NOVEL NEXT Chapter 179: 179
My Fish Life Was Peaceful… Until Immortal Daddies Claimed Me!
Mirea didn't move.
She just stood there—paralyzed—staring at the coins like they were some cruel illusion that would vanish the moment she blinked.
Her hand hovered near her chest, breath shallow, lips quivering as her gaze darted from one glittering gold disk to another. Her fingers twitched. The shine, the weight of it all, the impossibility… her mind refused to accept it.
"No..." she whispered, voice weak. "This isn't real... This can't be real..."
Maira, standing beside her, didn't speak either. Her fingers were clenched near her stomach, her fists tugging slightly at the fabric of her worn dress, wrinkling it near her waist.
Her brows furrowed, and her eyes remained locked on the mountain of gold—but not with awe. Not with greed.
With pain.
The kind that bloomed from disbelief too deep to hide. From dreams long buried clawing their way back up, only to cut her open again.
The clatter of a single coin falling to the ground echoed like a scream.
Maira flinched.
Vex tilted his head, watching her reaction now—not with amusement, but with soft curiosity. His lips parted to speak but—
"Put them back."
The voice cut through the air like a blade of ice.
Asperia.
She had descended from the stairwell quietly, her arms no longer folded, her presence as sharp as a cold wind sweeping through a silent room. Her bare feet made no sound as she stepped beside Vex, her gaze never once turning to meet his. It stayed locked on the table, on the coins.
"You don't even know what value they held," she said softly.
Not accusing. Not scolding. Just… true. Her voice carried the weight of knowledge Vex clearly didn't have. She knew exactly what those coins meant in this world. What doors they could open. What dangers they'd invite.
And she knew… he didn't.
Vex turned his head slowly, golden eyes narrowing, watching her with faint amusement.
"I'm guessing a lot," he murmured.
"More than you realize," Asperia replied, still not looking at him. Her tone betrayed a trace of something else—curiosity, suspicion, maybe even concern—but it was buried deep under that calm surface.
She saw through him.
And he knew it.
Still, Vex gave a casual shrug and stood. He didn't argue. Just reached out, arm flexing slightly, and with a flick of his wrist—
Snap.
The coins shimmered, then vanished in a soft ripple of light. Gone. As if they'd never existed.
Silence fell again.
But this time it was heavier.
Maira's lips trembled. She was staring not at the table now… but at the empty space. Her eyes wide, distant.
Like she'd just witnessed something divine… only to have it snatched away.
And suddenly, tears welled in her eyes.
One drop. Then another.
Her breathing quickened, chest rising and falling with shallow, quiet gasps as she backed away slowly from the table, as if afraid to look at anyone. Her hands clutched at her sides. Her mouth opened slightly, but no words came.
"Maira?" Vex said, confused, stepping forward with a hand raised instinctively. "Hey, what happened to you?"
The tremble in his voice was unintentional.
Mirea turned, startled. She was the first to notice. "Sis…?"
She moved towards her elder sister, hand out, confused and worried—but Maira didn't respond.
She turned.
And ran.
Up the stairs.
Her footsteps were light but frantic, the old wooden planks groaning under her weight. A moment later, the door slammed shut with a bang, vibrating through the quiet house.
"Maira—wait!" Mirea shouted, chasing after her, her feet barely touching the floor in her rush. She didn't understand. She didn't get it. Why now? Why would her sister cry like that after seeing that?
She reached the door and pounded on it.
"Maira! Open the door!"
From inside, a muffled voice came.
"Please… just leave me alone for a moment, Mirea!"
The voice was breaking.
Pained.
Like something inside had cracked open.
Vex stood still, hand half-raised, staring at the stairway. His jaw clenched, and his expression tightened. That odd ache in his chest again. That unfamiliar heaviness.
Mirea stood at the top of the stairs, hand still resting on the doorframe behind her, her chest rising and falling with barely-contained emotion. Her eyes—wet, trembling, furious—locked on Vex with an intensity that cut through the room like a dagger.
"You..." she spat out, voice brittle with disbelief. "What did you do?"
Vex flinched.
Not because of the words—but because of the look in her eyes. Raw, wounded, like he'd done something unforgivable without even realizing it.
"I—I didn't do anything," he stammered, hands half-raised. "Wasn't I silent? I didn't even say a word!"
He didn't understand.
What did he do?
Vex turned slowly, his golden gaze landing on Asperia as if silently demanding an answer, half-desperate, half-defensive, searching for backup.
"What did I do?" he asked finally, his voice low, frustrated. "I didn't do anything. Wasn't I silent?"
Asperia's eyes narrowed—not in anger, but in disappointed recognition.
She held his stare for a moment longer, then exhaled through her nose and turned her head towards the closed door.
"It was you, Vex," she said, quiet and honest. "She was definitely hurt by you."
The words hit him harder than he expected.
His lips parted, confusion etched into every tense line of his body. "Why?" he muttered. "I didn't do anything…"
Asperia didn't answer immediately. She stared at the door where Maira had disappeared, her brows drawn slightly together.
When she finally spoke, her voice had softened, but her tone carried weight—as if forcing herself to say something she didn't want to admit.
"Do you know what a woman hates… when she's fallen for someone, genuinely… and wants to be helpful to them?"
Vex blinked, caught off-guard. His mouth opened, a breath coming out—but he didn't speak.
"…What?"
Asperia's fingers curled slightly at her sides.
She didn't look at him as she said, "It's the moment she realizes the man she loves… has no need for her."
The silence returned, deeper than before.
It took a second for her words to sink in. But when they did… Vex's breath caught.
No need…?
His gaze lowered, his mind replaying the scene. The coins. The way Maira stared at them. The way she ran. How her fists trembled… how her voice cracked.
It clicked.
He had shown too much. Too fast. In a world that had given her nothing, he threw gold on the table like it was dust.
And in doing so, he'd made her feel—
Small.
Not enough.
Out of her league.
Not because he meant to.
But because he hadn't thought.
His chest tightened as he realized it.
Most likely, right now, Maira was curled up somewhere behind that closed door, drowning in a storm of self-doubt. Thinking she wasn't worthy. That she had nothing to offer him. That she was replaceable. Or worse—meaningless.
And maybe—just maybe—when she turned and sprinted away in front of everyone, it wasn't to run from him.
It was her heart crying out.
Begging for reassurance.
For him.
For anything.
He sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair, his gold eyes shadowed. Then he turned towards the stairs, slowly starting to walk up.
But before he climbed the first step, he paused—and looked back over his shoulder.
Asperia was still there, watching him.
He narrowed one eye slightly, smirking faintly. "You aren't jealous, are you?"
Her expression didn't change.
But her eyes did flick away.
And then, almost inaudibly, she said—
"No one can love you more than I."
He froze.
His heart stopped.
Literally, it felt like it did.
'Shouldn't the main character be going around doing rizz with the beauties, not the other way around.'