Golden Melody (Editing)

Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The One You Abandoned

Xefariel leaned in close, her voice a venomous whisper.

“Welcome to the one you abandoned.”

She shoved Miexha into the empty cell opposite Jayson’s and snapped her wrists into iron cuffs above her head. The chains lifted her onto her toes, straining her limbs, stealing her breath.

With a flick of her fingers, Jayson’s shackles unlocked.

“Go ahead,” she said sweetly.
“Run to her.”

He stumbled forward—limping, trembling, broken.
“Miexha—” His voice cracked, hoarse from pain and silence.

He barely took two steps before the floor screamed with electricity.

Jayson convulsed violently. His body hit the steel like thunder, limbs twitching. Smoke curled from his skin.

“JAYSON!”
Miexha’s scream ripped the air.

Xefariel laughed—high and gleeful. The echo clattered down the sterile halls like shattered glass.

“Oh, come on! You thought this was a fairy tale? That love wins?”
She grabbed Jayson by the collar and hoisted him like he weighed nothing.

Miexha choked.

Jayson looked older. Ravaged. His face gaunt, skin pale, muscles sunken, ribs visible. Dozens of scars—burns, gashes, surgical incisions—laced his body.

But his eyes.

They still burned.

Still searched for her.

“Miexha…” he croaked, blood staining his lips.
“Don’t… believe her…”

A sharp slap silenced him.

Then Xefariel turned.

The grin faded.

Her voice, when it returned, was barely human—torn between hatred and heartbreak.

“You have to choose,” she whispered.
“Me… your monster of a daughter… or the Hero of Mankind.”

Her eyes shimmered with something unspeakable.

“If you choose Jayson, I’ll kill myself. Right here. I’ll let you go. But I won’t promise the world outside will spare you.”

A long breath. Bitter. Broken.

“But if you choose me… you stay. Forever. In this tomb. As my mother.”

Her hands trembled.

“I know you won’t pick me. No one ever does. You’ll see what they see, I'm a threat. A mistake that should never have been born.”

A tear traced a slow path down her cheek.

“I just wanted someone to choose me.”

Miexha froze.

The world slowed. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears.

She remembered the dreams—the golden rabbit wailing through ruined cities, begging to be seen, to be loved, to be forgiven.

She looked at Jayson—shaking his head, eyes screaming don’t.

She didn’t know what he meant.

That Xefariel couldn’t be saved? That escape was still possible? That the world needed them?

But this wasn’t about heroes anymore.

It was about pain. A child’s pain.

And maybe… healing.