Chapter 238 CHAPTER 238

Chapter 238 CHAPTER 238

Isabel struggled against the grip of the guards, her breath uneven, her eyes wide with confusion as cold metal snapped around her wrists.

“What—what is happening?” she asked, her voice shaking despite her effort to steady it. “Why are you doing this?”

Beside her, Anna was forced down just as firmly, her resistance quieter but no less restrained as another pair of cuffs locked into place.

Around them, the school grounds had not emptied the way they usually did. Students lingered, whispers rising, heads turning, eyes fixed on the unfolding scene with a mix of fear and curiosity. What had begun as an ordinary dismissal had twisted into something no one understood, but no one could look away from.

Isabel’s gaze darted wildly until it landed on Lisa.

“Lisa,” she said quickly, taking a step forward before the guards yanked her back. “Please—tell them. Tell them this is a mistake.”

Lisa didn’t move.

Her hand rested unconsciously against her chest, fingers curled tightly around the blood necklace that had been returned to her, as if holding onto it was the only thing keeping her steady. Her expression was pale, her eyes fixed on Isabel in a way that no longer felt familiar.

“A mistake?” Lisa repeated, her voice low, strained.

Isabel nodded quickly. “Yes—I don’t understand. One minute we were talking, and now—why am I in cuffs? What happened?”

Lisa’s grip on the necklace tightened.

“You’re really going to pretend you don’t remember?” she asked, disbelief cutting through her voice.

Isabel faltered.

“I don’t,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “I swear I don’t. The last thing I remember; we were talking about my birthday. That’s it. That’s all I remember.”

Her hands moved instinctively against the cuffs, trying to pull free.

The reaction was immediate.

Weapons were drawn.

“Stop!” one of the guards barked, raising his gun. “Do that again and we shoot.”

Isabel froze, her breath catching, her eyes widening further as she slowly lifted her hands, showing she meant no harm.

“I’m not trying to escape,” she said quickly. “I just—please, someone explain to me what’s happening.”

But no one answered her. The guards held their ground, Anna said nothing, and Lisa only stepped back, the distance between them widening without a word.

“I saw you,” she said quietly.

The words landed harder than anything else.

“You took it,” she continued, her voice shaking now despite her effort to control it. “You took the necklace.”

Isabel stared at her, completely lost.

“What?” she whispered. “No—I didn’t. Lisa, why would I—?”

“Enough,” one of the guards cut in sharply.

The tension had already drawn attention beyond control, and just then, Principal Aeron approached, his expression grave as he took in the scene.

“What is going on here?” he demanded.

One of the guards stepped forward. “Attempted abduction, sir. They used magic.”

That was all it took.

Aeron’s expression hardened instantly.

“Magic?” he repeated, his gaze shifting between Isabel and Anna with sharp assessment. Without another word, he turned and strode quickly toward the administration building.

The silence he left behind was heavy.

Isabel’s voice trembled again when she spoke. “Lisa… please.”

Lisa didn’t move closer.

Didn’t answer.

Moments later, Aeron returned, holding a small case. He opened it without ceremony, revealing a pair of reinforced cuffs etched with faint, glowing symbols.

“These will suppress any magical ability,” he said as he handed them over. “Do not take chances.”

The guards wasted no time replacing the restraints.

The moment the cuffs clicked into place, Isabel gasped slightly, her body reacting as though something inside her had been abruptly muted.

“I didn’t do anything,” she whispered, more to herself now than anyone else.

But no one responded.

The ride to Mooncrest was silent.

Two vehicles moved through the evening roads—one carrying Lisa, the other carrying Isabel and Anna. No one spoke. No one tried to fill the space between what had happened and what it meant.

Lisa sat stiffly, her fingers still wrapped around the necklace, her mind replaying the moment over and over again—the feel of Isabel’s hand, the sudden pull at her neck, the portal tearing open where there had been nothing, and the look in Isabel’s eyes that she couldn’t understand no matter how many times she tried.

She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, as if that alone could force the memory into something clearer, something that made sense, but it didn’t. None of it did.

At Mooncrest, Liam and Ethan stood waiting as the motorcade pulled in, tension already written into their posture before the doors even opened.

The moment Lisa stepped out, Liam moved.

He closed the distance in seconds, pulling her into a firm embrace, his grip grounding, steady.

“Are you hurt?” he asked immediately, his voice low but urgent.

Lisa shook her head against him, though her hands clutched at his jacket for a moment longer than necessary.

“They took them,” she said, her voice breaking despite herself. “Sebastian and Ella—they just… they disappeared. We don’t know where they went.”

Liam’s jaw tightened slightly, but his hold on her didn’t loosen.

“We’ll find them,” he said. “I promise you—we’ll find them.”

Lisa nodded, though her gaze drifted past him as movement caught her attention.

The second vehicle had arrived.

The doors opened.

Isabel was the first to be pulled out.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she looked up—and saw Ethan.

Relief flooded her face instantly.

“Ethan!” she called out, struggling slightly against the guards. “You have to listen to me—this is a mistake. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember doing anything, I swear—”

“Take them to the cells,” Liam ordered firmly before she could say more.

The guards moved immediately.

But Isabel didn’t stop.

“Please,” she said again, her voice cracking as she tried to step forward. “You have to believe me—”

Ethan hadn’t moved. He hadn’t spoken. But something had already shifted within him.

The moment she stepped out of the car, he felt it—sudden and undeniable, like something deep within him had been pulled awake without warning. It wasn’t gradual. It didn’t give him time to prepare. It simply was.

A pull. Deep. Unmistakable.

His breath stilled as his eyes locked onto her, his expression tightening as realization cut through him with quiet, brutal clarity. It settled heavily in his chest, leaving no room for doubt, no space for denial.

His mate.

The word formed in his mind before he could stop it, before he could push it away or question it. It stood there, solid and irreversible.

And then the anger followed.

Cold. Immediate. Absolute.

Of all the possibilities he had imagined over the years, of all the outcomes he had prepared himself for, this—this was what the goddess had chosen for him.

His mate… was the one standing in chains.

The one accused.

The one they had just named a traitor.

His jaw tightened, his hands curling slowly at his sides as he stared at her, something darker beginning to rise beneath the surface of his composure. It wasn’t just anger—it was something heavier, something sharper, something he didn’t quite want to name.

He had waited his entire life.

And this was what fate had given him.

Not an answer. Not a reward. But something far more complicated—something that felt like a question he didn’t want to face.

And for the first time, standing there with that truth settling into his bones—

It felt less like destiny…

And more like a cruel joke.