Zyra rolled her eyes, watching Lita throw herself into the comforting arms of her mother. "It’s not fair..." She whimpered. "We shall fight this decision." Lita shouted. She looked at Zyra, hoping for a sign of defiance. But to her dismay, Zyra looked on with boredom in her eyes.
Maria didn’t change her mind either. Giving Zyra one last sad look, she walked past her and exited the hall.
With the main event over, the rest of the clan members began to filter out. Some didn’t even bother hiding their smug smiles as they walked past the ’fallen protégé.’
Within minutes, the massive hall was mostly empty. The only people left were Zyra’s foster family and the families of her three fiancés.
Looking at her fiancés and their parents. She could read their expressions perfectly. They wanted absolutely nothing to do with her anymore. In the Zenith Republic, it was a strong law that Soul maidens must marry multiple husbands to pass on their bloodline, producing as many high-quality offspring as possible. Because of this, political engagements were made within days of a Soul maiden being born.
To facilitate the relationships, the fiancé’s and soul maiden grew up together as childhood sweethearts. This proximity was supposed to breed love. But Zyra had learned in her last life, that this was not always the case.
As long as she was ’broken’ and couldn’t produce more Soul maidens, giving them the glory of being fathers of special daughters, she was completely useless to them.
Mr. Wintermere, the father of her first fiancé, Michael Wintermere was the first to speak. He adjusted his expensive collar and scoffed, "Well... this is certainly not what I was expecting when I walked into the hall this morning. What a terrible turn of events."
Mrs. Belamy, the mother of her second fiancé, Clifford Belamy rolled her eyes dramatically. "Let’s be real. What happened to Zyra changes everything. Our families cannot be tied to a broken and useless woman. Without her status and with that snake, she is a waste of air."
Before they could start a long, insulting speech to list all the reasons for dumping her, Zyra decided to beat them to the punch.
"I completely agree," Zyra interrupted, her voice loud and clear. "Because of how events have turned out, I am no longer fit to marry your sons. Consider the engagements officially off."
Shock instantly formed on everyone’s faces. The four fiancés goggled at her, their mouths hanging open. They did not expect this level of audacity from a girl who had just lost everything.
Mrs. Belamy’s face turned bright red with anger. She scoffed loudly, stepping forward. "How dare you! A useless soul maiden dumping sons who come from precious, strong families? Who gave you the right? We are supposed to be the ones calling off the engagements!"
Shane Wayan, her third fiancé, cursed under his breath. He looked incredibly annoyed. "Zyra, do you have any idea how humiliating it will be if the news gets out that you dumped us? Our social value will drop! Other soul maidens might refuse to marry us if they think we were rejected!"
"And by her of all people." Michael hissed.
Zyra actually laughed....a dry, mocking sound. "Oh, don’t flatter yourselves. No one will be hearing the news from me... as long as you keep my name out of your mouths. It doesn’t matter who dumps who, what matters is that it is done."
Her eyes, usually warm and kind, were suddenly ice-cold and dead serious. The sheer intensity of her gaze made Shane step back.
Hans Duggar, her fourth fiancé, who had been quiet the whole time, crossed his arms and sneered. "Fine. You want to dump us and act tough? Go ahead. But you are to return every single cent of the dowry our families paid to your family over the years. Right now."
"What?!" Samuel, Zyra’s foster father, and Mrs. Munch, chorused in absolute horror.
"That is completely unfair!" Mrs. cried, wringing her hands. "Breaking the engagements is enough humiliation for our poor Zyra! You don’t have to add financial ruin to it!"
Mr. Samuel Frood immediately stepped forward, his palms sweating. "Mr. Wintermere, Mrs. Belamy, please. My family is her family and we are not financially strong enough to pay back four huge dowries all at once! The Scorpion Estate is barely worth anything now. We don’t have that kind of money!"
Zyra looked at her sweating foster father, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips. She knew exactly what kind of people they were. They had been secretly working toward her downfall behind the scenes for a long time. All that dowry had been gobbled by them.
"It’s fine," Zyra said smoothly. She turned her sharp gaze back to her ex-fiancés. "I will pay back the dowry myself." She had accumulated a significant private fund over the years. Half could pay the dowry, and half would fund her life going forward.
Her words froze the entire room.
"Zyra, are you insane?!" Mrs. Munch whispered frantically, grabbing her arm. "You have little my dear! You don’t have a single coin to your name except your parent’s house, and now you are dishonored! Where will you get that kind of money?"
Mrs. Belamy smirked, clearly enjoying the drama. "If you’re going to act like a big shot, fine. Also, you must return all the formal betrothal letters to us by tonight."
"I will return them when I get the time, or better still pick them up yourselves," Zyra said without a single shred of hesitation. All she wanted was to cut every single toxic tie with these people.
Lita immediately moved to stand right beside Zyra, putting on a worried face. She grabbed Zyra’s hand, her voice dripping with fake sisterly concern. "Zyra, stop being so impulsive! After everything that happened today, cutting your connection to these powerful families is a horrible move. They are the only ones who can protect a broken soul maiden like you!"
Zyra smoothly yanked her hand out of Lita’s grasp. "Protection my ass," she whispered, just loud enough for Lita to hear.
Lita froze, her fake worried expression cracking for a fraction of a second.
Zyra looked around the room one last time. She looked at her twin brother. He wouldn’t even look her in the eye. He was already planning his next steps. Letting out a long, liberating sigh, Zyra turned around. "Pick up the money and betrothal letters from the grand elder. Let’s never see each other again. It will be nice not knowing you in future." She didn’t slink away in shame. Instead, she marched out of the grand hall like a reigning queen, her head held high and her shoulders perfectly straight.
"Zyra! Wait! Please!" Mrs. Munch ran after her while calling out to the remaining families, "I am so sorry, everyone! She is just traumatized after losing her awakening! She’s making rash decisions; she doesn’t mean it!"
Behind them, the ex-fiancés just stood there in the empty hall, staring at the heavy double doors Zyra had just walked through. They were completely bewildered, wondering what on earth had just come over her.
She wasn’t the sweet, spoiled, Zyra they knew. She was someone entirely different. Her eyes held no love. No hate. No expectations. They held nothing.