Chapter 578-The First Prisoner
Clementine:
"What is so funny about it?" she hissed at us once she noticed we were not giving her a straight answer.
That was when Ian stretched his neck, about to tell her how ridiculous he thought she was.
"Really? How? The north side is gone," Ian snapped.
"Yorick took his family there, and they died," as he said that, her eyes widened.
"Now he and his mate have decided to cleanse the north on their own, and for that, they have detached it from the mainland. So what exactly do you want to resolve?" I asked, explaining that things had changed drastically and she could not simply suggest an alliance when none was needed.
Her eyes were wide, and tears kept forming at the corners, one after another.
"Then give me a chance to name those who were involved in hurting innocent teens and orphans and creating monsters in the north," she pleaded, trying once again to make a deal.
Ian turned to me and gave me a tired look as he pointed at her.
"She’s never going to change," he commented, stepping away from the bars to the other side of the hallway. He leaned his back against the wall and slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Lady Sylvia, long story short, we don’t need you. As for the names, we’ll get them from the reports already under investigation. All the dirty secrets will come out. All the names will come out, so don’t worry. We don’t need you," I said.
"As a matter of fact, it’s time for the new generation to take over. The old one ruined the world for their own entertainment," I continued confidently, holding her gaze as memories of what I had endured at the hands of people like her flashed through my mind, how I had lost my child.
I was upset because I was not even given a chance to cherish my child before I lost it.
"Oh, I think you are misunderstanding a lot of things."
It was almost as if Lady Sylvia understood what was bothering me because she started to explain herself.
"I never wanted you to go through an abortion," she mumbled.
But there was a shine in her eyes that told me that if she could relive that moment, she would do it again.
That was how happy that moment had made her. And it honestly upset me so much.
For them, it was nothing.
For me, it was a love child with Ian, the one we had conceived in the North. It meant everything to me.
But now it was gone because they thought I did not deserve it, that I should not have it.
"You all did what you had to do, and there is no forgiveness for it," Ian muttered, his fists clenched, his eyes hinting that he was ready to shift at any second.
I did not want that to happen because I knew if he did, he would kill her.
She needed to stay alive.
I was furious and wanted to punish her.
But her real punishment was to stay alive, stripped of her luxuries and power, forced to survive the harsh prison environment where many criminals would gladly torture her.
A smile slowly appeared on my lips, and she realized I had no mercy left for her. I was not going to forgive her.
"Clemnetine, you can’t leave me here. You know that once monsters are no longer made from criminals, the prison will fill up. Those criminals know we ordered them to be turned into monsters. They will come for me," she rushed her words, trying to convince me that her protection should be my priority.
"And what makes you think I would not want these people to punish you?" I asked, shaking my head at her in disbelief.
"You deserve it, don’t you? You deserve it for what you did to these people.b So I guess that is the befitting punishment for you," I mumbled, realizing she was too terrified to be left there.
That was exactly why it was the right thing. She needed to feel the fear others had felt. Besides, I knew she would never take her own life. She was too afraid.
Her eyes began to water as she shook her head.
"No, you can’t do this to me. Please," she begged again.
"I just lost my brother. Don’t you think that is enough punishment?"
Seeing her on her knees made me feel fulfilled, but it was still not enough.
"Anyway, you will be presented before the people, so you should apologize. It will not grant you forgiveness, but maybe the criminals will be less harsh with you in prison," I commented.
I turned around and stretched my hand out for Ian, who quickly stepped forward and took it.
He kissed the back of my hand, then shot a deadly glare at Lady Sylvia. She broke down again, crying and begging us.
As we began walking down the hallway together, I wrapped my arm around his and rested my head on his shoulder.
"Please have mercy on me," Lady Sylvia screamed, trying to get our attention.
"Please, I just lost my brother. Have some empathy," she cried again.
"You are better than me, aren’t you? I know I am a bad person, but you’re not," she continued.
"I know a good person forgives others a million times."
She kept talking, trying to make us feel emotional for her.
"She’s so clueless. She seriously thought we would still talk to her and get fooled by her cries," Ian commented, his hands in his pockets, showing how hard he was trying to stay calm.
He looked around, trying to distract himself.
"Well, it doesn’t matter what she says or does. We are firm on our stance. We will never let her fool us or anyone else again," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze to let him know he did not have to work himself up.
She was never going to be released.
We walked side by side, knowing that the days ahead would be difficult.
Every day, we would have to repair the damage that had been done.
But we were not alone.
We had many friends with us.
The only ones who were alone were Yorick and Mariana.
As soon as we stepped outside, we saw Renée and Sebastian standing near the prison gates. It looked like they were waiting for us.
There was a mark on Renée’s neck, so I assumed they had accepted each other.
Ian and I stopped, and he looked at me with a small smile.
"Do you want to go and talk to them?" he asked, and I nodded, glancing in their direction.
"Don’t you want to come?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"It’s not like I have a connection with them," he said in a low voice.
I stared at him, and he pouted.
"Come on, they know you better," he added, looking uncomfortable at the thought of sitting with them.
That was who Ian was. He was not very talkative or big on words.
He rarely built connections with anyone. It was strange that he had any connection at all with Haiden, Troy, and Yorick.
So I decided not to force him.
The moment she saw me, Renée ran toward me and wrapped her arms around me.
Sebastian stepped forward and gave Ian a side hug before wrapping his arms around both Renée and me.
Ian was shocked that they had included him. I noticed a small, comforting smile play on his lips.
That was when I realized he had not been opening up to them because he thought they would not want him around.
The main reason was what had happened before, when it was revealed that he had hidden the fact that his father was the principal.
However, I knew that no one actually blamed him after that.
The hug we shared was full of emotion.
We stood there for a while, crying.
"Ian, we are really sorry about your father," Renée said as she broke the hug, making him nod and give her an appreciative smile.
"Yeah, dude, your family...you lost them all in the North. But don’t worry, we are your family too," Sebastian said, placing his hand on Ian’s shoulder, making him look down shyly.
I noticed how cute Ian was. Whenever the attention was on him, he would look around, slip his hands into his pockets, and just stand there, looking adorable.
I couldn’t help but smile.
I knew he glanced at me a few times, asking for an escape, but I did not help him. I liked seeing his cheeks flush.
"And you are so good," Renée continued.
"Yeah, dude, you’re really impressive. We should have known you were special all this time," Sebastian added.
At that point, I knew if they teased him any more, he would burst.
"Okay, guys, we need to talk about some stuff," I said, finally saving my mate.