Her Rebirth.-Chapter 119

Amelia’s eyes widened in surprise.

What was Eve doing here? Had she been here with them all along?

Then it clicked. Lilac had mentioned Eve being here when she had brought medicine for her, but it hadn’t registered because she was in so much pain then.

So this is where Eve had gone after taking half of Mason’s property.

A small frown formed on Amelia’s face. Was Eve in on this too?

"Why are you here?" Amelia asked.

Eve looked at her with hostility, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she walked toward her, brought out a key from the pocket of her dress, and clicked the chains on Amelia’s wrist open.

Amelia’s eyes widened in surprise. She was... freeing her?

Amelia looked at her with confusion in her eyes.

"You’re letting me go?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Eve answered snarkily.

"Why?..."

Eve said nothing at first. She moved to Amelia’s other wrist, unlocking it with the same calm detachment, and then knelt to unchain her ankles. When the final shackle dropped with a dull clink, Amelia sat there rubbing the red marks on her skin, still trying to process what was happening.

Only then did Eve speak.

"As much as I despise you," she said coldly, "I hate that daughter of mine even more. She tricked me, took all the wealth I had without a second thought. Now I’m dependent on her. Completely at her mercy." Her lips curled into a bitter smile. "She’s obsessed with you, you know. The pain she’ll feel when she realizes you’re gone... that gives me joy."

Amelia blinked at Eve, a confused "Thank you..." falling from her lips. It felt foreign, misplaced but it was all she could say.

Eve didn’t respond. She just turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing coldly against the wooden floor. Amelia hesitated for a moment before quietly slipping out of the room. Her legs trembled as she made her way down the creaking stairs, heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird.

Just as she reached the base of the staircase, the front door creaked open.

Her breath paused, and fear filled her to the brim.

Lilac. She was back.

Without thinking, Amelia darted into the kitchen, crouching low as she opened the cabinet beneath the sink and squeezed herself in. She shut the door silently, leaving only the tiniest sliver open to see through.

From her hiding place, she watched.

Lilac stepped in with a small frown. Eve approached her casually, as though nothing were amiss.

"You’re back early," Eve said with a brittle smile. "Why didn’t you get the groceries?"

Lilac didn’t respond. Instead, she looked at Eve intently, and Eve found herself flinching a little, so she asked quickly, out of fear, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

A small, unamused laugh escaped from Lilac’s lips. She turned, walking toward the far wall where an old axe hung as decoration. She took it down with unsettling calm.

"Why are you taking that?" Eve asked.

Lilac walked toward her slowly as she said, "Mother, ever since we came here, you’ve never struck a conversation with me so willingly. It makes me wonder why you’re so eager to do so now."

Eve’s eyes fell to the axe in Lilac’s hands, and her lips trembled. "W-what do you mean?"

"Where is she?" Lilac asked. Her voice was low and dangerous.

Eve gave a dry laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"You let her escape... didn’t you?"

Amelia could only hear the rush of her own pulse now, loud and deafening.

Then came a sickening sound, a metallic shing, followed by a wet, meaty crack. The thud of a body hitting the floor made Amelia flinch violently. Her hands clamped over her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

Through the tiny hole in the cabinet door, she saw it—Eve’s head rolling across the floor like a grotesque toy, blood pooling around her body. And behind her, Lilac stood, breathing heavily with the axe in hand, her expression blank, almost mildly annoyed, as if all this was just a small inconvenience.

"Bitch," she whispered to her mother’s corpse, kicking the head aside.

Then Lilac turned, slowly scanning the room.

Amelia held her breath. But it didn’t matter. She felt it, those piercing eyes, that sixth sense, that twisted bond Lilac believed they shared.

"You’re still here," Lilac called out, dragging the bloodstained axe across the floor with a high-pitched scrape. "Don’t make me look for you, my angel."

She began to walk slowly and deliberately, her footsteps echoing in the hollow silence of the house. The axe scratched against the wood like nails on a chalkboard. "I know you’re scared. That’s okay. I was scared once too."

She paused outside the kitchen.

"I killed them, you know," she said in a casual tone. "The ones who laughed at me when I was a child. The man who touched me when I said no. They screamed at first... but I was merciful. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have met you." Her shoes stopped just in front of the cabinet. "I wouldn’t have known what it meant to love."

The cabinet door creaked open.

Amelia’s scream caught in her throat as Lilac’s face appeared, twisted in a mixture of affection and madness.

"Found you," Lilac whispered with a smile.

Amelia reacted on pure instinct. She shoved her with all her strength and burst out of the cabinet, running.

Lilac stumbled back, but not for long. She recovered quickly, eyes blazing. "Where do you think you’re going?" she snarled, chasing her down.

A rough hand snagged her collar, yanking her back. Amelia stumbled, crashing to the floor. Her fingers fumbled and found something cold and small on the counter, a paring knife.

Lilac’s hands, still on Amelia’s collar, hurled Amelia across the floor like a ragdoll. Amelia skidded backward, the knife still clenched in her hand.

Lilac walked toward her, her eyes filled with madness as she dragged the axe behind her.

"Is it when I maim you that you’ll finally stay?" she asked with a maddening shriek. "I can take care of you, Amelia. I will take care of you!."

"No... please," Amelia sobbed, crawling backward. "Don’t hurt me. I’ll listen. I’ll be obedient. Please... don’t maim me."

Lilac’s eyes softened at the sight of Amelia’s tears. She dropped to her knees beside her, stroking Amelia’s cheek with her blood-slick fingers.

"Don’t cry," she murmured. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s all that bad woman’s fault. I killed her for you. No one will come between us again."

Amelia’s fingers trembled as she watched, with tear-filled eyes, Lilac pulled her into an embrace and in that moment she could just...

Do it... Do it... Do it...

If she could just...

Do it... Do it...

She had to....

At that moment, Amelia pushed all her strength into her and drove the knife deep into Lilac’s stomach.

Phut