Free Web NovelChapter 189: Chapter 189
Riley’s POV
I saw it.
That small crack in her expression.
For a moment, just a moment, everything I said got through to her. Her eyes lifted and her breathing changed, and it felt like I had finally reached something real inside her.
But it didn’t last.
Her face hardened again, and before I could even react, her hand moved sharply through the air towards me.
The force hit me instantly.
My body was thrown backward like like I weighed nothing, and I couldn’t stop it because I still didn’t understand how to defend against something I couldn’t see.
I hit the ground hard again, sliding across the surface with a rough scrape that burned through my clothes and skin before I finally stopped.
Pain shot through my side and back, and for a second I just lay there, trying to breathe through it.
"You really don’t learn, do you?" she said.
I pushed my hands against the ground, forcing myself up slowly even though everything in my body protested. My muscles felt strained, my ribs hurt, and my head still throbbed from earlier, but I refused to stay down.
"We’re both witches," she continued, her voice sharp and full of mockery as she stepped closer. "But you can’t even use your powers properly despite being the special one according to our parents."
She stopped a few steps away from me, looking down at me like I was nothing.
"Isn’t that pathetic?" she spat.
I let out a slow breath as I finally got to my feet, steadying myself even though my legs felt slightly weak. I wiped the blood from my mouth again with the back of my hand and looked at her directly.
"Is that all you’ve got?" I asked.
Her eyes narrowed immediately but I didn’t stop.
"That’s the difference between you and me," I continued, my voice firm and clear despite the pain in my body. "I’m not reckless. I’m not selfish. And I’m definitely not crazily obsessed over a man who doesn’t want me."
Her jaw tightened, and I could see the anger building again.
"Maybe that’s why fate chose for you to die instead of me," I added.
That hit her.
I saw it clearly in the way her expression twisted, in the way her breathing became heavier, and in the way her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Good.
I stepped forward slightly, even though it hurt, refusing to let her control everything.
I wiped the remaining blood from my lips and looked at her carefully.
"First of all," I said, my voice steady, "I would like to know why you played your death."
She didn’t respond.
Her eyes stayed locked on mine, but there was something guarded.
"What other secrets are you hiding, Carian?" I continued.
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"If Gunnar didn’t want you," I said slowly, watching her reaction closely, "how did you both get to have Summer?"
Her expression shifted slightly.
"And why did you play your death to guilt-trap him?" I finished.
"That is none of your business, Aemoria," she snapped immediately.
The name didn’t hit me the way she wanted it to.
I shook my head slowly.
"It is my business in every way," I replied calmly. "And you should tell me."
She let out a short, sharp laugh, but there was no humor in it.
"Why would I tell you anything?" she asked.
"Because you want something from me, don’t you?," I asked.
That made her pause.
"If you want the opportunity to move on," I continued, holding her gaze, "or maybe if you want help going back like you so desperately want, then you should start talking."
The moment the words left my mouth, everything changed.
Her eyes lit up instantly. It was obvious.
Hope.
Desperation.
She clenched her fists, and I could see her thinking, actually thinking about what I said.
I stayed quiet and let her process it.
After a few seconds, she exhaled slowly, her shoulders dropping slightly as if she had made a decision.
"Gunnar never loved me," she began.
Her voice was different now. Still tense, but not shouting.
"When our kingdom was raided," she continued, "Mom took us to her best friend pack, pack"
I stayed silent, listening carefully.
"After wiping off your memories, she sent you to Crescent Hollow," she added, glancing at me briefly. "Sebastian and Amelia took us in, and I lived in Obsidian Veil."
I felt something tighten in my chest at that, but I didn’t interrupt.
"Things happened," she said, her voice growing sharper again. "And even while I tried to get his attention, it didn’t work."
Her hands clenched tighter.
"And then I used magic again," she said.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"What kind of magic?" I asked.
She hesitated for just a second.
"One that was against the law itself," she replied.
My stomach tightened."And what is that?" I pressed.
She looked at me directly now."It’s called the Love Bind," she said.
I frowned slightly.
"It’s a forbidden spell," she continued. "Something that can make a man completely devoted to you for seven days."
My eyes widened slightly.
"No matter how powerful he is," she added. "No matter who he is, even Alphas cannot break it."
I felt a cold feeling settle in my chest.
"And I used those seven days," she said, her voice steady now, "to get pregnant for him."
For a second, I couldn’t even respond.
I just stared at her as shock hit me hard.
"Oh my God," I said quietly. "You’ve really lost it."
This wasn’t just obsession anymore.
"This is madness," I added, my voice firm. "This is manipulation on another level."
"How could you do that?" I asked.
She laughed. Not a soft laugh. Not a nervous one.
A loud, open laugh that echoed in the space around us.
"I’m horrible when it comes to what I want, Riley," she said, looking straight at me. "Unlike you."
Her expression shifted slightly.
"Sometimes I wished I would be you," she admitted. "You’re stubborn, and you care less about things like these."
She shook her head."But I’m not like that," she said.
She turned her face away for a moment, her expression tightening again.
"Even after I got pregnant with Summer," she continued, "and the spell wore off, he still didn’t love me."
Her voice dropped slightly.
"Even after I had Summer, he still didn’t love me."
I stayed silent.
"But," she added, pausing.
I watched her closely.
"When Summer began to grow up," she continued slowly, "I realized that he cared about her."
Her eyes shifted slightly, something darker settling there.
"He loved my daughter," she said. "But not me."
Something about the way she said it made my stomach turn.
"So I decided to use her," she continued.
My eyes narrowed.
"To get closer to him," she finished.
"That’s insanely sick," I said immediately.
"It started working," she went on like I hadn’t even spoken. "He started caring for me."
Her voice held a strange mix of satisfaction and bitterness.
"We even did things couples do," she added.
I clenched my jaw slightly.
"But I knew," she said. "He still didn’t love me."
Her eyes met mine again.
"He just cared because I’m the mother of his child."
There was a long pause.
The air felt heavy.
Then she took a slow step closer to me. And I knew something worse was coming.
"So I planned something," she said.
My chest tightened.
"With Sebastian," she added.
That made my entire body go still.
"His father," she finished. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
I stared at her.
"What did you do?" I asked, my voice lower now.
Her lips curved slightly.
"Something horrible,"
