The Heart System

Chapter 457: Chapter 457

I opened my eyes.

Air rushed into my lungs like I’d been drowning for hours. I bent forward automatically, coughing once, gripping my phone so tightly my knuckles hurt. For a second I just stood there, disoriented, heart slamming against my ribs.

Wait, my phone?

I was in Ivy’s apartment building.

I lifted my head slowly and looked toward the hallway window. No sick green sky. No warped air. Just rain streaking down the glass. People hurrying past with umbrellas. A couple of stray dogs barking at something across the street.

Normal.

"What the fuck..." I whispered.

A soft step echoed above me.

I looked up.

Dierella stood on the first stair of the upper floor, hands buried in the pockets of her oversized hoodie. She looked... tired. Not physically. Something deeper than that. She let out a slow breath through her nose and started walking down toward me.

"We were tricked," she said, her voice flat but edged with irritation.

"Tricked?" I straightened, turning fully toward her. "By who?"

She reached the last step and stopped a few feet away, studying me like she was deciding how much I could handle.

"She used a warp spell," she said.

"What does that even mean?" I threw a hand out. "What does that do?"

Instead of answering directly, she walked past me, shoulder brushing mine, and leaned against the windowframe. She stared outside at the rain like it personally offended her.

"We can’t interfere with mortal lives directly," she said after a moment. "Not like that. Not physically. Her burning your phone? Impossible."

"But she did." I frowned, looking down at my phone as if expecting it to melt again.

"She tricked your mind into thinking she did." Dierella glanced at me over her shoulder. "She warped perception. Twisted the space around you. Around the object."

My stomach dropped.

"I..." I swallowed. "I had candy in my pocket. I remember thinking that was weird."

Her mouth twitched faintly. "She warped your phone into a fucking candy and adjusted your perception so you accepted it."

I blinked at her. "You’re telling me I just... hallucinated my phone getting torched?"

"You experienced what she wanted you to experience." She pushed off the frame and crossed her arms. "Same result. Different method."

I ran a hand down my face. "That’s insane."

"Welcome to divinity politics." She shrugged lightly. "Eh. It was fun while it lasted, Henrik."

I looked up sharply. "I’m... what now?"

"Well." She waved a dismissive hand. "You’re her subject now."

I froze. "I... I am, right?"

"Yeah." She tilted her head at me. "She claimed you. Majority of her power went into that rewind."

"Rewind." I stared at her. "You’re telling me she just... reset everything? Like you did?"

"Just?" Dierella laughed under her breath and shook her head. "It takes a lot of power, Evan. A lot. Two goddesses already sacrificed portions of themselves to anchor you as their subject. You think that’s cheap?"

I felt my chest tighten. "Mana’s plan was to kill me."

"We’ll see," she said quietly, stepping closer. She reached out and patted my shoulder, almost gently. "Things aren’t always what they look like."

I searched her face. "So, wait, Chase is still alive."

"Yeah." She nodded once.

"And Silk?" I asked quickly. "Who is she? Please. Just tell me."

Dierella ran a hand through her hair, clearly debating something. She turned halfway toward the stairs, then looked back at me.

"Silk was the God," she said.

My throat went dry. "The God? As in—"

"But then we—"

She stopped mid-sentence. Her jaw tightened. She shook her head.

"No. Not my story to finish."

"Dierella—"

She had already turned away. She took the stairs without another word. The automatic hallway light didn’t even flicker on as she moved. It was like the darkness swallowed her whole.

And then she was gone. I stood there, staring at the empty staircase, a weird weight settling in my chest. Damn. I actually felt bad for her. I mean... yeah, she kinda stole me from Karamine, but at least she didn’t force me or anything. She sacred her power, thinking I would make her stronger even more than she spent. I wish I did that, though. I wish her ’sacrifice’ wasn’t for nothing. I didn’t even know why I was feeling bad for her. I think I... was starting to like her, not gonna lie.

I looked down at my phone again. It was real. Solid. Cool against my palm. I still had the proof.

Chase was alive. The rewind didn’t erase the files. That meant I could still go to the police. I could still drag that bastard into a cell and lock the door behind him.

Finally, something concrete. Even if I was now the subject of a maniac goddess who could rewind time and turn my phone into candy, at least I wasn’t starting from zero... that was something.

I leaned back against the wall and let my head thud softly against it.

"God," I muttered under my breath, staring at the ceiling. "Why is this happening to me?"

A few seconds later, I rubbed my face and pushed myself away from the wall. I headed down the stairs, leaving the apartment behind me. Fucking Chase... this was all his fault. That damn maniac. And now I was the target of some crazy goddess because of him. Fantastic.

"Fuck..."

I walked back to my car parked along the side of the road and slid into the driver’s seat. After starting the engine, I rested my hands on the steering wheel and leaned my forehead against them, closing my eyes. I was exhausted.

Not physically—but mentally? Hell yeah.

How... just how? Ivy didn’t believe me. Were we really that distant from each other now? Or was it what I’d feared all along? Maybe she was just so desperate to find her soulmate that she forced herself to believe Chase was a decent guy.

Either way, it didn’t matter now. Dierella wasn’t the problem anymore. Mana. That goddess... was she actually planning to kill me? If she really wanted me dead, she could’ve done it already. Back in the apartment building. The moment I opened my eyes.

So what was her plan? Use me? But how?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." I muttered under my breath. Too much shit to think about. "Let it go, Evan," I told myself.

I straightened up and released the handbrake.

"I just need some sleep, man... a lot of sleep."

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Main Quest Completed

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Title: Dirty Closet

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Reward: +7900 EXP, 5000c

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