Chapter 1
The day I followed my husband, Jacob Sterling, to the Celestial Realm, I was carrying twins.
I hadn't told him yet. I wanted to surprise him.
But after we arrived, his beloved Rosalind Walsh came to see me and ended up injuring her eyes.
Jacob was sure it was my doing. He said I was jealous, that I'd hurt her out of spite.
"Rosalind is the Holy Maiden, pure and flawless. How could she possibly frame you?" he said.
"Just as I thought, you're nothing but a lowly mortal, always using dirty tricks," someone sneered.
Jacob personally gouged out my eyes, as compensation to Rosalind.
He had me watched day and night, only letting them feed me scraps and cold leftovers.
Pregnant with twins and starved, I curled up in agony, growing weaker each day.
I begged him to spare our children, but he just accused me of being manipulative and willing to do anything for my own gain.
"Our family has only ever had one heir in three generations. How could a lowly mortal like you possibly be carrying twins?" he sneered.
"Alison, you just don't know when to quit, do you? Even now, you still dare to lie to me," he spat.
He ordered them to take away what little food I had, leaving nothing behind.
To survive, I had no choice but to scramble with the dogs for whatever bits I could find.
Then, on the day he married Rosalind, he forced me, his mortal wife, to attend.
"Drag Alison over here and make her bless our union. If she performs, maybe she'll earn her dinner," he sneered.
Fear gripped the entire hall.
After all, the road to the Divine Culling Altar was already stained with my blood.
*****
"Tell Alison to get over here and apologize to Rosalind," Jacob said with icy contempt.
"Lord Sterling, Lady Lowell... she's gone. Yesterday, she said she was heading to the Divine Culling Altar. She really seemed determined this time," the maid, Moira Archer, stammered.
Jacob just scoffed, unmoved.
He sneered, "The Divine Culling Altar? She's just a mortal. If she jumps, her spirit will be wiped out for good. Would she really throw her life away like that?
"No one knows her better than I do. She's just making a scene because she can't stand the thought of me marrying Rosalind."
Moira kept her head down, her voice shaking as she stammered, "But... Lady Lowell said she's pregnant with twins."
"Ridiculous!" Jacob snapped, cutting her off before she could finish.
Something in her words made him snap. His anger boiled over, nearly beyond control.
He shot back, his tone dripping with contempt, "My family has only ever had one heir in three generations. How could a lowly mortal like her possibly be carrying twins?
"She'd do anything just to get my attention."
Moira kept her head so low that it was practically touching the floor, too scared to say another word.
Just then, Rosalind wrapped her arm around Jacob's and spoke in a gentle, almost patronizing tone.
"Why not send someone to look for her? Alison's just a mortal. Surely, we wouldn't want her to actually end up at the Divine Culling Altar, would we?" she said sweetly.
Jacob let out a cold laugh. "No need."
"She's blind. How could she possibly find her way there?" he sneered.
Just a blind woman.
My spirit hovered above, coldly watching it all play out.
Right, I was a blind woman who couldn't even see where I was going.
How could I ever make it to the Divine Culling Altar?
Even though I was blind, I never forgot anything I'd seen before. Not a single detail.
Back when Jacob first showed me the Divine Culling Altar, I burned that path into my memory.
But now, blind as I was, all I could do was grope my way forward, feeling my way through the darkness.
Pregnant and starving—Jacob wouldn't even let me eat—I barely had the strength to stand, let alone walk.
So I just clung to my swollen belly and crawled forward, inch by miserable inch.
When I finally crawled up to the steps of the Divine Culling Altar, they were slick with blood.
My trembling fingers touched the cold edge.
Back in the hall, Rosalind chuckled lightly, her tone playful, "Jacob, you really shouldn't speak of Alison that way. If she heard you, she'd be so hurt."
She sighed softly, delicately.
"Honestly, it's all my fault. If only I'd been more careful, I wouldn't have lost my sight," she said, her voice laced with gentle regret.
"And you wouldn't have had to punish Alison because of me," she added, her words dripping with sweet, false remorse.
Jacob suddenly squeezed her hand, his voice laced with fury.
"She brought all this on herself. I gave her the title Lady Lowell, and it still wasn't enough for her," he growled.
"If she hadn't schemed against you, she wouldn't have ended up like this!" he spat.
Did I really bring this on myself?
I laughed, but it was hollow.
But soon, I couldn't even force a bitter smile.
Maybe I really did bring all this on myself.