Chapter 221: MORE ROTTEN.

AVERY’S POV:

Thaddeus and I didn’t speak much during the ride. He knew better than to fill the silence when my thoughts were unraveling in all directions—when I was bleeding from places no stitches could reach.

My blood-streaked dress clung to my skin, black on black, sticky and cold. If anyone had seen the stains under the headlights, they would’ve screamed. But black was mercy. It concealed what my heart screamed.

By the time we pulled up to the psychiatric hospital, the place had fallen into that eerie nighttime hush. Most of the staff were either gone for the day or worn down to their bones, shuffling from corridor to corridor with slow, tired feet. The patients, too, were subdued—some muttering softly to themselves, others sleeping with haunted faces pressed to narrow pillows.

I stepped out of the car, ignoring the cold. My heels clicked on the pavement, the loudest sound to be heard.

It took all of two seconds before the front guard stiffened, squinting at me. “Ma’am—excuse me, visiting hours are over. You can’t be—” As if he recognized me, he pulled back. "Hey you! You came some months back and she didn't want to see you. What are you doing here again?"

Hey you?

How dare a measly guard talk to me like that? I almost smacked him across the face. But, there was no need for that. I had a far more important business to handle.

Two nurses hurried over. “Ma’am, are you bleeding? You need to leave immediately. Let us get you a—”

I didn’t speak. I simply pulled out my phone and dialed the head of the hospital.

“Dr. Ellison,” I said when he picked up. “It’s Avery Blackwood. I’m at your gate. Open it. Now.”

A sharp. Then his voice came through, stammered and startled. “Y-yes, of course, Mrs. Blackwood. My apologies. I’ll alert staff immediately.”

I ended the call, and within seconds, the security guard’s walkie-talkie crackled. His expression changed. Confusion turned to shame.

“Ma’am, I—I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “We didn’t—please forgive us. You’re cleared to enter.”

“Try not to stop me again,” I murmured as I passed him.

The nurses stepped aside, eyes lowered.

Thaddeus followed two steps behind as I walked. I knew the way.

This visit wasn’t for questioning like the last time.This was justice.

We reached her corridor. It was dimly lit, and quiet. No security in sight.

I didn’t knock.

I lifted my foot and kicked the door open with a loud bang. The wood splintered under the heel of my boot.

The room was pitched black but streaks of light from the outside illuminated the room. It made it easy for me to find the switch, flipping on the light.

Lyra was already in bed, tucked beneath cheap institutional sheets, her hair braided like some sad little girl waiting for bedtime prayers. Her eyes blinked rapidly at the sudden brightness, disoriented.

“What the—” she growled, scrambling to her feet, fury already rising. “Who the hell do you think you are?! Barging in here like—”

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw me.

Saw the blood.

Saw the black dress soaked at the hem.

Saw the fire in my eyes.

Her posture faltered just a little.

“Surprised to see me so soon?” I said, stepping fully into the room.

“Oh,” she sneered, forcing composure. “It’s you. The prodigal disappointment. Come to check if your precious mummy’s still mad? How sweet.”

I stared at her. At the face of the woman who raised me only to ruin me.

“You’re not my mother,” I said coldly. “You’re just the monster who fed every broken part of Astrid and let it grow fangs.”

Her lips curled.

“What do you want, Avery? It’s late. Don’t you have an empire to pretend you earned?”

“I’m not here to talk about me.” I stepped closer. “I’m here to talk about Astrid.”

That wiped the smirk from her face.

“What about her?”

“She’s dead,” I said flatly. “She tried to kill me. Again. And the baby I’m carrying.”

Lyra flinched.

I waited for her reaction—anything resembling grief. Regret. Shock.

Lyra’s expression twisted as I circled her like a lion stalking its prey. She shifted beneath her expensive silk pyjamas—champagne gold with black piping—clearly tailored for comfort, but even more for vanity. She always dressed like royalty, even in an institution.

“How dare you touch my child?” she started, already rising from her bed.

“You’re a fucking disgrace,” I cut her off.

“You manipulated Astrid into becoming a greedy, hollow version of herself. You fed her poison disguised as love, ruined her with your twisted ambition, and then tried to erase me the moment I didn’t fit your sick design. You used me, beat me into submission, made me believe I was worthless. And when you realized I was stronger than you—when you saw I could thrive without you—you burned everything to the ground.”

She scoffed, but I saw her throat twitch, the faint ripple of nerves crawling up her neck.

“You ruined lives,” I said. “And not just ours. You left a trail of wreckage behind you especially Wilder.”

Lyra’s eyes burned with rage. “You little ingrate! I should’ve drowned you the day I found you. You think you're strong because you killed Astrid? You haven’t even begun to suffer.”

Her voice deepened, venomous. “I swear on everything I have left, Avery, I’ll hurt you where you’ll never recover. I’ll rip that thing growing inside you from your womb myself. I’ll—”

I burst out laughing like a crazed woman.

"I'm tired of everyone threatening my child. You're not even remorseful that you led your child to death?"

She let out a slow exhale and smoothed her nightgown.

“She was always weak,” Lyra replied, voice ice-cold. “Always desperate for validation. If she failed, that’s on her.”

I stared at her. “You handed your daughter a scalpel and told her to carve a path to power. You can’t be shocked she started with herself.”

Lyra met my gaze, expression unreadable. “And you? What do you want, Avery? Closure? Or do you just want someone else to blame?”

“No,” I said softly. “I came to end everything."

“You’re a cruel girl,” she said finally. “Always were.”

“No,” I said. “You just never knew what it looked like when someone survived you.” Turning slightly toward the door,.“Thaddeus,” I called sweetly over my shoulder, “be a dear and use that height of yours to knock out every single CCTV in this room. Serena will wipe it clean later.”

Thaddeus raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak. He moved swiftly smashing the cameras embedded in the corners of the ceiling, the faint hum of the power feed dying with each crack.

Lyra’s voice wavered. “W-What’s going on, Avery?”

Now she was trembling.

Good.

My eyes landed on the small coffee table across the room. A white porcelain bowl sat atop it, filled with neatly sliced apples and strawberries. A paring knife rested beside it.

How poetic and what a beautiful coincidence.

I snatched it up, the blade light in my grip—too light for the kind of justice I wanted to wield, but it would do.

“I let you off the first time,” I said, walking toward her. “And you caused chaos. You should have stayed in prison."

She backed away from the bed, hands raised. “Avery, don’t. I didn’t—this isn’t the way—”

“You made me this way,” I snapped. “Every scream you forced down my throat, every bruise I wore because of you, every piece of my soul you shattered... You made me.”

She tried to run.

But I was faster.

I lunged, slamming her back into the bedpost, driving the knife into her chest. Her mouth opened in a stunned gasp.

“This is how I ended Astrid too,” I whispered against her ear.

Her body spasmed beneath me as I drove the knife in again. And again. And again.

Blood soaked through her satin pajamas like wine on silk.

Her eyes rolled back. Her limbs twitched. I didn’t stop.

Ten times. Maybe more.

I let her fall off the bed and hit the floor with a hollow, lifeless thud.

I stood over her body, breath hitching, blood dripping from my elbow.

“Say hello to Astrid for me,” I muttered.

Thaddeus hadn’t moved. He just stood by the door, arms folded, watching me like he couldn’t quite recognize me anymore.

“Call Serena,” I said calmly, like I hadn’t just butchered someone. “Tell her to deepfake Lyra onto the CCTV footage—make it look like she did this to herself. Then write a suicide note. Make sure it says she ended her life after receiving the tragic news of Astrid’s death.”

I stepped around the body and grabbed a napkin from the fruit tray, wiping the blood from my fingers. “No one will look for Astrid. She doesn’t exist anymore. So this will be easy.”

Thaddeus cleared his throat. “What about the nurses? The security? The hospital director who saw us come in?”

“I’ll call Dr. Ellison. He’ll make sure every lip is sealed. Or I’ll seal it for them,” I said, my voice steel. “And if anyone even thinks about speaking out, they’ll lose more than their jobs.”

I turned for the door. “I’ll be waiting in the car. Clean up quickly.”

As I walked out of the room, I didn’t feel regret.

I only felt one thing.

Resolve.