Mirror of Fate

Chapter 16 - The Warning Gaze

Orla:

Back at Nara's apartment, the day's events weighed heavily on me. The horses, the stables, the people—it was all so overwhelming. Nara was still at work, staying late to handle whatever crisis had popped up, leaving me alone in her apartment. It felt strange to have so much time to myself, especially after such an intense day.

I wandered into the bathroom, ready to wash off the dust and sweat. The hot water from the shower was a welcome relief, soothing my tense muscles and calming my racing thoughts. For a few minutes, I just stood there, letting the steam envelop me, hoping it would also cleanse my mind of everything that had been piling up lately.

When I finally stepped out, the cool air hit my skin, making me shiver. I wrapped a towel around myself and moved to the sink, wiping a hand across the fogged-up mirror. My reflection appeared, and for a brief moment, it was just me. Wet hair plastered to my face, cheeks flushed from the heat of the shower, and eyes that looked a little too tired for comfort. I sighed, feeling the weight of everything once again.

But as I leaned in closer, something changed. The reflection shifted, almost imperceptibly at first. I blinked, thinking maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. But then I saw her—the empress, the queen, regal and haunting, staring back at me from the mirror. She looked so much like me, yet so different, dressed in elaborate robes of crimson and gold, her hair adorned with jewels.

My heart started to pound as I realized it wasn't just a trick of the light. She was there, as real as I was, her expression filled with a kind of fear that chilled me to the bone.

This time, she moved.

Her head turned, slowly, as if she were looking at something beyond me. The fear in her eyes deepened, and I felt it too, creeping into my chest, making it hard to breathe. My feet felt like they were glued to the floor, unable to turn and see what she was looking at, even though every instinct screamed at me to run.

Suddenly, the buzzing of my phone shattered the silence, pulling me out of the trance. I gasped, nearly dropping the towel as I stumbled back from the mirror. The empress vanished, leaving only my own pale, frightened face staring back at me.

I grabbed the phone with trembling hands, not bothering to check the caller ID. "Hello?" My voice was shaky, barely above a whisper.

There was a brief pause, then a voice I hadn't wanted to hear again.

"Orla, nice of you to finally answer."

Logan.

His voice sent a new wave of dread through me, colder and more real than the apparition I'd just seen. The last thing I wanted was to hear from him, especially now.

"What do you want?" I forced out, trying to keep my voice steady.

"What do I want?" he sneered, his tone dripping with venom. "I want to know why the hell you ran off like that. You think you can just leave me and everything we built together without a word? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

What I've done? My mind flashed back to that day, to the moment I opened the closet door and saw him—Logan—pressed up against Anna Cho, his hands roaming where they shouldn't have been. The way he'd looked at me, not with guilt, but with... annoyance, as if I was the one in the wrong for catching him. It was a scene I'd replayed in my mind over and over again, each time cutting deeper than the last. The betrayal, the disbelief, the crushing weight of realizing that everything we'd built had been a lie.

My hands started to shake, and I gripped the phone so tightly I was afraid it might break. "Logan, I don't owe you anything," I said, my voice firmer than I felt. "We're done. You made sure of that."

"You don't get to decide when we're done, Orla," he spat. "You're going to regret this. Mark my words."

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wasn't going to let him get to me, not again. "You don't control me, Logan. Not anymore."

He laughed, a low, dismissive sound that sent a chill through me. "Control you? That's ridiculous. I never controlled you, Orla. If that's what you've been thinking, then maybe it's best you take some time to really think things over. But don't fool yourself—this relationship isn't over."

Without another word, I hung up, my heart racing as I dropped the phone onto the counter.

My hands were still trembling, the fear and anger swirling inside me until I couldn't tell which was stronger. What was Logan even saying? This isn't my doing—it's his. He cheated, and there's no coming back from that. I should've argued, should've told him how wrong he was, but before I could even think of the words, I'd impulsively hung up, leaving me standing there, breathless and unsure of what to do next.

I looked back at the mirror, half-expecting the empress to reappear, but there was nothing—just my own reflection, pale and shaken. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but Logan's words echoed in my mind, mixing with the image of the empress and the terror in her eyes.

What was happening to me? And what was I so afraid of?