you.”
That caught his attention.
“You were always around,” I continued. “You and my father. Talking. Laughing. Making plans like the world was something you could bend with your hands. I thought you were a good man. I looked up to you just like I did my father.”
My throat tightened when I spoke of my father. The words scraped on the way out.
“Then he was framed. Branded a traitor. And you didn’t even hesitate. You sentenced him to death like it meant nothing.” My voice cracked then, just barely. “My mother was your best friend’s wife. And you let her die like this. You call it an accident and expect me to accept it.”
I met his eyes fully now. “You’re a monster.”
I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t need to.
Something cold passed over his expression.
“That is enough,” he said sharply. “Your father was not my friend, he never was. A friend would not plot my downfall the way he did. He was a criminal, and he was brought to justice. Do not speak of him to me again.”
The finality in his tone was absolute.
Whatever faith I had left in him shattered completely in that moment.
He turned to leave.
Then paused at the door.
“Your mother’s body has been cleaned,” he said, as though he were discussing an inconvenience. “A canoe has been prepared at Moonwillow Stream. You may go there to send her off properly. Make sure the body is burned.”
And with that, he was gone.
No condolences. No apology. No mercy.
I didn’t think. I didn’t stop to grab anything. I just ran.
The estate blurred around me as my feet carried me forward, over stone paths and through the trees. I barely felt the ground beneath me. My lungs burned, but I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t. If I did, I was afraid I would fall apart before I reached her.
Moonwillow Stream came into view, the water glinting dully beneath the overcast sky.
And there she was.
My mother lay in the canoe as though she were sleeping. Clean. Peaceful. Wrong.
Her hands were folded over her chest. Her hair had been brushed back from her face. Someone had tried to make her look dignified, as if dignity could erase the way she had been discarded like refuse.
A burning torch rested nearby, its flame dancing gently in the breeze.
My knees gave out.
I collapsed onto the ground, a sound tearing out of me that I didn’t recognize as my own. The sobs came fast and violent, ripping through my chest, stealing my breath. I crawled closer to the canoe, pressing my forehead against the cool wood as if that could anchor me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
I told her everything. How scared I had been. How alone. How I should have protected her better. How I didn’t know how to exist in a world without her. Promises spilled from my mouth, some foolish, some desperate, all too late.
The world felt unbearably unfair.
Eventually, there were no tears left.
I stood on shaking legs and picked up the torch.
My hand didn’t tremble when I lit it.
I pushed the canoe into the stream myself, watching as the fire caught, slow at first, then hungry. The flames reflected in the water, bright and merciless. I followed the canoe with my eyes until it drifted further away, until the fire became the only thing left of her.
Something inside me died then.
And something else, took its place.
I wiped my face with the back of my hand and stood tall, even as my heart bled out inside my chest.
I would never be this powerless again.
I would never let anyone decide my family’s worth.
I would not end up like my father.
I would not end up like my mother.
I would climb the social hierarchy they used to crush people like us. I would gain influence. Control. A voice they couldn’t silence.
And everyone responsible for the downfall of my family, directly or indirectly, would pay.
