Fated Mate, Allegedly

The next day, I kept pestering Lin Qi to teach me about nuclear wastewater.

He said he had work.

I begged.

So he took me to his company.

Human society was dazzling.

So many things I had never seen.

But people looked at me strangely.

Some with disgust.

Some with pity.

Some like poisonous sea snakes.

Cold.

Malicious.

I sat quietly on the sofa in Lin Qi’s office.

His secretary still glared at me several times.

When Lin Qi went to a meeting, she walked over.

“What are you to Brother Lin?”

I did not like her eyes, so I stayed silent.

“You look like that and still want to climb high?” she sneered. “I’m the daughter of Gao Group. Don’t think you can compete with me.”

Daughter of Gao Group?

Was that higher than a princess?

“Gao Shan,” Lin Qi’s cold voice came from the doorway. “The company is not your playground. Leave.”

Gao Shan’s eyes turned red from one sentence.

She stomped away.

Lin Qi sighed and crouched in front of me.

“What did she say?”

“She asked what we are. She said I’m ugly.”

“You aren’t.”

He gently touched my bare head.

Of course I was not ugly.

Scars are proof of a mermaid warrior’s bravery.

So is baldness.

I glared at him angrily.

“I didn’t tell her you’re my fated mate.”

Lin Qi paused.

“Fated mate?”

I rolled up my sleeve and showed him the mark on my arm.

The exact same as the one on his waist.

He burst into laughter.

“That? Lin Xuan stuck a temporary tattoo on me.”

“Oh.” I suddenly understood. “No wonder I didn’t fall in love with you.”

His smile moved from his face to mine.

He coughed awkwardly and kept glancing at me while working.

I pretended not to notice.

That night, I slipped out again and blew the conch.

When my people surfaced, I began explaining from international relations.

I discussed nations, governments, pollution responsibility, and why exterminating all humans was not rational.

Everyone stared at me in awe.

Then my second sister Shanna screamed.

“Ariel! Your fated mark is glowing!”

Shanna, the second bravest warrior of our clan, glared at me like I was an enemy.

“Oh no. She’s turned lovesick!”

The eyes of my people changed instantly.

“She must have been seduced by a human!”

“She has a fated mate now, so she won’t let us hurt humans!”

“They are going to kill every creature in the sea!”

I shook my head helplessly.

“No. I only met him two days ago. How could I love him?”

Shanna splashed seawater over me with her tail.

“The curse makes mermaids fall in love at first sight. You are doomed!”

I tried to argue.

But disappointment filled every face around me.

My eldest sister’s expression softened.

“Ariel,” she said, “come into the sea. Join us in destroying humanity.”

Images flashed before me.

The adults who made the children apologize.

The arrogant but kind Young Master Child.

The sharp-tongued, soft-hearted alleged fated mate.

“No.”

I stepped back.

“I can’t.”

My people looked at me one last time.

Then vanished beneath the sea.

I had never felt such pain.

Only one thought remained.

My clan abandoned me.

My chest tightened like seaweed wrapped around my heart.

Why?

Because of an ancient legend?

I was the bravest mermaid warrior.

Why did they not believe me?

“Hey, why did you run out alone again—are you dropping pearls?”

Lin Qi arrived panting.

He froze.

Only then did I realize pearl tears had piled into two little hills beside my feet.

I hurriedly kicked them away.

Lin Qi picked up one pearl.

“What happened?”

I could not trust him.

Ancient stories said the little mermaid died beautifully because of love.

I wanted to live.

But even alive, I had been abandoned.

It was his fault.

I had nearly convinced my people.

If he had not appeared, I would not have been abandoned.

I pushed him away and cursed him viciously.

“This is all your fault! In your next life, you’ll become a limp jellyfish!”

Lin Qi hugged me.

“If something happened, we can face it together.”

After I told him everything, his expression shifted from realization to seriousness.

“What we need now is evidence,” he said. “Evidence your people can see.”

“We have to stop this disaster.”