The Prophecy That Destroyed Us

The day I cross paths with Aileen Jordan again, I've just finished a deep-sea haul. Unlike her, standing composed on the cruise ship deck, I'm sprawled on a battered fishing boat reeking of fish and salt, too exhausted to lift a finger. Even so, her first instinct is to step in front of Mateo Bowers, my former friend, shielding him from me. It takes a moment before she realizes that ten years have passed since she got that prophetic phone call. Mateo won't be beaten to death by thugs on my orders, and I won't pick up a knife and try to take them down with me. She hesitates, then says, "Hendrick, none of what that call predicted is going to happen now. We're here to take you home." I don't answer. I just force a faint smile and reach for the oars, ready to push off. Mateo calls out to me, his gaze swimming with mixed emotions. "Hendrick, I know you still hate me. But if you won't think about yourself, think about your kid. "You took on the hardest, most backbreaking fishing jobs just to stay alive. Wasn't it all so you could wait for Aileen to come for you?" I offer no explanation and never look back. At the very end of my life, I have neither the strength nor the time left to deal with them. I just want to save enough money to reach that deserted island and lie in endless sleep beside the child who has waited for me for so many years. Chapter 1 The sound of the crashing waves couldn't drown out the hurried footsteps behind me. Aileen Jordan grabbed my hand. "Hendrick, are you still blaming me? When I divorced you back then, it was for everyone's good. Since none of those things happened, you—" Before she could finish her sentence, I abruptly snatched my hand back, cutting her off. Catching the pained look on my face, Aileen froze. "What's wrong with you?" I took a step back and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with a trembling hand. Only then did I finally meet her gaze. Her beauty remained unchanged, only richer now with a mature, timeless grace. Even Mateo Bowers, standing right behind her, was clearly well taken care of. Gone was the timid, self-conscious salt worker I once knew. Meanwhile, years of illness had already taken a severe toll on my body. Back then, no matter how hard she pushed me into a corner, I refused to break. Now, I was like rotting wood, fragile and aching at the lightest touch. But none of this was worth explaining to her anymore. With tremendous effort, I bent down, hoisted my fishing net onto my back, and turned to leave. I didn't have time to waste. After all, if the catch wasn't fresh, it wouldn't fetch a reasonable price. "Hendrick, wait!" Mateo's anxious voice called out from behind. He reached out to pull me back, catching hold of the net. The net ripped with a loud tear, spilling fresh seafood onto the ground, where it flailed and scattered in every direction. A few even landed on Aileen's shoes. Before she could react, a pale Mateo snatched her into his arms. He moved so fast that he nearly knocked me over. Once he caught his breath, Mateo asked awkwardly, "Hendrick, are you okay?" He kept his arm around Aileen. Underneath her silk dress, her belly showed a subtle bump. "She almost died because of you back then. She's pregnant now, so I have to be careful." At his words, suspicion and wariness flared in Aileen's eyes once again. The trauma I had left her with ran too deep to fade, even after ten years. She still remembered how I had dragged Mateo to the rooftop in a fit of madness, screaming that I wanted him dead. In the end, Aileen had me committed to a psychiatric hospital. Back then, she had stared at me through the iron bars, her eyes filled with pure disgust. "That prophetic phone call was right. You're just a lunatic who'll kill Mateo and ruin everyone's lives." This time, though, I didn't break down or go crazy like I used to. I just got on my knees. My hands moved frantically as I tried to gather the scattered fish and shrimp. As Aileen watched me, her brows knitted together more and more tightly. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed me. "Enough! Look at yourself! Have you forgotten who you used to be? Don't you feel like a joke doing this for a few worthless fish?" Right. If she hadn't brought it up, I would've forgotten I was once a prominent marine biologist. I swallowed the metallic taste of blood in my throat and met her gaze with hollow, lifeless eyes. "And who do you think turned me into a joke?" I signed. Aileen froze. Her eyes locked onto my hands as I fluently signed the words. Her voice trembled. "What happened… to your voice?" Chapter 2 My voice was ruined ten years ago. That was supposed to be the most fulfilling year of my life. My family was whole, and my career was thriving. Industry interviews poured in nonstop. Aileen had even planned a unique underwater proposal for me back then. Beside the brilliant coral reefs, she gently slid a butterflyfish ring—a symbol of eternal loyalty—onto my finger. On dozens of submersibles surrounding us, the same message flashed across the lights. "Hendrick, I will love you faithfully until the day I die." Sadly, that grand proposal didn't quite end on a sweet note. Mateo was still just a salt worker back then when he happened to fall into the water. After he was pulled out, I brought him to the changing room to dry off. Back then, Mateo was dark, frail, and always carried a trace of self-doubt whenever he met anyone. I felt bad for him and began to care for him like a real brother, helping him out wherever I could. I gave him a job and invited him into my academic research and my personal life. He hungrily absorbed everything I taught him. He even copied my mannerisms and way of doing things down to a T. Even Aileen would sometimes look momentarily dazed when she saw him, before her brows drew together in annoyance. "I don't need you doing pointless things for me like picking me up from work or delivering hangover remedies. Besides, you shouldn't copy Hendrick in everything. You aren't him, understand?" Mateo stood awkwardly behind me, offering an embarrassed reply that he only wanted to repay my kindness. Back then, I truly valued him. Yet his way of repaying me was to turn my celebration party into the occasion for Dad to acknowledge him as his son. How laughable. The person I trusted as a close friend turned out to be Dad's illegitimate son. Overnight, I lost the father I relied on and trusted. Mom was so overcome with rage that she suffered a heart attack and became bedridden. I couldn't accept it. I was the one who had invited the enemy into our home and brought about Mom's downfall. Wracked with guilt and self-blame, I knelt by Mom's hospital bed night after night until my legs went numb. During those dark days, Aileen was the one who stood firmly by my side. She had told me it wasn't my fault, promised she would never betray me, and assured me she would always be my rock. I had believed her completely, leaning on her support to pull myself together again. Yet when I returned from a three-month deep-sea research mission, I found her and Mateo tangled in passion in the very bed we shared. At that moment, I lost my mind. Before I even realized what I was doing, I'd grabbed Mateo by the collar, slammed him to the ground, and screamed at him. Mateo fell to his knees in front of me, his face flushed with shame. "Hendrick, I'm sorry. Don't blame Aileen. She just missed you so much that she mistook me for you after drinking too much." But the mix of fresh and fading hickeys and scratch marks across his skin proved this was no one-night mistake. Those marks cut into my heart like a blade. Blind with rage, I hurled everything within reach at Mateo. But Aileen stepped in front of him and looked at me with a conflicted gaze. "Hendrick, during the three months you were gone, I got a phone call from the future. The caller said I would fall in love with Mateo. I tried ignoring the prophecy, but I failed." I asked her why. Aileen merely let out a sigh, looking as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Just think of it as me wanting someone who cares about me, someone I can trust and count on to be there when I need him. Hendrick, I was too lonely. Mateo is different. He's like you, but he loves me more." I froze on the spot, stunned beyond belief. I couldn't accept that the woman who once encouraged me to pursue my work and dreams had become someone who complained that I was too ambitious and didn't give her enough attention. I let out a bitter laugh. I couldn't bear to admit that after losing my family, I was losing my love, too. Besides, Aileen was three months pregnant with our baby. My voice rasped as I spoke. "If you want him, what about our baby?" Chapter 3 Aileen moved her lips, looking at me as if she had something to say but held back. I couldn't read her expression. All I knew was that, because of the baby, it felt like I had somehow gained the upper hand again. So she agreed even when I demanded that she send Mateo away and never let him show his face in front of me again. Yet, a hollow ache remained deep in my chest. As I stood in our home, every corner seemed tainted with the memory of Aileen and Mateo together. With nowhere else to go, I spent night after night sitting by Mom's bed while she remained unconscious. Aileen eventually came to find me, bringing the tailored suit I was supposed to wear for our wedding. Her eyes offered no warmth when she looked at me. She sneered. "Hendrick Watson, isn't this exactly what you wanted?" On our wedding day, the venue was packed with guests, but Dad was nowhere to be seen. The man who once promised to prepare the most enviable gift for my wedding now hated my guts for driving away his illegitimate son. After the marriage, my mental state worsened to the point where I couldn't focus on my research. I had no choice but to take an extended leave to recover at home. My life shrank into a dull loop between the hospital and home. Until one day, I went to the office to pick up some files. As I approached, Dad's voice drifted out from inside. "Mateo, take your time settling in here. I've had the doctor increase the dose of the medication that's worsening Hendrick's depression. He won't be recovering anytime soon, so he won't have the energy to come by." I froze, paralyzed by shock. Then came Aileen's voice, "It's good that you want to excel, but take care of yourself too. Don't push yourself too hard." As she spoke, she adjusted Mateo's messy collar. Staring at the wedding ring on her finger, I felt as though my heart had been gouged out raw. It turned out that Mateo had never been sent away. Even my severe physical symptoms were caused by the drugs she and Dad secretly gave me, all to get back at me on Mateo's behalf. I burst in and raised hell. This time, though, Aileen didn't back down. She took Mateo's hand and looked at me with pure impatience. "It's just a job. Be reasonable. You owe him this." But what on earth did I owe Mateo? He was the one who ruined my family and stole my lover. And now, even the last thing I had left—my career—was stripped away by him. Shouldn't I be the one suffering here? Resentment grew wild within me like weeds. I gathered every piece of evidence showing Aileen's infidelity and Mateo usurping my position. Yet barely two hours after I mailed the folder, Aileen threw it back at me. Resting on top was a hospital bill. Aileen glared at me coldly. "Hendrick, you need to know when to back down. If you won't think of yourself, at least think of your mom. Besides me, who else is going to foot the bill to keep her alive?" Thinking of Mom, who was still unconscious in her hospital bed, I surrendered. From that day on, Aileen paraded around with Mateo without a care in the world. She went aurora-chasing and soaked in hot springs with him. Everything she had once done with me, she did again with Mateo. Then, on the day of their wedding, Mom woke up. Stumbling her way to the chapel, she arrived just in time to see me kneeling on the floor, forced to act as a human stepstool for the groomsmen's party games. The cheap suit I wore was covered in filthy footprints. Through the guests' sympathetic or mocking whispers, Mom pieced everything together. Her face turned pale. Without saying a single word, she turned around and went back to the hospital. Late that night, she climbed onto the hospital roof and sent me her final message. "Hendrick, I can't drag you down anymore. You deserve to be free." Chapter 4 Crushed under the weight of immense shock and agony, I developed self-destructive tendencies. It took Mom's life to finally buy a shred of Aileen's remorse. She stayed by my bedside day and night, keeping watch so I wouldn't do anything reckless. She promised to spend the rest of her days carving out time to make it up to me. Even Mateo apologized in a hoarse voice. "I didn't mean for your mother to find out. I had no idea someone would reach out to her…" Yet in his eyes, there was no regret, only provocation and satisfaction. He had lured Mom to the wedding on purpose. At that moment, pure hatred burned away whatever sanity I had left. Like a lunatic, I dragged him up to the rooftop, screaming for him to pay with his life. Aileen rushed over, putting her heavily pregnant body on the line to shield him. The strain triggered premature labor, forcing her into an emergency delivery. I waited outside her hospital room for a day and a night, wracked with guilt. Yet when she woke up, she pushed me away with utter disgust, refusing even to look at the child she had nearly died giving birth to. "Hendrick, are you satisfied now? Your child almost killed me! If you keep acting like a lunatic, your mother's death will only be the beginning of the punishment you deserve." My mind went completely blank. I stared at her in a daze. In that single instant, every trace of love and hate seemed to burn into ash. All energy drained from my body, leaving only a bitter smile on my face. "Forget it, Aileen. I'm letting you go. We're done." Aileen froze, her grip unconsciously slackening. Mateo, however, chimed in indignantly, as though he were in the right. "Aileen, the phone call's prophecy has already come true. He almost got you killed, and now he's driving me to my death. Are you really going to let him leave? "I refuse to let his child call me a useless coward every day like in the prophecy, nor do I want to be dragged off to the black market and humiliated. If you're going to protect him, I might as well die right now." Aileen's expression turned cold at those words. The last trace of hesitation vanished from her eyes. She personally had me and our baby, Hailey Watson, sent to a psychiatric hospital on a remote island. "Hendrick, as long as you stay here, no one will ever find peace. I'll come back for you someday." A single lock and the vast ocean cut off every possible way for me to call for help. Hailey was less than a month old. Soon after the abrupt change of environment, she developed a high fever. I banged on the doors until the bones in my wrists shattered and screamed until my vocal cords tore, but no one came to help us. In the end, Hailey's tiny body grew cold and stiff in my arms. In absolute despair, I threw myself into the deep sea. Yet I didn't die. Instead, the currents washed me ashore at a fishing village far, far away from the island. Far enough that even buying a boat ride back to retrieve Hailey's body required a small fortune. Ten years passed, and the high-spirited Hendrick of the past was long gone. All that remained was a mute fisherman risking his life every day just for a few coins. So when Aileen said she wanted to take me back and help me get my voice back, I pushed her away with all my strength. "There's no point, Aileen. I'm dying," I signed. "If you really want to do something for me, then take me back to bring Hailey home." Chapter 5 Aileen couldn't understand my sign language. She did, however, notice the direction I was pointing. Her expression softened slightly, and she offered a rare, gentle explanation. "Don't worry. I won't send you back there again. Once we pick up Hailey, we'll go home, and everything will be alright." Truth be told, I couldn't really hear what she was saying. I only saw her shake her head. I remembered reading somewhere that as a person neared the end of their life, their senses would gradually fade away. With the loud ringing currently filling my ears, I realized I no longer had the strength to go out to sea again. Yet, I still hadn't saved up enough money to retrieve Hailey's remains. After a moment's thought, I pulled an object from my pocket with trembling hands. "Can I trade this for money?" I signed. This time, she seemed to understand what I meant. A flash of utter bewilderment crossed Aileen's eyes, quickly followed by a darkening expression. "Stop messing around. You used to treasure this ring more than anything." I looked down at the butterflyfish diamond ring in my palm. Back when our love was at its peak, I polished it three times a day, keeping it tucked closest to my heart even when diving. I held it out a little further and asked once more, "May I?" Mateo spoke up to the visibly upset Aileen. "Aileen, don't blame Hendrick. Unlike me, he's never lived through such hard times, so it's only natural he holds a grudge." With just those few words, Aileen's furrowed brow smoothed out. She let out a cold sneer. "Hendrick Watson! Are you still throwing a tantrum just to spite me? How can you be so selfish as to let Hailey keep suffering with you?" "That's right, Hendrick. Even if you won't think of Hailey, you should at least come back to pay your respects to your mother," Mateo chimed in, stepping closer as if trying to persuade me. Yet the words whispered in my ear the next second sent a cold chill straight to my core. "Or you don't have to go back. After all, I scattered the ashes of that bitch mother of yours into the ocean. By now, they've probably drifted right out to these waters. So you can rest easy and keep her company right here." My mind went instantly blank with a deafening roar. I snapped my head up, but before my hands could even brush against his collar, he suddenly fell backward as if he'd been struck by a heavy punch. "Hendrick, you still can't forgive me after ten years? Do I have to get down on my knees and beg before you'll finally leave me alone…?" As he spoke, he made a dramatic show of trying to kneel down before me. Before I could react, a sudden force shoved me back violently. Aileen glared at me, her eyes dark with rage. "Hendrick Watson! You haven't changed a bit! Since you refuse to learn your lesson, you can spend a few more years in the psychiatric hospital." Caught completely off guard, I stumbled and crashed to the ground. My body, pushed past its absolute limit for so long, finally gave out under that shove. An agonizing pain surged from every bone in my body. My whole body convulsed, and I suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Unable to hold on any longer, I slowly slipped into unconsciousness. Just then, Aileen's phone began to ring. "Ms. Jordan, the child you sent us to retrieve from the psychiatric hospital… died ten years ago…"