Chapter 4

When I woke up, I found myself lying on the floor. Asher was carefully holding a bowl of porridge, personally spoon-feeding Blair, his movements so gentle, afraid of scalding her.

Noticing I was awake, Asher merely glanced at me, his cold voice coming from the side.

"Awake? There's porridge on the table; go eat it. You're getting off easy."

Smelling the fragrant porridge on the table, I tried to get up but immediately lost my balance and fell to the floor. The loud crash startled Blair, and she fearfully shrank behind Asher.

Asher's face immediately darkened.

"So what if we took a little blood? You gave your heart for Blair. A bit of blood and you're acting like you're dying? You'll heal anyway. Who are you putting on a show for?"

"Don't worry, the Vance family is vast and prosperous; we'll provide for you for the rest of your life."

I ignored his words, my eyes fixed on my feet. They were even more translucent than before. I probably had only one more day before my life would truly end.

Seeing my lack of reaction, Asher's face grew even uglier. He started to rush over to scold me but tripped, falling to the ground with a yelp of pain.

"What's wrong?"

He stood up and touched his forehead, discovering a large gash that was bleeding profusely. Before he could speak, a violent coughing fit wracked him for a long moment.

I knew. This was the Vance family's luck running out, a karmic debt coming due. This was just the beginning. The Vance family built their fortune on the ocean, and over the years, they had plundered countless marine lives. Their luck should have run out ages ago.

Asher's previous brush with death was an example. Back then, Asher, young and impulsive, insisted on going out to sea alone but encountered an unprecedented storm and was trapped at sea for half a month.

In the end, it was Grandpa Edward who begged me to save Asher's life. At that time, I was at a critical stage of my transformation, but I still agreed to save him.

When I found Asher, he was already unconscious, his boat nearly capsized by the waves. I used my nine lifetimes of accumulated power to fight the storm and ultimately brought Asher back.

But because of that, I was never able to complete my transformation, remaining in this half-human, half-fish form.

When Asher awoke and learned that I had saved him, he didn't scorn my mermaid form. Instead, he knelt before me and declared:

"No matter if you are human or mermaid, Coralia, I will marry no one but you in this life."

I looked into Asher's resolute eyes, and an inexplicable emotion arose within me. It was the first time I'd felt such a thing since the day I was born. Later, I learned it was called love.