Chapter 2

"Coralia, you can't leave us! If something happens to you, what will become of our family? How will we survive?"

Grandpa Edward Vance watched my body, swaying unsteadily. He immediately summoned all the family's private medical team, instructing them to cure me at all costs.

But after the last doctor finished examining me, he sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vance, but her heart has been removed. There's nothing more we can do. It's best to prepare for the worst."

As he spoke, Grandpa Edward looked at me as if struck by a heavy hammer, stunned. Then he fell to his knees, pleading.

"Coralia, I know my wretched grandson is a monster, but please, for the sake of our family's history, forgive him this once. You promised to protect the Vance family for nine generations, and this is only the third!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to rein in that ungrateful grandson of mine. As for that conniving woman, I'll kick her out as soon as possible. I'll set things right for you."

Listening to him, I slowly raised my arm, which was already beginning to fade. I gave a bitter laugh, Asher's face flashing in my mind from the first time he spoke such cruel words to me. His eyes had been full of resentment and disgust.

"You monster, it's an honor for your heart to save Blair. Otherwise, I would have tossed you back into the ocean ages ago."

"Someone! Quick, put Coralia back in saltwater!"

Seeing my body begin to fade, Grandpa Edward hurriedly ordered them to carry me into the water. I am a mermaid, and saltwater helps me recover. But the moment I entered the water, I felt a searing, tearing pain course through my entire body.

The intense agony made me let out a suppressed moan. I knew this was freshwater. Staying in freshwater for too long would surely kill me, but I didn't intend to call for help.

Perhaps it would be better to simply die like this. I was born from the water, and I would die in the water.

With that thought, I stopped resisting, letting the freshwater burn my limbs. On the shore, Grandpa Edward saw no reaction from me after a long while, and a pained expression flickered across his pale face. He suddenly felt something was very wrong.

He stirred the water with his hand, then cried out in horror:

"Who on earth would replace the saltwater with freshwater?! What monster did this?!"