He looked up, his eyes filled with rage. He
shoved her, sending her sprawling to the
floor.
“It’s all your fault!” he screamed.
“If it weren’t for your sick obsession, they
wouldn’t have been hurt! They wouldn’t have
left!”
His anguish intensified. He longed to turn
back time, to undo the pain he had caused.
“What are you saying? You love her?” Sarah
asked, incredulous.
“Yes! I love her! What about it? Who says you
can only love one person in your life?” He
finally admitted the truth, but it was too late.
Г
He finally understood Lily’s words: He would
regret it.
Sarah laughed. “So you love her. What good
does it do? She’s gone. And she’ll never love
you again.”
“Don’t you remember? You stabbed her! You
gave her to me! You let those men…”
“You’re a monster, Jason!”
Her words were like daggers to his heart. He
covered his ears, but Sarah continued
relentlessly. He lost control, grabbing her
throat and slamming her against the wall.
“You bitch! You should be dead!”
く
- A
Ten years passed. Lily was grown, and I was
a decade older.
Our physical wounds had healed, but the
scars remained.
I had reconciled with my parents and vowed
never to leave the ocean again.
But Lily wanted to visit the surface, and I
couldn’t refuse her.
As we emerged from the water, we saw him.
Jason. His hair was streaked with gray, his
face lined.
Seeing him brought back the nightmare.
く
“Ariel? Lily? Is that really you?” He rushed
towards us, arms outstretched.
We both recoiled.
His face fell, but he quickly recovered. “I’ve
waited ten years. You’re finally back! Come
on, let’s go home.”
“There’s no home for us anymore, Jason.”
He stared at me, stunned. “Ariel?”
“Ten years may have passed, but what you
did will never be forgotten.”
- 12.
He fell to bie krese tears streaming down bie
He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his
face.
“Every single day, for ten years, I’ve thought about what I did to you. I’m so sorry.”
“I searched for you… I spent everything I had… but I couldn’t find you.”
“Now you’re back… Please forgive me. Give
me another chance. Let me show you how
much I’ve changed.”
I opened my mouth to refuse, but Lily spoke.
“Okay. We’ll give you a chance.”
“But if you ever hurt Mommy or me again,
we’ll never forgive you.‘
وو
“Yes! Anything!” he cried, wiping away his
く
tears.
I knew Lily had never forgotten him. She
wanted to believe he could change.
But I wouldn’t let her be hurt again. I took her
hand.
“I don’t forgive you.”
“Lily, let’s go. We need to go home.”
Jason’s face crumpled. “Ariel, you loved me
once. You left all those notes…
“”
“Those notes were to remind you of what we
had, to show you the contrast with what you did. Do you feel guilty?” I asked, staring into
his eyes.
L
He flinched. “Yes. I’m so guilty. I’m so sorry. I
regret everything.”
I didn’t want to hear his empty apologies. I
turned to leave.
“But if you don’t forgive me…” he said
desperately. “I’ll kill myself.”
“You can’t die.”
“། gave you my lifeblood. You’re immortal.
You’ll live forever… alone!”
The words felt liberating. He had tormented
me, and now it was his turn to suffer.
“Don’t do this to me… please, Ariel… I was
wrong…‘
99
<
He wept, then turned to Lily. “Lily, you don’t
want your father to do this, do you?”
“Yes, I do,” Lily said coldly. “Have you
forgotten? You ripped out my scales, too. You
injected me with that poison.”
“I wanted to believe you could change,
Daddy. But Mommy’s right.”
“Forgive and be tortured.
“Even if we forgave you, the scars would
remain.”
Jason’s despair deepened. He beat his chest,
a useless gesture of self–punishment. It was
too late.
Г
Before I left, I said, “Jason, I knew you loved
- me. I told you, but you didn’t believe me.”
“If you had, things would be different. You did
this to yourself. You deserve this.”
- 13.
I took Lily back to the ocean, determined
never to return to land.
But stories reached us even in the depths of
the sea.
We learned that Jason had reported Sarah to
the authorities. Her illegal experiments on
mermaids, which had resulted in countless
deaths, were finally exposed. She went to
Г
I saw the list of victims. So many friends,
siblings, lost forever. Hatred welled up inside.
- me.
One day, near the surface, I saw them – the
men who had assaulted me. They were older,
but I recognized them instantly. The memories
flooded back.
They recognized me, too. “Isn’t that the
mermaid?”
“Yeah, she’s still alive.”
They started towards us. I told Lily to run, and
they gave chase. They grabbed me, dragging
me away while bystanders looked on, too
afraid to intervene.
Г
They took me to an abandoned warehouse.
One held a syringe. “I wonder what a
mermaid looks like on heat…‘
“”
“Let’s find out.”
