Chapter 402: Chapter 402
About twenty minutes prior....
After Shelby stormed out of the restaurant, the place fell into an uncomfortable silence.
"Do you think that she meant it?" A delicate voice pierced the silence.
"I don’t know, but I-"
No one wanted to complete the words. They were scared of the repercussions of their actions, but at the same time, they felt as if they were right. They all took turns looking at Aliya, who had mainly remained quiet throughout all this. One couldn’t help but wonder why they had all decided to stand up for her.
However, they needed to pick the side of power, so if the marriage between Ian Thornston and his gorgeous nobody of a wife was invalid, then they needed to back up the right tree. The thing was that they were not too sure if they had backed up the right tree from what the woman had said before she had left the place.
"You don’t have to worry about anything...."
"Huh?" One of the women uttered, and they all turned to where the voice had spoken. It was none other than Aliya. Her voice had been very low, as if unsure of what she had been about to say.
Aliya shifted awkwardly, her hands fidgeting at her sides in her seat before she finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Thank you all for backing me up," Aliya said softly, her voice tinged with an apologetic tone. Her cheeks flushed a delicate pink, and she lowered her head even further as though the weight of their collective gaze was too much to bear.
The wealthy madams focused all their attention on her, and a small burden seemed to lift from them at her words. Still, they noticed how pale Aliya looked beneath her delicate makeup, evoking more sympathy for her.
Despite their actions, they felt a lingering fear at how the current Mrs. Thornston had stormed away from the scene. Would she retaliate, or would Ian do so on her behalf? But the decision had been made, and they had to push through, hoping it was the right one.
However, as Aliya’s face dipped, a flicker of something sharp crossed her expression—malice, fleeting and almost imperceptible. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, like a shadow swallowed by the light. When she raised her head again, her eyes shimmered with gratitude, an almost overwhelming sincerity radiating from her.
"You don’t have to thank us for this. It is only right for us to speak in the face of injustice!" One said,
Reassuringly, Aliya smiled, her voice steady and soothing.
"Really, I want you all to know and be rest assured that everything is going to be okay," she said warmly, her tone almost motherly.
"Ian—" Aliya hesitated, a flicker of bashfulness lighting up her face before she corrected herself, "My... I mean, Ian will not take any revenge on you for standing up for me today."
The pause was brief, but it didn’t go unnoticed. Her slip of tongue, her soft blush, and the way she quickly glanced down spoke volumes. She hadn’t said it outright—my husband—but the way her voice softened at his name made it clear to everyone in the room.
Most of them were married women and had once been in love like that, so how could they not know? They exchanged knowing glances, a silent acknowledgment passing between them.
Before anyone could respond, the faint murmur of a TV in the background surged abruptly as someone turned up the volume. The sharp change in noise jolted the room, interrupting the moment. On the screen, a news anchor’s voice carried over, but no one paid attention.
The woman’s bashful demeanour had captured their focus, leaving some of them to wonder—was her gratitude genuine, or was there something more calculating behind her words?
It was not long before their focus was shaken yet again. This was from the reporter’s last words.
"We await the response from the Thornston Estate and Industries on this news that has been circulating since morning.... Because we now seem to have two women with somewhat equal claims. So, the question remains? Is the current chairman’s marriage valid?"
However, this news did not last, as it was overshadowed soon enough by another more shocking news, making the first narrative irrelevant. After all, what was gossip in the face of life and death?
In another part of town and in the woods, a maze and interlocking of thick trees with skeletal branches clawed at the overcast sky. A thick fog clung to the ground like a shroud, swirling lazily around twisted roots and jagged rocks, making it near impossible for anyone to even see their feet, were they to walk here.
However, no one in the right mind would come there, except a very desperate person. The air was heavy, carrying the earthy scent of damp moss and decaying leaves, mixed with an unsettling silence broken only by the occasional rustle of unseen little creatures. It was clearly daytime, but the tree cover cast a gloomy night-like aura all over the place. It was a dark and cold place.
In the heart of this desolation stood a lone hut, its silhouette crooked and forlorn against the oppressive grey. The wooden planks boarded its outside walls, weathered and warped by years of rain and neglect, groaned faintly in the cold breeze.
The roof sagged under the weight of moss and creeping ivy, and a single chimney jutted upward, though no smoke rose to signal life within. To add to this, the windows, opaque with grime, seemed more like vacant eyes than portals to the interior. A faint flicker of movement inside suggested the possibility of occupancy—or perhaps just the play of shadows.
The door, barely hanging onto its rusted hinges, swayed slightly with each gust of wind, creaking like a mournful wail. However, one would have been startled by the contrast that the outside had in comparison with the inside.
Surrounding the hut, the forest floor was barren of life, as if the earth itself had recoiled from the presence of the structure. A thin, meandering path led to the entrance, its uneven stones slick with moisture and overrun by weeds.
Despite its desolation, the hut seemed to hold an air of grim determination, a stubborn existence in a place that had forgotten all else. It was a place of loneliness, of stories untold and secrets buried deep—where even the wind hesitated to linger too long but a few brave souls had traversed that path, one too many times.
Inside, the Timeless Witch sat in front of her cozy fireplace as if oblivious to the world outside of this serene environment.
She picked up her teacup and took a sip of it. Suddenly, the tree-shaped tattoo on the back of her hand glowed slightly. She placed the teacup down and smiled,
"Is it time already?"
She smiled and dipped her hand in a container containing tea leaves. Picking up a few, she dropped them into her teacup and studied it for some time, her smile getting brighter with each passing second.
"It is time indeed" she said to herself just as she started to grow young at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She got off the sofa as her dress fell off her body.
She sighed and stepped out of the clothes that were heaped at her feet. She padded barefoot to her wardrobe and brought out clothes appropriate for her new body. She stretched out, a satisfied smile still in place,
’Reaping and harvesting time is always the best!!!’
Ian charged up the vehicle that had stopped at the curve. His eyes seeing almost nothing but the two men running out of the car with cameras hanging off their shoulders, ready to capture the scene.
He was in front of the first one in seconds, taking a hold of the man’s neck, he growled,
"I-" The man tried to claw at Ian’s hands, but he was no match for the giant man,
With a slight movement of his hand, Ian snapped the man’s neck and then turned to the next one who had stopped short, shocked. The camera on his shoulders were still rolling. Ian was in front of him in no time. His large hands held the large camera and crushed it into pieces.
The second man screamed, falling to his bum in terror,
"WHO SENT YOU!?????" Ian asked yet again. The dead serious look and anger in Ian’s eyes told the man that if did not answer, he would be on the way to join his partner in seconds!
"My e-d... My editor and producer! I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to... We just wanted an interview. We did not know that the car w- would go off the cliff- W-e-"
To his dismay, Ian covered the distance between them, leaned down and held him up by the neck so that the man’s feet was dangling.
"You chased my Elfin off a cliff for a story?"
At this time, the reporter was scared shitless. A yellow fluid run down his jeans as his eyes met that of Ian’s.
Ian was beyond reasoning by the time Currey got to his side. Currey took one look at them and sighed. He knew that in Ian’s state, he could not interfere.
Ian let the man go suddenly, surprising Currey.
"Get into the car and drive!"
Ian looked deadly calm, but his eyes told a different story. The man staggered and then started screaming as his body started acting on its own. He found himself walking to the driver’s side of the car, and nothing he did registered. It was as if his body had a life on its own. He sat in the car and started the engine.
"Ahhhhh!!! Maaaa!!! Please, I’m sorry!" He screamed, tears and snot falling off his face but whatever he did, he could not control his limbs. He saw the door open and the lifeless body of his friend, was in the passenger seat. He floored the car amidst his own screams and straight towards the cliff, plunging off of it.
"Your Highness!" Currey shouted, looking into Ian’s unseeing eyes. The power surge around Ian was too strong for him to approach him. At this time, only a few moments had passed since the accident.
’At least, if His Highness is alive and functioning, then it means that her Highness is okay!’ Currey re-assured himself as he prepared to go down the cliff to check on the situation. However, just at that time, Ian slumped down as if drained of all strength, making Currey’s heart drop.
"Breaking news.... A perceived fatal accident has occurred .... I am getting a real-time update.... Just a moment ...."
He reporter pressed on the small device in his ear and listened to the report as his face turned more sombre. Taking a deep breath, he continued,
"There are two confirmed dead, one in critical condition .... and..."
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