Offered to the Triplet Alphas

Chapter-111. Forget me

[Xanthea]

Asher words reverberated in my mind like an eerie echo leeching into my thoughts.

My grave? What the hell does that even mean?

I am right here. Alive-

That's when it hit me, numbing my rage and fear, leaving me empty. My body went limp as the realization sunk deeper.

If my heart didn't slam against my ribs as violently as it did, I would have believed that I was truly dead.

A thought that had never crossed my mind before crashed like a wave, drowning my entire reality within seconds - was I ever truly alive?

"You mercilessly killed yourself every year on your birthday, burying your soul right here..." Asher said with a faint tremble in his voice. He pressed my palm against the cold white marble of the grave.

"Look what you've done to yourself, Xanthea... what you're still doing. You never mourned your mother. You only mourned yourself..."

Goosebumps prickled across my skin as tears welled in my eyes. Not because I was breaking, but somehow his words were making sense in a way that fixed something inside me. Something he never broke. I could feel the haze of my dark thoughts splintering as the moon glowed a little brighter.

His grip on my body turned gentler. Maybe because I had stopped resisting. I still didn't understand what he was doing or why, but it was working. It was slowly burning away my mother from me. Maybe because I finally realized what he wanted me to.

My tears dropped on the forget-me-nots as I peered at the grave.

"Do you want to know what happened to your mother's soul?" He asked grimly.

My breaths turned colder in my lungs as I took a quick gulp.

"Such information is highly confidential. I could get into a lot of trouble for breaking several laws of the universe as I share this with you, but the trouble's going to be so worth it."

He sounded almost like Ezra, his voice edging towards madness.

"Your mother's soul isn't rotting in some hell." Asher's laugh was jagged, like shards of glass. "No - hell would've been a mercy. After losing her immortality, Cadence died as a mortal, and her soul entered the karmic cycle - the cycle of life and death. She will live and die as many times as the lives she destroyed. Her every life will be uglier than the last until she's endured every drop of pain she ever caused."

His thumb brushed over my tear-stained cheek, almost tender like a blade when it cuts the skin.

"You think you can redeem her by punishing yourself?" He chuckled. "The karma is far crueler than you. That's how the universe works: anything you give others returns to you tenfold."

My breath hitched as he sank into my nape, his nose trailing along the curve of my neck.

body, receiving the mortal punishment. Her soul will suffer

his attempt to keep a neutral tone,

prayer can save her, Xanthea. No pain will suffice. There will be no peace for

a deep breath, I pursed my quivering lips, shutting

one else can, or 'should,' bear the burden of her karma. Her guilt will follow her through countless excruciating lives for thousands of

tightened, his words hitting me like a

silence

of me knew she deserved it, and there could have been no harsher punishment for her. But another part of me was consumed by grief - the part that couldn't wish such a fate on even my worst enemy. But somehow, no matter

to terms with the fact that my mother was gone. I finally accepted the one thing I had been denying all my life: my mother was dead,

soul is bound to remain trapped in the endless cycle of life and death. And this was the rule

for me was because I had consciously - deliberately - kept her alive within me for all these years to cope

because I had allowed it. But I was the only one who could reclaim my identity. From this

wanted me to distance myself from my mother, from her emotions and her memories. He wanted me to understand that what was hers could never be mine, and she could never steal what belonged to me - not my mind, and

I was safe.

wanted to be like my mother, convinced her death was my fault. I longed to live her life, to fulfill her dreams out of guilt. And so, I had buried myself in this grave for twenty-three years. This was, indeed, more my grave than

I've brought you here?" Asher's voice was low, dangerous. "Shouldn't you pay for your mother's sins? Shouldn't

grabbed my jaw, turning my face to the

ravage your pussy

on my four, my chest heaving as he unbuckled his

his pants, I rose to my knees, using all my strength to push him

him to the ground, pinning his hands beside his head as I straddled his waist, breathing

hair cascaded down the side of my face as I

could have easily neutralized my actions, but he silently remained on

streamed down my face, dripping onto his and soaking

so long to realize that it was probably

only now that I understood why his harsh words hurt so deeply. His raw pain had bled into them so subtly that I doubted if

I choked, my voice cracking because of

eyes remained locked for what felt like

be strong," I said. "Stop hiding behind those harsh words. If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you never do anything without a reason.

my eyes and cheeks, refusing to let them blur my vision

never forget. Not because I almost lost my mind there, but because it helped me find us - our memories. And in

my dry lips, swallowing

"I feel, Asher."

of his wrists, I sat on his waist, lowering my head so that my hair hid

in a soft, calm tone, the word

dropped to his chest. "With myself. But... at the same time... there's this feeling that... I... I...

up, shifting me gently onto his lap so that

you went through - wasn't wrong. Loving her - even if she didn't deserve it - wasn't a mistake. And if you see it as one, then I'm