THE HEIRESS VOW - Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Echoes of Desperation
The air thickened around Ava, suffocating in its silence, broken only by the eerie whisper of the abyss beneath her feet. The chasm stretched wide and hungry, swirling with darkness, tendrils of shadow beckoning her closer, luring her into its depths. She teetered on the precipice, arms trembling, heart racing as though it was trying to outrun the inevitable.

“You feel it, don’t you?” The sorceress’s voice dripped with venom, her words snaking into Ava’s ears, poisoning her thoughts. “The power, the release. It’s calling you, Ava. Everything you’ve ever wanted… just beyond that edge.”

Ava’s breath hitched. Everything she wanted. Freedom from the pain, the betrayal, the constant ache in her chest that had become her companion. But at what cost? She glanced at Lucas—weak, shackled, barely able to stand. His once strong form was now frail, a shell of the man he had been. His eyes, however, remained unyielding, locked on her with a mixture of desperation and unwavering determination.

“Ava,” he rasped, voice cracking with the weight of his agony. “Don’t… give in. Please.”

Ava clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. How could he ask her that? After everything? How dare he? Her throat tightened with fury as the memories flooded back—the lies, the betrayals, the web of deception he had spun around her. Lucas had played her like a puppet, pulled her strings and watched her dance. And yet… he still looked at her as if she was his salvation. As if, somehow, she was still the answer to his suffering.

A cruel laugh escaped her lips. “Why shouldn’t I give in?” Her voice was a low snarl, sharp with bitterness. “What is left for me in this world, Lucas? More lies? More betrayal?”

The sorceress stepped forward, her silhouette blending with the darkness, almost indistinguishable from the abyss itself. “Exactly,” she purred, circling Ava like a predator closing in on its prey. “He lied to you. They all did. But here, with me, you will never be weak again. Never be betrayed. No one will ever use you again, Ava. The abyss will set you free.”

Freedom. The word echoed in Ava’s mind like a bell tolling in a distant, unreachable place. Free from the pain that gnawed at her every moment. Free from the guilt of her past, from the endless loop of heartache. She closed her eyes, and in the darkness, she saw it—the power she could wield, the control she would finally have. She would be untouchable. Untouchable, invincible, alone.

But then Lucas’s voice broke through, weak but insistent, a thread of hope pulling her back from the edge. “Ava… You know who you are. Don’t let her make you forget.”

Her eyes snapped open, and the abyss snarled in response, furious at being denied. The sorceress hissed, eyes flashing with frustration as she took a step closer to Ava. “He doesn’t deserve your mercy,” she spat, her voice rising, growing sharper with every word. “He’s a liar, a manipulator. You owe him nothing!”

Ava’s breath came in ragged gasps as the ground beneath her cracked, the very fabric of the world seeming to tremble under the weight of her indecision. She could feel the abyss tugging at her, promising her everything she’d ever wanted. But Lucas—Lucas’s eyes still held her, still saw her, even after all the damage, all the lies.

“You lied to me,” Ava whispered, her voice barely audible above the roar of the abyss. “You used me, Lucas.”

His head bowed slightly, as if the weight of her words was too much to bear. “I did,” he admitted, his voice rough, raw. “I thought… I thought I was protecting you. But I was wrong. I’m so sorry, Ava. But if you go into that abyss, you’ll lose more than me. You’ll lose yourself.”

The sorceress let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Isn’t that the point, Ava?” Her words cut through the air like a blade. “She wants to lose herself. She’s tired, Lucas. Tired of pain, tired of being used, tired of you.”

Ava recoiled at the truth in those words. She was tired. Every bone in her body screamed for release, for an end to the constant agony. The abyss would swallow her whole, erase her past, erase her heartache, erase… everything.

But wasn’t that the cost? The real cost?

“You don’t know her!” Lucas’s voice rang out, sudden and fierce, cutting through the darkness. His eyes flared with a passion Ava hadn’t seen in him before. “She’s stronger than you think. Stronger than this. Ava, you don’t need the abyss! You don’t need her.”

A bitter laugh tore from Ava’s lips, her eyes flashing as she turned to face him. “Don’t I?” she snapped. “You think I’m strong? You think I don’t need this? After everything—after all your lies—what else is there for me but this?”

Lucas swallowed hard, his chest heaving with the effort of staying upright. “There’s us,” he whispered, voice breaking. “There’s still us, Ava.”

His words struck her like a hammer, shattering the fragile wall she’d built around her heart. Us. The word tasted bitter in her mouth, so sweet and yet so full of betrayal. Could there still be an us after everything they’d been through? Could she ever forgive him? Could she ever forgive herself?

The sorceress, sensing her hesitation, struck like a viper. “There is no ‘us,’ Ava!” she hissed. “Look at him! He’s weak, broken, dying. And even if you save him now, he’ll betray you again. They always do. But you—” she stepped closer, her breath hot on Ava’s neck, “you could be more. So much more. The abyss will give you power, Ava. Power to control your destiny, to control everything.”

Ava’s head spun, her heart a wild storm of conflicting emotions. Power. Control. Freedom. The abyss offered it all. But then she looked at Lucas, really looked at him, and saw the truth etched into every line of his face, every painful breath he took.

She could choose power. She could choose control. She could even choose freedom. But if she did, she would lose him. Forever.

“Make your choice, Ava,” the sorceress demanded, her voice rising in pitch, urgency creeping into her tone. “The abyss or him. You can’t have both.”

Ava’s heart pounded in her chest, her pulse racing as the darkness surged around her, growing louder, hungrier. The abyss demanded an answer. The sorceress’s patience was running thin. And Lucas… Lucas was fading.

The ground beneath her cracked again, the abyss reaching out with clawed tendrils, desperate to pull her in. She could feel the power, the promise of it, coursing through her veins, beckoning her closer. But her eyes never left Lucas.

He was the one thing that tethered her to this world. The one thing that reminded her of who she truly was. Not a vessel for the abyss. Not a pawn in the sorceress’s game.

Ava.

With a cry that ripped through the air, Ava turned, her hand shooting out—not toward the abyss, not toward the sorceress, but toward Lucas. Her fingers wrapped around his, cold and trembling, but alive.

The sorceress let out a scream of rage, her body flickering like a dying flame as the abyss recoiled, denied its prize. “You fool!” she screeched, her voice rising to a fever pitch. “You’ve thrown away everything! You will regret this!”

Ava’s chest heaved with exertion, tears streaming down her face as she clung to Lucas’s hand. “Maybe,” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. “Maybe I will. But not today.”

The sorceress’s form dissolved into the shadows, her parting words echoing in the air. “The abyss is never denied, Ava. It will come for you. It always does.”

As the last of the sorceress’s words faded into the void, Ava collapsed into Lucas’s arms, his warmth enveloping her like a lifeline. She didn’t know what the future held, didn’t know if she could ever forgive him for his lies, but she knew one thing.

She had made her choice.

For now, that was enough.