Chapter 299
Clementine:
“Clementine, wake up p>
I heard a soft whisper and opened my eyes, rubbing them hard to clear the sleep away.
My focus settled on something dangling in front of me, a red, glittering cherry pendant hanging from the neck of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
My mother.
“Mother?” I sat up in bed, staring at her face.
“I brought you this,” my mother said softly, smiling weakly as she held out half a cupcake.
It didn’t matter that it was only half. What mattered was that she remembered my birthday.
“You remembered it?” I asked in a small voice.
“Of course. You’re my little angel. Of course I did,” she replied, making me take a bite of the cupcake.
Earlier that day, I had asked my father about my birthday, and he got upset.
He punished me by sending me to sleep in the basement.
My mother argued, cried, and tried to stop him, but he dragged me there anyway.
Now she was here. She had found a way to be with me again.
“One of these days, when you celebrate your birthday, I’ll have a gift for you,” my mother said, smiling.
A tear formed in the corner of her eye before she quickly wiped it away, pretending to itch her eye.
Then I thought, I’ll wear that pendant one day.
She must have known what I was thinking because she noticed my eyes on the pendant and laughed.
“It’s a little big for you right now, but one day I’ll give it to you as a gift,” my mother promised.
“Clementine, Clementine, wake up p>
I heard the whisper again and jolted awake.
I was still sitting in one of the streets, crouched down, waiting for the others to return.
“Clementine, wake up,” Yorick said softly.
He was sitting beside me, watching me with wide eyes.
I remembered that we had stopped in the street to catch our breath while Haiden and Troy went off to look for Oriana.
I refused to go with them, so I stayed here. I wasn’t sure why Yorick chose to stay behind.
I had seen the three of them whispering earlier, and then one of them came back to sit with me.
“You were having a dream, probably a nightmare. I couldn’t tell. You seemed upset, but then there were moments when a smile crossed your lips,” Yorick explained.
I turned my head away.
“So you’re not going to talk to me now?” he asked.
Once again, I answered with silence, and I could tell it bothered him. He shifted uncomfortably, clearly affected.
“I don’t know what’s going on. What am I doing wrong, Clementine p>
The audacity of him to still ask that made me snap my head toward him and glare.
“You really don’t know?” I asked, watching him shake his head slowly. Something about it felt off.
“You all betrayed me. That’s what’s happening,” I said, watching him glance away.
And there it was. He knew what he had done.
“I know we did, but I just don’t know why. It’s as if Oriana is— irresistible,” he admitted.
His words didn’t help. I got to my feet immediately.
“Wait, what are you doing? We’re supposed to wait for them,” he said when he noticed me walking away.
“So they can bring back their beloved Oriana, my bully and your seductress?” I hissed, the words spilling out in anger.
“That’s not true. She’s not that bad,” he said.
As soon as he said that, I completely lost it.
“Okay, wait. Stop it,” he called out again, but I was already walking away.
“Guys, she’s leaving!” he yelled, and the other two came back.
“We couldn’t find Oriana,” Troy stated.
Soon after, I heard them following me.
I slowed down to tell them that we didn’t have to stick together anymore, but they refused to leave my side.
So, we kept wandering together.
Then the weather got worse. Of course it did, it was the North. We had to find a place to stay.
We finally came across a small house that looked like a decent place to stay for the night, or at least until the rain stopped.
The temperature had dropped suddenly, and it was freezing.
“I wonder where Oriana is,” Yorick muttered, but went silent the moment I gave him a side glance.
I wasn’t jealous. At least, I hoped I wasn’t. I was just angry.
Why was I given three such useless mates?
We entered the house, and as soon as we reached the living room, they said something that made my blood boil.
“You shouldn’t have slapped her. You could have politely told her not to panic,” Haiden said.
That was it. I turned to face him, glaring.
“Because of her, those things came down. And it wasn’t just a one-time thing. She was scared the entire time. Somebody had to knock some sense into her,” I hissed, standing against the three of them, my fists clenched.
The three exchanged serious looks.
“And you think slapping her was a good idea?” Yorick asked, his tone sharp.
“As if telling her to calm down would’ve worked,” I shot back. “That was the only thing I could do. You should thank me for saving your girl’s life p>
As soon as I yelled that, I saw the frowns fade from their faces, replaced by a strange, almost sad expression.
“She’s my girl?” he asked, stepping closer and pointing at his chest.
In response, I folded my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes. That should have been enough for him to understand what I really thought.
“How could you say that? If she’s my girl, then whose girl are you?” Haiden asked again, and I stared at him in disbelief.
Then the others stepped closer, staring at me the same way.
“Tell us, whose girl are you?” Troy demanded, his tone sharp enough to catch me off guard.
The way they were all watching my face shocked me.
“I’m no one’s girl,” I said calmly and firmly, letting them know they had lost the chance for me to even think twice or ask for time to decide whose girl I was.