Chapter 74
Next morning
the rain had cleared. Shane took a call and went out in a hurry.
His car headed straight to our home. Why was he going there now? Could it be that he had found some clue about me?
In the front yard stood several workers. When Shane arrived, the man leading the workers stepped forward and said, “Mr. Lundberg, the sculpture you requested has been installed. What do you think?”
A sculpture!
I quickly turned my gaze to the object wrapped in the waterproof fabric. When I showed up here last night, I had already sensed that something of mine, either blood or flesh, was here.
But I never expected it to be in a sculpture.
What had Shane commissioned?
The ropes securing the waterproof cover had already been untied. Shane gripped onto a corner of the cloth and yanked it hard.
The waterproof cloth fell away with a whoosh.
Water droplets scattered in all directions as the sculpture was unveiled, and its true form came
into view.
I recognized it instantly. It was the water goddess, Undine.
The craftsmanship was extraordinary.
The goddess was draped in a translucent veil, and her hands lifted gracefully upward. The soaked fabric clung to her body, vividly capturing every texture and detail. From the folds of the gown to the barely visible form beneath, the sculpture brought the goddess to life with breathtaking realism.
When I looked closer, I was shocked. The face of the water goddess bore an uncanny resemblance to mine!
The legend of Undine came to mind. She was a water spirit without a soul and could only gain one by marrying a human. But if her husband betrayed her, she would kill him.
This statue portrayed the goddess rising from the water, draped in a white veil, and her hands lifted as if ready to claim the life of her unfaithful spouse.
At that moment, the goddess was both devastatingly beautiful and filled with unimaginable
wrath.
Unlike typical sculptures, the exposed skin of this figure had a flesh tone, adding to its eerie
Chapter
realism.
“Are you
satisfied with this, Mr. Lundberg?” The foreman asked.
Shane’s gaze remained fixed on the goddess‘ face as he murmured, “Her face…”
“Oh, right. The sculptor heard that you commissioned this statue for your wife. We also heard about your deep affection for your wife and that the sculpture will be placed in your home. So, he boldly decided to model the goddess face after hers. Is that alright, Mr. Lundberg?”
If the foreman hadn’t looked so genuine, I would’ve thought he was being sarcastic.
Shane had deep affection for me? What a hilarious joke.
Yet, Shane seemed pleased with the statue. “It’s good. I’ll have someone settle the final payment shortly.”
“Then we’ll leave you to it, Mr. Lundberg.”
The workers packed up and left the villa, leaving Shane alone with the statue.
He stared greedily at the face, and his eyes were filled with regret. “Ally, you once said that if I ever betrayed you, you’d become a water goddess and take your revenge on me…”
I did say that before. But I was only joking at the time.
We had grown up together since childhood, and never in my wildest dreams did I think my childhood sweetheart, would one day betray me.
Yet fate, in its twisted humor, brought the legend of a soulless water goddess together with me -a soul now without a body.
The statue depicted the moment before the goddess exacted her revenge on her unfaithful husband. Just like her, my revenge had yet to begin. Yet, I no longer had the chance.
During my absence, the garden had become overgrown with weeds. Shane called in landscapers to tidy it up and instructed the housekeepers to clean the entire house thoroughly.
When he stepped into our bedroom, his gaze fell on the bed sheets from that fateful wedding night. It was the sheets that had borne witness to his betrayal with Amber. And it made him
frown.
“Change the bedding entirely,” Shane ordered the helpers coldly.
The housekeeper hesitated and said cautiously. “But it’s still brand new. Why not wait until Mrs. Lundberg returns and uses it before washing?”
She had no idea. This place had long since been defiled. Shane, did you also think that it was filthy?
