Chapter 96: The Door That Closed

Mrs. Belmont found it rather strange that the earrings were difficult to remove. She called, “Ruelle, help your sister remove it.”

Dizzy, that was how Ruelle felt right now. She heard her mother’s distant voice as she came back to the present. Finding words, she replied slowly, “I don’t know how. I never wore them.”

“Not even once?” Caroline found it amusing and she touched the diamond earrings.

“Be quiet, Caroline. What is going on, Ruelle?” Mrs. Belmont could sense something to be wrong. She noticed how Ruelle looked frozen.

Ruelle didn’t know how to break the news. She felt fear creep into her chest as she could already feel the blame falling on her. But she tried explaining,

“I don’t think they will come off on their own. We might need to involve Sexton for its help. I think these earrings form a contract between Sexton and the one who wears them.”

As if finally dawning in her mind, Caroline’s smile faltered and she asked, “What contract?”

“Slave contract,” Ruelle revealed as her stomach sank. The room then fell eerily quiet.

Caroline let out a laugh and asked, “Tell me you are joking, Ruelle.” But Ruelle shook her head.

Mrs. Belmont’s eyes had widened and soon shock turned to anger. She questioned, “You are telling me that you brought a hexed piece of jewellery into this house?”

Ruelle noticed the hate building in her mother’s eyes. She said,

“I wasn’t aware of what it could do. The earrings are given to the human students. I left them in my trunk. If Caroline hadn’t opened it—”

“I found them in Mother’s room!” Caroline looked livid. “I cannot be a slave!”

“Your father is right…” Mrs. Belmont said in a lowered voice and her face pale as a ghost. She placed her hand on her chest. “You bring nothing but misfortune. You drown anyone who comes near you.”

And again Ruelle felt the blame shift on her even though there was no fault of hers. She tried to calm her voice and asked, “Why did you take them out of my trunk? If you hadn’t taken them, or if she hadn’t worn them—”

“Are you blaming it on me, when you brought that thing?” Mrs. Belmont exclaimed in disbelief. “Look at what you have done to your sister! Oh dear God, what are we going to do if they don’t come out?”

“What do you mean they won’t?” Caroline’s voice rose in nervousness and she started to sweat. “Surely Sexton knows how to remove them!” She suddenly rushed toward Ruelle and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell me they will, Ruelle!”

Ruelle flinched and let out a small cry as Caroline’s hand pressed against the wounds her father had inflicted on her. She pushed her sister away and stumbled back. She had no answers. Only the frightening truth that she herself had only just learned about it.

“Ezekiel will know what to do,” Caroline hoped frantically, turning toward the door as though willing him to appear. “He will talk to the people of Sexton and fix this. He is, after all, an instructor there. And I am a married woman.”

“Y–You…!” Mrs. Belmont pointed at Ruelle, repulsion blazing in her eyes. “This is all because of you. I never should have sent that letter. Bringing you home was a mistake…!”

Caroline stared at Ruelle as if in regret. She uttered, “If you had just stayed at Sexton like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened. I don’t know why I even asked you to come.”

Her sister’s words were nothing less than a knife driven straight into her chest. Her breath shuddered as she tried to gather her thoughts, before reasoning,

“If a knife is bought to cut fruit how is it my fault when someone chooses to wound another with it?” Her voice trembling but steady. “If these had been ordinary jewels, you would have had no objection at all, Caroline. You would have kept them even after I said they were not mine to—”

“I think you should leave,” Mrs. Belmont said coldly as if she had made up her mind. “Leave this house and do not come back.”

Caroline looked taken aback by this and tried to speak in shock, “Mother.”

Ruelle stared at the woman she had called mother all her life. For a moment she thought she had misheard. She repeated, “Leave…?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Belmont replied, crossing her arms. “It is for the best.”

Ruelle felt something inside her break. But she didn’t go against it. She never did. She replied softly, “Okay. I won’t bring you or anyone else any more misfortune.”

“You have brought enough already,” Mrs. Belmont answered with a grim expression. “I don’t know what more could be left.” The older woman turned her face away, as though waiting for Ruelle to disappear.

Ruelle’s lips trembled and she walked to her room. She packed what few things belonged to her, her movements slow and numb. When she returned, she dragged her trunk and set it down near the door.

Caroline looked between Ruelle and their mother. She hesitantly asked, “Mother, don’t you think this is too much?”

“She will only cause problems. I want her gone,” said Mrs. Belmont emotionless.

Ruelle pulled her trunk over the threshold and stepped outside. But before leaving, she turned back to look at the house she had grown up in. The place that held nearly every memory she had.

Swallowing the hurt that bubbled up her throat, she asked, “Did you ever care about me, Mother?”

Mrs. Belmont’s expression did not soften at Ruelle’s words or sight. Instead, she replied,

“Consider this a favour I am doing for you. Your father will do far worse once he learns what has happened here thanks to you.”

Ruelle’s gaze moved to where Caroline stood. Though her sister looked torn she did not stop her from leaving now. With a heavy heart, she offered a bow to them. Her throat felt tight as she turned to walk.

She had only taken a step forward when she heard the front door close with a thud.

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