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My brother gave me a quick look, and I immediately understood.
Taking advantage of the moment when none of the men were paying attention, I dove into the water with a loud splash.
Seeing me successfully escape, my brother followed right after.
“Ryan!”
“Luna!”
The moment we hit the water, our legs transformed into shimmering fish tails.
We swam swiftly toward the open ocean, ignoring the frantic shouts behind us.
On the deserted island, my brother and I finally let our guard down.
After all the years of living cautiously in the city, constantly hiding who we were, never daring to let anyone get too close, we were exhausted.
But now, for the first time, we could relax.
Here, in this hidden corner of the world, we finally had a place where we belonged.
We could swim freely, stretch out our fins, and breathe easy.
My brother’s usual energetic personality returned.
93%
At one point, he even pulled out his phone–it turned out he’d brought it with him all along.
After a month of being offline, he finally powered it back on.
I floated on my back in the water, my tail swishing lazily, watching the endless blue sky above.
Out of curiosity, I glanced over at him and asked, “Hey, don’t you think Holden’s feelings for you are pretty genuine? You really don’t feel anything for him?”
My brother didn’t respond, which was strange. I turned to look at him, only to see his face tense with seriousness as he stared at something.
Following his gaze, I spotted a yacht heading toward the island.
My tail stiffened, and I quickly dove into the water, peeking cautiously at the surface.
“Stay underwater. Don’t come up,” my brother said, his tone firm.
My heart pounded wildly. Were they coming to catch us?
The thought of being dragged to some lab and turned into a science experiment made my blood run cold.
But as the boat drew closer, I froze.
The face on the deck–it was one I hadn’t seen in years, but it was still unmistakable.
It was our mother.
I hadn’t thought about her in so long that her face had faded in my memory, yet here she was, and she looked just as familiar as ever.
She had aged, her features worn down by time, but the expression she wore a sickly sweet, ingratiating demeanor–was exactly the same.
Standing beside her, she said to a man on the boat, “I’m telling the truth! Both of my children are merfolk. I asked around in the village and confirmed they’re
hiding here.”
