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In the town of Meadow, Eve had finished packing her things in the trunk and locked it. Carrying it down the stairs, she placed it outside the main door. Ready to leave the house, she locked all the windows and doors.

Eve's eyes fell on the letter she had written for Eugene on the dining table. This way, when he returned, he wouldn't be startled by her absence.

Carrying a bag on one of her shoulders, Eve locked the main door and slipped the key into her dress pocket. She touched the door while looking at the house where she had built memories with Aunt Aubrey and Eugene. She said,

"This isn't a goodbye. I will return when these feelings are gone. Until then..." But she didn't promise.

She stepped away from the door. Her hand clutched the trunk handle, pulling it along as she walked away from the house. Crossing streets, she made her way to the local carriage stop. She had decided to get on the carriage going to Thresk Hills and hop on another local carriage that would travel to Berkshire.

But when Eve was still halfway away from the stop, someone pushed her from behind with force. She quickly lost balance, and her hand let go of her things to fall to the ground.

When Eve was about to stand, she heard someone remark, "And where are you going in such a hurry?" The voice belonged to Mrs. Humphrey, who walked around and came to stand in front of her.

Eve looked confused and asked, "Was it you, who pushed me?"

Soon people started to gather around. Mrs. Edwards came to stand next to Mrs. Humphrey, and her eyes narrowed at Eve. One of the men kicked Eve's trunk for it to move away from the young woman.

Unaware of the intensity of the bad mouthing that had taken place behind her back, Eve noticed some of them look at her in disappointment, while the others looked at her in disgust.

One of the townsfolk stated, "We know what you are, Genevieve. You cannot hide it anymore."

But Eve mistook the man's words, that they had discovered her secret about her being a mermaid.

A nervous sweat broke on Eve's forehead, while dread quickly sank into her heart. There was no way they had found out about who she was. She had been meticulous. How did they find out about it?!

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Mrs. Edwards shook her head and said to Eve, "I thought you were a decent woman of Meadow and supported you thinking you were a governess, but look at you. You have brought nothing but shame!"

With no support from Aunt Aubrey and Eugene in the town, Eve looked at them with fear in her eyes. She was speechless, and seeing it, one of the men demanded,

"Have you no shame? To be calling yourself a governess and then you go behind people's back and sleep with men for money?"

Eve's eyebrows furrowed further, now even more confused than before, and she said, "I don't know what you are talking about," and stood up. She dusted her palms and felt a sting as she scraped her palms against the ground. "You must have mistaken me for someone else, or it is just a misunderstanding," she was firm with her words.

"Look at that," Mrs. Humphrey scoffed and sized Eve. "Did you really think you could hide your dirty secret of how you have been earning a lot of money? Trying to prove that you are better than us, when you are nothing but a whore!"

Eve glared at the woman for her absurd comment, "I don't know what you have been cooking in your head, Mrs. Humphrey, but my only job is working as a governess."

"That's what she says," this time, Patrick joined from behind and looked at Eve as if he could barely look at her anymore. "You have been stealing the masters of the wealthy house who are already married. Trying to turn into one of the master's wife? Too bad that your secret is no more a secret."

Mrs. Humphrey looked at the gathered people, who gasped and looked at Eve in disbelief. She said loudly, "This woman here, invited a married man into her house in the middle of the night. And the man stayed for hours before he left. I wouldn't like to detail the shameful things this woman has been doing in our town."

"Disgusting woman! Throw her out of the town!"

"Punish her!"

"Punish her for her deeds!" Men and women started to shout.

Eve tried to keep a brave face because she had never slept with any men. The ire of the people towards her was increasing with every passing second, and they didn't just look at her with anger, but also hate. And somewhere, it had started to scare her.

Far away from the town of Meadow, ten minutes had passed since Vincent's carriage had left Skellington. His tongue ran over one of his fangs before the sharpness drew a drop of blood from him.

The journey to Meadow would take at least forty-five to fifty minutes and Vincent clicked his tongue in impatience.

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Mr. Briggs, who was riding the carriage, heard something crash that ended up in him pulling the reins of the horses to stop the vehicle. He turned to ask,

"Master Vincent, ar--Master Vincent?" The coachman's eyes widened on seeing Vincent, not inside the carriage.

Back in Meadow, Eve watched the crowd stare at her. She said to them, "I need proof about what you are saying about me. You are trying to slander my name with these allegations that are untrue. Bring me the person who told you that I am sleeping with men."

"Do you hear that everyone?" Mrs. Humphrey continued to gaslight the townsfolk and said, "She is asking for proof because she knows she won't be caught like that. But if not me, ask Mrs. Edwards and she will tell how this disgusting woman has been getting dropped by different men in the middle of the night. For a governess, the job gets over by evening. Yet here this woman returns home late at night when everyone is asleep so that no one finds what she's doing."

Mrs. Edwards nodded but then whispered to her friend Mrs. Humphrey, "It was only one carriage that came at night. Not two."

Mrs. Humphrey shushed the gullible woman by saying, "What difference does it make? One or two?"

Another person who belonged to the town questioned Eve, "Why aren't you speaking anymore? All these things are true, and yet you are trying to hoodwink us by telling us lies rather than accept your fault."

People started to talk amongst themselves while looking at Eve with scornful eyes,

"She's using her beauty to trap wealthy men."

"But really, was it necessary to use such means? Patrick Humphrey has been wooing her for a long time, and she could have settled for him!"

"How disgusting," came another comment from another person, "To think she would do something so shameful. She needs to be hanged to death!"

"Hang her to death!" Someone else agreed before adding, "This way no one would dare to bring shame."

But one of them worried, "Isn't death too severe as a punishment?"

Mrs. Humphrey stared at Eve, who stared back at him.

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Eve was at her wit's end that the people she had loved and cared for, the same people now, were on a witch hunt because of baseless rumours. Her heart shook, and fear started to crawl up her feet. She said,

"I haven't done anything wrong and I have stayed true to myself." She then looked at Mrs. Edwards for help, "Mrs. Edwards, you have seen me grow up right before you, how can you assume that I would do something like that?"

Mrs. Edwards pursed her lips because she had seen the carriages and gifts. She said, "I cannot believe you are still lying to us!!"

Eve grit her teeth, and when she was about to speak, someone threw a stone at her that hit her forehead. Holding her face, she winced because of the throbbing pain, while the mob turned agitated towards her.

She felt something warm and wet drip down her face, and noticed her blood fall on the ground.

"A woman like you has no place in our society or in our town!" Mrs. Humphrey decided, and some people agreed, cheering her words as if they knew the truth and were standing against the bad.

Someone from the crowd pushed Eve much more harshly to the ground. Her hands scraped more, and the front of her dress near her knees tore and dirt covered it.

Eve stared at the ground before raising her head and questioning the people,

"I love Meadow dearly. I became a governess to also show that Meadow is worth looking at than being treated like vermin. Why do you trust that person, when you have known me for so long. Why can't you judge me for what you know?" her voice shook while her face had turned warm with a mixture of anger and pain.

She asked them, "Why do you believe someone, when you haven't seen it in your own eyes? When you haven't heard it from your own ears? I... I am a governess, and apart from teaching a child, I didn't do anything. I don't have such a relationship with any man as you think."

Eve pushed herself to stand up in front of everyone and turned to look at Mrs. Humphrey, who harrumphed. She then turned to look at Mr. Humphrey. Until yesterday, he was trying to woo her.

She said, "If you want to talk about lies, why don't you ask Mr. Humphrey why he was removed from his previous post and now--"

SLAP!

Patrick slapped Eve before she could reveal what he had done at the Quintins. He glared at her while she was on the ground, and he said,

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"This woman should be severely punished. So that she learns her lesson for spewing continuous lies and what she has done!"