Chapter 65

Unfortunately, things were not looking up for Heather. Only if it would have been as simple as proving her innocence, but she had been played.
The moment one of the guards brought her to the basement, which she was not even aware existed when, she assumed he was taking her to her former house, and she realized something terribly wrong was about to happen.
She was filled with apprehension as he took her down the stairs. The surroundings did not appear unusual, save for a strong bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She did inquire about the detour, but he remained mute, giving her little choice but to follow. She ought to have understood better than to put her faith in Contessa's motives. It was foolish of her to even give Alexander's mother the benefit of the doubt.
Regarding Alexander's involvement, she was unsure. Her intellect was going in the opposite direction, even if her heart was confident that he was not involved.
Nevertheless, she made the decision to be optimistic about Alexander. Given how much he loved her, he would stop at nothing to keep her safe and would not permit someone to intentionally hurt her.
However, she had a strong sense that returning to Warsavor was just the start of her downfall. Her suspicions were verified when two guards arrived out of nowhere and handcuffed her in an instant.
The guard who had been accompanying her abandoned her at the entrance to a dim room, and two additional guards grabbed her arm and carried her inside what she would more accurately refer to as dungeons.
Except for the flames flickering on the walls, everything around her was dark. The area was completely enclosed in cells when she turned to gaze around. In fact, both her left and right sides had small apertures with a steel grill in the front.
The lack of separate rooms for men and women was outrageous. Every single inmate appeared to have hurled something into the cell at random. Some were in a battered state, while others looked moderately fine but nowhere decent.
Fear ran its course through her as she looked at the people around her.
"I made no mistakes. Why did you bring me here, please?" The two guards' grip on Heather was too tight despite her attempts to break free. She was certain that their palms and fingers would leave imprints on her arms.
"We are merely following the instructions given to us. Do not struggle if you want this to be a painless process.” The guard on her left said.
She did, however, continue to make attempts to extract herself, but it was quite challenging. She resisted the urge to utilize her ability, even though she was tempted since she did not want to damage anyone nearby.
There was a good likelihood that there might be other people in a similar predicament if she were detained here despite being innocent.
She has found Diadem's family patriarch to be unreasonable.
She sensed that there was something amiss and that, for the time being, she should fight the impulse to utilize her power for her own gain.
She must maintain control right now so as not to cause an unneeded crisis.
She was shoved into the cell, and the doors immediately locked before she had the chance to talk or negotiate with the guards.
“If you know what is good for you, you will refrain from running away." The other guard said and then left her alone.
Heather was stunned for a moment and looked around her.
The sole source of light was a lantern because there were no windows at all. Except for the candle that was blazing, the only colors within were dark brown and black.
It was a torment to the mind.
Further, the people whom she was in sight of were looking at her with inquisitiveness. She was, after all, placed at the far end of the cell, even though there were a few empty ones in the front.
Only countable women were present in the dungeons. Men were swarming the area. In fact, she could see a seasoned man staring at her with a mouth open and big eyes to her left.
As a result of her trembling, she took a few steps back and sat down, using the wall as support. The strange thing was that after a short while, she witnessed a man beside her cell looking at her with concern.
Before she could muster the courage to say something to him, Contessa appeared with a smug expression.
“This place looks good on you,”
Heather stood up and walked to be near her. Her eyes were filled with tears. “You are not being reasonable. I did nothing wrong. This is not what I deserve.”
As a reaction, Contessa furrowed her brows and said, "You deserve far worse, Heather Crown. You should have never come back. You would have been safe anywhere but this place. You were completely wrong if you believed that I was susceptible to manipulation in the same way my son was. Alexander, in reality, made my life simpler. With you down here, I do not have to ever worry about my son being with likes of you.”
Heather responded with assurance, "Alexander would find me."
“Would he? Who says he was not the one who gave the directive for you to be here?" Arms crossed, Contessa said.
“He would never do that. He would never betray me."
"Heather, consider this carefully. My son has deceived you in several different ways. Enjoy your time there till life returns to you while I finally have control over Diadem's affairs."
“Please, let me out of here,” Heather said. She did not wish to fight with Alexander’s mother. “Give me one chance to prove myself.”
“I do not have time to waste on something so trivial. We are having a big celebration in the mansion, and I cannot have you ruin that.”
Contessa could see Heather's small frown as she pondered the term 'celebration.'
“Even though it would give me immense pleasure to break your confidence down and tell you the reason behind the big event, I will refrain from doing so. I do not want any bad omens hindering my family. Goodbye, Heather.”
Before Heather had any chance to respond, Contessa departed.
Although her thoughts about using her power might not seem right, she cannot stay here. She had enough. She inhaled deeply and concentrated on the door's lock, but to her disbelief, nothing happened. Heather gave it another attempt but was punished with the same result. The third time she tried her luck, she was left gasping for air.
The man who lived immediately beside her cell stated, "Your power will not work here."