Chapter 169: The Day That Changed It All
Charlotte's hands tightened in her lap, before she ghe gave a small, dry laugh.
"But...I honestly don't want to go into too much detail about that part. Even speaking about it is...difficult."
Her eyes darted away from Maria's, and then, as if forcing herself, she drew in a breath.
"But you asked, so I'll tell you enough to understand and keep it simple."
She pressed a hand to her chest and stared at the floor as if she was looking back through time.
"After deciding to confront her..." She began softly. "...my sisters and I found her at the place she always was. Near the banks of a river. Her home was nearby, and she always went there with Mika. That's where we decided to...to 'finish' the matter once and for all."
Charlotte's lips twisted into a bitter smile.
"We ganged up on her. Five against one. We told her not to speak with Mika anymore. Not to talk to him at all. Even back then, we knew we were wrong. We knew we were bullies...But we didn't care."
"We were furious. And the girl...she didn't care either. No matter what we said or did, she was completely unbothered."
Her eyes flicked up to Maria, and there was a faint, ironic chuckle.
"She said she would be with Mika no matter what. That it wasn't our issue. She was resilient. Stubborn...She was just like you. No matter what we did, she wanted to stay with him. No matter the risk."
Charlotte's voice trembled faintly as she went on.
"She even tried to leave. And in that moment one of my sisters, angry that she was walking away, tried to push her back. But the push was too hard—"
Charlotte's breath hitched.
"We were right next to the shoreline. The river was raging. It had just rained. And she...she fell straight in."
She stared at her hands.
"A-And the second she dropped in, we couldn't even see her anymore. She was already swept away by the current."
Maria's eyes widened as she started to understand, but Charlotte kept going, her voice hollow.
"We never wanted something like that to happen." She said quickly. "We knew how much Mika liked to spend time with her. We didn't want to do anything that would make him disappointed in us."
"...But because of a mistake, because of our jealousy, everything changed."
Charlotte swallowed hard.
"We ran. We called the police. We called our mothers. We begged for help...But it was already too late. The water was torrential, wild. No one could save her. We thought she was gone."
She took a long, shaky breath, and then a faint, almost incredulous smile crept onto her face.
"But...luckily, out of nowhere, some Blessed nearby saw her floating in the water. She managed to save her. Brought her to the hospital. And when we heard that she was alive, our legs went weak. I broke into tears right there."
Her voice faltered as she added, "S-She was alive...but she'd lost oxygen. She was in a coma for a month. But still alive...That was our relief."
Then she let out a bitter little chuckle, her tone turning self-deprecating as she said,
"And with that, one part of the nightmare was over...But the true nightmare started then."
She raised her gaze to Maria, her eyes hollow.
"The true nightmare was when Mika found out."
"When he learned we were the ones who pushed her. When he learned she'd gone into a coma. When he visited her in the hospital...and came out of her room to find us waiting and he...he—"
Charlotte's whole body trembled now.
"...he gave us one look. One single look. And it was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen."
Maria's eyes softened slightly, but Charlotte was trembling now.
"You have to understand." She said, her voice trembling but earnest. "Even when Mika was annoyed, even when he was angry, there was always warmth in his eyes. A softness. Like no matter what, he still loved us."
"Those dark eyes of his...they gave me so much warmth. I loved looking into them."
Her next words came out as a whisper.
"But that day...his eyes were different."
She shook her head, her lips quivering.
"He was so angry. Absolutely furious. But it wasn't just anger. It was like he didn't even see us as family anymore. His eyes were distant. Unbothered. Cold...He didn't look like he was seeing family. Or anyone he knew."
"H-He was looking at us as if he was staring at strangers...Strangers he despised."
"And that look..." Charlotte shivered. "We'd never seen it before. We'd seen him annoyed. We'd seen him upset...But this was the first time in our lives he seemed to hate us. Not angry, hating. Like he wanted nothing to do with us."
Her hands clenched in her lap.
"We came crying after him. Begging, apologizing. We would've gladly taken him shouting, beating, scolding...But he didn't. Instead, he just looked at us with disdain. And walked away. As if we didn't exist anymore."
Her bitter smile returned as she looked at Maria weakly saying,
"You see, Mika was our entire life back then. We loved him too much. So when he looked at us like that, it was like losing our purpose in life. Like dying inside and we basically went crazy in response."
She exhaled shakily.
"I myself was hospitalized for an entire month. My body...fever, chills, vomiting, everything. Every horrible symptom came at once. I also cried all the time. The only time I wasn't crying was when I was asleep. And the moment I woke up, I cried again. I cried for Mika."
"...But no matter how much I cried, he didn't come back. Didn't even restrict me. That only made it worse."
Her eyes glistened with tears.
"And another one of my sisters fainted on the spot, and later she had to be admitted as well since she couldn't sleep and had horrible nightmares, nightmares so terrifying that she would claw at her body in bed and leave her entire bed in a bloody mess by the morning."
"And just like that, we all broke in different ways. Some of the things they went through...are too scary and sensitive to even talk about."
She took a shaky breath before giving a pitiful smile as she said,
"And Anya...Anya wasn't left out as well. You see, her blessing wasn't controlled back then. So, the sudden blow of what happened, it sent her over the edge."
"Her emotions were completely unstable. She'd suddenly grow an arm from her back that tried to strangle her. Her own stomach would split open and spill her food into her insides. Her ribs would break out of her body all of a sudden and even her flesh started peeling off at one point.
"And because of all of that, her mother had to sedate, not wanting to risk her blessing reacting uncontrollably. Our mothers were terrified she'd harm herself if it went on."
Charlotte let out a humorless chuckle, but it trembled with exhaustion.
"And it wasn't just us, who felt the brunt of the incident. Our mothers...They also felt it. They were terrified for all of us and they begged Mika to come back, begged him to just speak to us."
"They knew he was the answer. They knew that if he said even a single word, if he gave us even the smallest sign, we'd all go back to normal...That's how much he meant to us."
She looked away, biting her lip.
"But Mika refused. He was so angry, so disgusted, he wouldn't even look at us. He refused to meet us. He didn't want to see our faces. And so, our family was collapsing."
"On one side, we were withering away, losing our lives piece by piece. On the other side, Mika had stopped treating us as family altogether. And caught in the middle...were our mothers."
Charlotte's eyes darkened with pity.
"They probably went through the worst of it. They'd faced monsters, demons, otherworldly abominations in other realms. But they told us later...that this, watching our family crumble, was worse. The worst experience of their lives. Even they began to break. Even they carried the weight of mental wounds."
She then chuckled hollowly before saying with finality about something that completely caught Maria off guard.
"And then...the nightmare turned into something else, as one of my sisters, she..."
Her expression darkened and she stared straight into Maria's soul as she said,
"...she tried to kill herself."
"What—?" Maria's eyes widened.
Charlotte nodded, her voice trembling.
"She was the one who pushed that girl into the river and the guilt consumed her. She couldn't take it—the thought that Mika hated her, that she had nearly killed someone he cared for. So...she climbed a massive building and jumped, jumped straight down and landed flat on the pavement."
Maria's lips parted, shocked into silence.
"Luckily…" Charlotte exhaled, her voice breaking again. "Luckily, her blessing saved her. Even from that fall, she survived, though barely. She was mangled, broken in every way. She was rushed to the hospital, and Auntie Fauna herself treated her. Somehow...somehow, she was saved."
Charlotte paused, then whispered.
"And though it horrified the entire family, though it shamed us to even think it...it worked in our favour."
Maria blinked. "Worked in your favour?"
Charlotte nodded slowly as she said, "Yes, aocke after that happened, even Mika couldn't hold back after that. He rushed to the hospital. He was so worried he didn't even hesitate. And when he walked into her room...when she saw him...it was like life came back into her eyes."
She smiled faintly, though it was bittersweet.
"She was in the worst condition of all of us, most of her bones broken, even Auntie Fauna couldn't fully heal her since her blessing was too volatile and it effected the treatment."
"But the moment Mika came in, it was like a miracle. Her blessing went into overdrive. She healed instantly—even though her blessing had nothing to do with recovery, she stood, and clung to him, sobbing apologies, begging him to take her back."
Charlotte's eyes softened, glowing as though she could still see the memory.
"And he...he forgave her. In that moment, he forgave her. And once he did, it spread. It was like a flood breaking the dam."
"He went to see each of us, every sister, and the moment he spoke to us, all the sickness, all the symptoms, all the madness vanished. We collapsed into tears, hugged him, begged forgiveness, and he took us back."
She chuckled to herself, her cheeks reddening.
"I myself was so happy...and I was so terrified he'd leave again, that I ended up grabbing his arm and not letting go for an entire week. No matter what he was doing, sleeping, eating, I held on. The whole time."
Maria blinked, surprised. "An entire week? You mean—"
Charlotte's cheeks flushed, and she waved her hands quickly. "Yes! An entire week! Whether he was going out or doing his own research, I held onto him. I even—"
Her voice dropped to a mortified whisper.
"I even held onto him when he went to the bathroom…"
Maria blinked once. Twice. Then rolled her eyes.
"Unbelievable. You're actually shameless."
Charlotte pouted, covering her face.
"D-Don't tell anyone, okay! It's a shameful truth! If people knew, I'd die of embarrassment!"
"Don't worry, I don't care about your bathroom-stories." Maria crossed her arms and muttered dryly. "Just tell me what happened next."
Charlotte cleared her throat, straightened up, and continued, a shy smile still lingering.
"Well...after that, things seemed blissful again. But Mika knew. He knew he couldn't let things go on unchecked. We were too obsessed with him and he knew if he left us alone, our obsession would only grow, and that would be dangerous, not just for us, but for everyone around us. So...he set down rules."
Her tone grew serious.
"Not strict laws, not chains...But principles. He told us we could never interfere with his life too much and if another girl approached him, we couldn't pull her away or harm her."
"Squabble, sulk, pout, fine...But real harm, intimidation? Out of bounds. He also made it clear: forgiveness only comes once, so if we crossed that line again, he wouldn't forgive us...He would push us away completely."
"And of course, we all nodded frantically." Charlotte exhaled softly. "Because as much as we hated other girls being close to him, what we feared more than anything was losing Mika's love. Losing his presence. That...that was the true nightmare."
"So we agreed." She gave Maria a faint smile. "We never again tried to harm anyone out of jealousy. And for years, we followed that principle. It's the only reason we haven't killed one another for Mika already."
Charlotte leaned closer, her voice low. "And even now...the only reason I'm standing here talking to you instead of using my blessing to bend your mind and push you away...is because of Mika's rule."
Maria tilted her head, thoughtful. "But still...couldn't you? I mean, you could just use your blessing on me without Mika knowing. Do it quietly. He'd never notice."
"How naive...You don't understand Mika." Charlotte chuckled darkly, shaking her head. "Nothing gets past him. No matter how careful you are, he always finds out. Always. There's no sneaking around him. So either you follow his rules, or you never see his kind gaze again."
Her eyes softened for a moment as she glanced at the door where Mika and Anya had gone.
"And that's why Anya is so scared right now. She knows. Even if she didn't mean to actually harm you, even if she was only lashing out in anger—those words of hers, those threats, they still count in Mika's eyes. He doesn't tolerate that. Not at all. And Anya knows it."
Maria absorbed the weight of her words, thoughtful, her expression unreadable. Then she gave Charlotte a look of intrigue.
"You know...looking at all of you, it's clear. You love him. You're obsessed with him. Borderline psychotic."
Charlotte didn't even hesitate. She lifted her chin proudly and said, "Of course. And I don't deny it."
Maria studied her for a moment, then asked quietly. "But eventually, Mika will settle down. He can't spend his whole life juggling your obsessions. He'll marry someone, build a family...What will you do then?"
But Charlotte only smirked in response, placing her hands on her hips.
"Well, that's easy for me to answer since I will be the one he marries. I mean, who else is more fit to be Mika's bride than me? It's fate. It's already written. I'll be his wife!"
Maria rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. You keep thinking that. Let's even say there's a ninety-nine percent chance it'll be you."
Charlotte's face lit up, smug and delighted. "Ninety-nine percent! Exactly! Even you admit it—"
But Maria quickly held up a finger. "But what about that one percent? What if he marries someone else? What if he builds a family with another woman? What then?"
Charlotte froze. Her smugness faltered. Her lips parted, but no words came. Slowly, her face twisted into confusion, then dread.
"Don't…" She whispered. "Don't ask questions like that. I...I don't have an answer. I don't even want to think about it." She shivered visibly. "Just imagining Mika spending his life with another girl...it makes my skin crawl. I don't know what I'd do. I don't even want to know."
Maria looked at her silently, and in that moment, she realized two things:
First, these sisters were truly obsessed, utterly mad over Mika.
And second, in the future, something was bound to happen. Something devastating as all of these sisters that he was involved with were ticking time bombs that were waiting to explode.
And for the first time in her life—even Maria, who usually never cared about others romances, found herself wondering what that future would look like.
And who, in the end, would claim Mika.
...Not even knowing that Mika already found the solution to this problem and was planning on snagging them all, adding the mothers into the deal as well.