The Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 420: [ Volume 1] Chaper 419- Explain everything.

A pin could’ve dropped and echoed.

Ryan’s breath caught in his throat. Ray’s lips parted in stunned disbelief.

"What are you even saying?" Ray whispered. "You’re their mother. You’re ours. You don’t just disappear."

Esme smiled, a broken kind of smile. The kind that came with knowing goodbye had already begun.

"I was never meant to be a mother," she said. "I was never meant to be anything... other than what they created me for. That’s what they said. That’s what I believed. And maybe... maybe I still do. I don’t even know anymore."

Ray stared at Esme, his brows furrowed in deep confusion and the simmering start of anger.

"What the hell are you even saying?" he asked, his voice low, sharp, laced with irritation. "What does that even mean, Esme?"

He turned his glare toward Esme’s parents, his jaw clenched tight.

"Can someone, anyone, explain what the hell is going on here?"

It was then Esme’s mother finally spoke. Her voice was calm but brittle, as though she’d rehearsed this truth a thousand times in her head but never dared speak it aloud.

"Robin and Oscar—my husband—made a deal," she said softly.

Ray’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Esme’s mother continued, her eyes now focused solely on him.

"A deal that involved you, Esme, and the others."

The name "Robin" barely registered with Ray anymore. That part of his grief had long numbed. But the word deal—that dug into his mind like a thorn.

"What kind of deal?" he asked flatly.

Esme’s mother drew in a slow breath, hesitating for a second before glancing at her husband. She seemed to gather strength from him before continuing.

"You know they were both agents—sent by the Organization," she said, her tone controlled. "But Oscar... he was more than that."

She turned toward Ray, her voice dropping to a murmur.

"He was a beast controller."

The silence that followed felt like the air had been pulled from the room.

Ray’s heart thudded heavily in his chest. Even Ryan, still fuming from earlier, froze in his place.

"That’s not... common," Esme’s mother added. "For a mer to be a beast controller, it’s unheard of. But Oscar was. And that made him a threat."

She looked down, voice trembling faintly. "So the Organization decided to keep him on a leash. Always. Even after he married me, even after he tried to live like a normal man... they never really let go."

She turned to Ray again, her voice stronger now. "Robin... he was slipping through their grip, too. He wasn’t a controller, so it was easier for him to vanish, to resist. But then something happened."

She paused, her eyes on Ray.

"You were born."

Ray blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"You were supposed to be the only one," she said. "Only you. But something changed. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was the suppressed power of the beast. Maybe it was fate. But instead of one child... four were born." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Ray’s mind reeled. He looked at Ryan, who was silent. His brothers—triplets, all of them. What did this have to do with anything?

Esme’s mother went on, "And then something even stranger happened. You were all marked."

She lifted her hand and traced a spot on her own wrist.

"On your right wrists, all four of you had the same mark. The mark of the divine eagle beast—Aron’s symbol. It was clear when you were born. But as you grew older, it faded, became invisible. Forgotten. Hidden."

Ray’s breath caught. His wrist twitched unconsciously.

"Those marks," she said slowly, "weren’t just symbols. They were seals. Connections. Bonds. That eagle... that divine beast... chose you all."

"That’s impossible," Ray whispered. "Only one person can be a beast’s chosen. That’s the law. That’s how it’s always been."

Her voice turned heavy. "Exactly. And that’s why you became... exceptions."

"Four owners," she said. "For one divine beast."

Esme’s mother finally spoke, her voice a calm murmur that somehow cut through the tension like a blade.

"You know," she began, eyes flicking between Ray and the others, "for someone like us... a mer... to be chosen by a divine beast is nearly impossible."

Her words drew everyone’s attention, stilling the air around them. Even Ray leaned forward unconsciously.

"There are others who carry divine beasts, yes. But they’re rare. Scattered. And the spirits that truly command them? Rarer still."

She paused, letting that sink in. Then she added, "You might have heard it before—maybe dismissed it as folklore—but it’s real. A divine beast mirrors the soul it possesses. Its strength... its nature... all of it comes from that bond."

Her gaze darkened.

"If the spirit is full of rage, the beast becomes wrath itself. If the spirit is cunning, the beast becomes a shadow in the dark. Like a serpent—if someone carries a black serpent, their beast can inject venom into the veins of another divine beast. Its coils can crush, its bite can destroy. It mimics the soul... but on a monstrous scale."

Ray was frozen, his heartbeat starting to pick up.

"But there are five," she whispered now, reverently, "five beasts... different from the rest. The ones ancient families still whisper about."

She counted them softly, like a sacred chant:

"The White Dragon. The Golden Dragon. The Black Dragon. The White Tiger. And—" her eyes locked with Ray’s—"the Eagle."

Ray’s eyes widened.

She continued, "These aren’t just divine beasts. They are bloodlines. Legacies. And when a child is born into a family with a beast, if their soul is strong enough—if they match the beast’s frequency—the beast chooses them. Passes down its ancient mark... its power... its curse."

She turned to look at Esme briefly before returning her focus to Ray. Her next words came slow, heavy.

"So when you and your brothers were born," she said finally, "they didn’t expect four. One child—yes. But four... four with the same mark on their wrist... Four sharing a single beast’s blood..."

"It’s a blessing in disguise," she said softly. "But as you all grew up, it became clearer that the Divine Beast’s power wasn’t held by just one of you—it was equally divided. Still, Ray, as the eldest, formed the strongest connection to it."