Chapter3

I recognized that piece of paper.

When I was eight, the old butler had brought it to me, demanding my thumbprint. I couldn't read a single word back then. I only knew that pressing my ink-stained thumb against it meant I’d get a meal.

Now, that crooked, sprawling script materialized before my eyes once more.

"She shall never leave. Upon breach of contract, the power of the Phoenix will permanently belong to the Ashworth family."

I raised my head and met Edmund's gaze.

"Are you threatening me, Uncle?"

He didn’t deny it.

I knew better than anyone: as long as the First Feather remained intact, the power thrived; if it was severed, the power withered. The contract bound my bloodline, not my heart. But blood—that was a chain far stronger than iron.

Nathaniel stepped away from Valerie and reached out to snatch the parchment. I flicked my wrist, jerking it out of his reach.

"You don't get to touch it."

"We can discuss the contract later," Edmund said, pulling the parchment back. "As for the wedding—"

"The wedding is off," I cut in. "But before I leave, give me back my First Feather."

A heavy silence dropped over the sunroom for a split second.

Nathaniel’s hand fell from Valerie’s waist.

"What First Feather?"

I kept my eyes fixed on him, catching the unconscious rub of his thumb against his index finger—a nervous tic he could never shake when he told a lie. "The year you turned fifteen," I said, "I gave it to you."

"It was winter," I continued, letting the memory bleed into the room. "You were burning up with a high fever, completely delirious. I locked myself in my room and burned in my own torturous fire for three days and three nights just to shed my very first feather—crimson and gold. It felt like holding a cluster of living warmth in my palm."

"I hung it around your neck myself."

"The First Feather is the vessel of the Phoenix's source. Whoever holds it gains its divine protection," Edmund blurted out subconsciously, piercing the veil over the secret. "Without it, the Phoenix's own power diminishes."

Nathaniel reached into his collar and yanked out a cord. Dangling at the end of it was a small, blackened lump. My First Feather.

He unclasped it and tossed it at my feet.

I bent down to pick it up. The second my fingertips brushed its surface, I realized it was entirely hollowed out. The power within had been completely drained.

Where did all that power go? He knew better than I did.

"You knew all along," I said, my voice eerily calm. "You knew exactly how important this was to me."

Nathaniel didn't deny it.

He didn't even look at me. He shoved his slightly trembling hands into his pockets and tilted his head, focusing solely on Valerie nestled in his arms.

"So what?" he said.

I stared into his eyes. Dark, deep pits where I had once believed my entire future lay.

"You were the one who insisted on giving it to me," he sneered. "You knelt outside my grandfather's door for three days and three nights begging to marry me—that was your choice, too. You hung that feather around my neck with your own hands. Did I force you? Did I beg you?"

Valerie peeked out from his embrace and murmured, "Nathaniel, stop it... You should be kinder to animals... She's so pitiful."

"Pitiful?" Nathaniel scoffed. "She has endless chances at nirvana and rebirth. What's there to pity?"

He paused, then added over his shoulder, "Besides, didn't you always love hearing me say 'thank you'? Fine. Thank you. Thanks for giving me the First Feather. Thanks for blocking three death curses for me. And thanks for doing it all willingly."

He smiled.

But there was something sickening about that curve of his lips. His mouth moved ever so slightly, as if silently responding to someone else unseen.

Almost. She's almost caged.

I tucked the ruined feather into my chest. Without its sustaining force, I could feel my own power rapidly deteriorating.

"Uncle," I turned back to Edmund. "The contract is null and void. Since there is no wedding, the Ashworth estate is not my home, and it requires no protection of mine. That scrap of paper in your hands is completely useless now."

Forcing down the chaotic, turbulent phoenix energy rampaging through my veins, I turned on my heel and headed straight for the grand doors.

But just as I thought I was finally severing all ties with the Ashworth family for good—

The moment I stepped through the threshold, a tranquilizer dart bit into the back of my neck.

My vision instantly blurred into a smudged washout.

I crashed to my knees. In my last fading second of consciousness, a pair of polished leather shoes stepped right into my line of sight.