Part 2Snake Bride: My Husband’s Regret After Sending Me to the Island

Instead, his grip caught on the loose skin on my back.

He tore off a whole sheet that hadn’t finished molting.

I cried out in pain, rubbing my raw back against the deck, and scrambled deeper into the darkness beneath the table.

Alexis’s pupils contracted as if he’d been struck by lightning. Forgetting himself, he dropped to his hands and knees, his face level with mine. When he spoke, his voice was strangled. “Jenny… what’s wrong with you? Why is your skin… peeling off like that? Are you hurt?”

Gwyneth’s choked sob cut through the silence. “The sun on the island is relentless. Her skin is so delicate, it must be a terrible sunburn. It’s all my fault. If it weren't for me, Alexis would never have been angry enough to send her here.”

“It’s not your fault, dear,” my mother cooed, pulling Gwyneth into a comforting embrace. “Jenny is my daughter, but I can’t ignore the truth. She’s a grown woman. Does she not know how to stay out of the sun?”

“I think she did it on purpose,” she added, her voice hardening. “She knew we were coming to get her, so she deliberately burned herself. A pathetic ploy for sympathy.”

At my mother’s words, Alexis’s face turned to stone.

He ignored my struggles, grabbing my ankle and dragging me out from under the table. The raw, bloody skin of my back scraped against the rough wood of the deck, sending agony shooting through me.

Alexis didn’t even seem to notice. He just glared down at me, his voice cold. “Is this your master plan, Jenny? It seems you’re not only cruel to others, but to yourself as well.”

“Think of all the horrible things you’ve done to Gwyneth over the years. You forced her to show up naked at our wedding! All I did was send you on a six-month vacation to a natural paradise. That’s barely a punishment at all!”

I ignored him. The blood loss had left me weak, and a primal need for sustenance consumed me.

Just then, a large rat scurried out from the yacht’s galley. The guests shrieked and leaped onto chairs.

My eyes lit up. With a feral gleam, I lunged.

As Alexis and my parents watched in stunned horror, I clamped my jaw around the rodent and, with a sickening gulp, swallowed it whole.

“Ah!” my mother screamed, a sound of pure anguish. “Is that my daughter? Six months of isolation on that island and she’s lost her very humanity?”

Alexis looked as if he might faint. “Jenny, I know you’re afraid of snakes. But Serpent Isle is beautiful, and the snakes there are harmless and gentle! I don’t care how angry you are with me, you can’t keep degrading yourself with these disgusting, self-destructive acts!”

As if on cue, Gwyneth dropped to her knees and began slapping her own face, weeping hysterically. “It’s my fault! If it weren’t for me, she would never have become like this! Please, take her home! I’ll stay here on Serpent Isle for the rest of my life to atone for my sins, just so she can be happy!”

My mother’s tears stopped. She pointed a trembling finger at me. “You wretched girl! You’d turn yourself into an animal, abandon every shred of human decency, just to drive Gwyneth away?”

Alexis’s eyes were black pools of fury as he stared at me. A slow, chilling smile spread across his lips, sending a shiver down my spine. “You like pretending to be a snake, Jenny? Fine. Then let’s get you some snakes to play with.”

He snapped his fingers. A moment later, one of his men appeared, holding a large canvas bag. He tossed it onto the deck in front of me. It writhed.

“I know you’re terrified of snakes, Jenny. You can’t even look at a rope if it’s coiled the wrong way without freezing up.”

He stared at me, his eyes gleaming with cold calculation. “Apologize to Gwyneth right now. Swear, in front of everyone, that you will never trouble her again. Or I will open this bag and let you experience the pleasure of dancing with serpents.”