Chapter 147: Why am I a pawn?

Andrea paused, her tapping fingers coming to a sudden halt. "Uh_ they died in an accident?"

"They died mysteriously," Sabrina corrected softly, leaning forward over her desk. "And within six months, even their immediate family members vanished into thin air. I am hundred percent sure it was my father’s doing. He has not forgotten what I did and he is plotting against me in the dark. Like a scorpion, he is waiting for a chance to strike."

Andrea swallowed hard, a sudden chill creeping up her neck. But she tried to play it cool, forcing a dry laugh. "Well,_ even if he killed them back then, Grandfather hasn’t shown a single drop of interest in the scavenging company for years now! All he cares about these days are his fish, playing chess and eating fruit."

"Perhaps," Sabrina said, staring at her own reflection in the polished surface of her desk. "Or perhaps_ all of his hobbies have another meaning. He could be raising poisonous fish. He could be powering his soul with the fruit, who knows? But if the old man thinks he can use that girl Lita against me or my son..." She paused, a chilling smile spreading across her painted lips. "_then I will have no choice but to end him permanently." She would not do it herself or it would be suspicious.

Maybe she would blind his eyes, make him dumb throw him in the wild lands. Then, she could print missing posters and play the role of the pitiful daughter.

Andrea’s back went completely stiff. Her eyes widened in genuine shock as she stared at her mother. She had no idea what she was plotting but she had a feeling it was bad.

"M-Mother_" Andrea stammered, her voice shaking slightly. "What are you saying? He’s_ he’s your father! He gave you your life."

Sabrina looked at her daughter, her dark, empty gaze cutting right through Andrea’s panic as if reading her thoughts like an open book. She slowly leaned back into her high-backed chair, placing her hands together smoothly.

"My dear child," Sabrina said calmly, her simple words carrying the weight of ice. "You are still too soft. In this top world of high clans and ruthless power, survival does not care about bloodlines. If you want to stay at the very top, you must eliminate every single threat in your way_ even the ones closest to you."

In the same house, inside her bedroom, Lita sat on the edge of her soft bed, idly flipping through the pages of a book while holding her phone to her ear.

On the other end of the line, her mother’s shrill, panicked voice exploded. "What do you mean, sweetheart?! Of course I didn’t know you were going to be used as a spy! Do you think I would just hand my precious daughter over to be a sacrifice?!"

Ursula paused to catch her breath before scoffing bitterly. "But honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if your father knew all along! That shameless, worthless man cares for no one but his damn self!"

Lita didn’t even blink. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest. If anything, she had learned her own cold selfishness directly from him. It was practically a family inheritance. "Save the dramatic crying for later, Mother," Lita said coldly, closing the book with a sharp snap. "Right now, I need you to tell me everything. Everything you know, without leaving out a single detail."

Ursula panicked for a second but then began spilling all the beans. She babbled about the secret deal made between the mayor and Lita’s father, and how the Divine Soul Maiden herself was pulling the strings behind the entire operation right from Zyra’s adoption. It was Zyra who should have married Eliot, to be used by Trinity and discarded.

By the time Ursula finished her long, messy story, Lita was pacing back and forth across her room, her heels clicking angrily against the polished floorboards.

"So, in a nutshell," Lita hissed, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits, "I was turned into a useless pawn in this entire game because of those damn, wretched Scorpions, right?"

"Yes!" Ursula agreed instantly. "I told your father back then that I didn’t want to take those refugees in! I warned him that helping people like that never ends well! But your father insisted! He swore up and down that doing this would secure you a better future in a high clan!" Ursula whimpered slightly over the phone, adding, "Oh, and the other thing I overheard_ they said you were supposed to marry a different son from the main Kaelion branch. The middle son, not the one you married!"

Hearing that, Lita grabbed a handful of her own back hair and yanked it in frustration, so angry she didn’t even feel the sharp sting on her scalp.

"It doesn’t matter who I marry!" Lita sneered into the phone. "Middle son, youngest son, old man_ it’s all the same! All I am hearing is that I am being treated like a cheap chess piece on a board because of that damn Zyra!" She spat out the name like it was deadly poison. She clutched her phone tight, cursing viciously. "I hope that bitch dies a second time! I hope her soul gets torn into a thousand pieces in the wild lands!"

Then, Lita suddenly paused. Her eyes blinked, a strange question popping into her head. "Wait_ Mother, why is the Divine Soul Maiden even interested in Zyra? Zyra was just a trash orphan, why would she care about her? I mean there are many soul maidens that have lost their parents in this war against the Somnivores. They are all taken to the academy so why not her? Why was she raised in a village?"

Ursula sighed. "You don’t know? I think it had something to do with Zena. She and Trinity were childhood friends and attended the First 7 academy together. If you want to know more, you should ask your mother-in-law, Sabrina. She was there too as a senior. Back in their youth, they were once famous Soul maidens. There were five of them in that group, but now, only the Divine Soul Maiden and Sabrina Kaelion remain."

Lita froze mid-step. She raised her index finger, pointing at the empty air as things suddenly clicked in her brain. "Aha!" Lita gasped, her voice dripping with venomous realization. "No wonder! Even Andrea asked about Zyra. They knew her mother, it was not random curiosity. But I cannot ask Sabrina about it though. Maybe if she brings her up."

Lita’s chest heaved with fury, but a second later, a sharp, unhinged laugh burst out of her throat. "Haha! Hahaha!" She covered her mouth, her laugh echoing crazily in the empty room. "Oh, Mother, you have no idea how happy I was on awakening day! When Zyra failed to awaken her bloodline, I was over the moon! All the dark hate I held for her instantly turned into pure joy! Too bad my life was ruined along with hers. If I could go back and kill her, I would still do it."

Lita was careless with her words, unaware of the black cat sleeping outside her window, swinging a lazy tail, ears standing straight in an eavesdropping formation.