All Chapters of The Useful Son In-Law: Chapter 201
- Chapter 210
253 chapters
Chapter 188: The Keeper’s Threshold
The ruins whispered with memory.Every step Clara took stirred a faint sigh from the dust, as though the stones themselves remembered too much. The once-grand hallways of the Order’s sanctum had collapsed inward, overrun with roots that had forced their way through ancient cracks. Faint veins of light pulsed along the walls — not from torches, but from the broken shards embedded in the stone, flickering with reflections that didn’t match the present moment.Sometimes, Clara caught a glimpse of her younger self walking ahead of her. Sometimes, she saw Michael staring at her from behind — though the real Michael walked beside her.“This place feels wrong,” she murmured.Michael’s eyes scanned the corridor, his hand brushing against the cracked insignia of the Order carved into a fallen archway. “It’s not wrong,” he said quietly. “It’s remembering. The breach’s energy fused the sanctum’s walls with its own echoes. Every reflection here is a piece of the past trapped in time.”Clara’s gaz
Chapter 189: The Mirror Between
The silence that followed the Keeper’s disappearance was unnatural — too complete, too heavy.It pressed against the walls, against their very lungs, as though the air itself refused to move.Clara stood trembling beside Michael, staring at her reflection in the obsidian floor. The silver veins beneath her skin pulsed faintly, in rhythm with something unseen — as if a second heartbeat had awoken inside her.Michael reached out cautiously. “Clara, listen to me. We need to leave this place—”But before he could finish, the mirror hanging above the dais flared to life again.A faint hum rose, deep and resonant, like the toll of a hidden bell. The reflection in the mirror began to ripple — not showing them this time, but a vast, endless expanse of light and shadow twisting together like two halves of a storm.And then, a voice — her voice — came from within it.> “Leaving isn’t an option anymore.”Clara’s eyes widened. Her reflection had stepped free from the floor, solidifying into a fig
Chapter 190: The Burden Of Light
The mirror’s heart pulsed around them like a living organism — slow, rhythmic, alive.Each pulse sent waves of silver light rippling across the horizon, distorting everything in its path.The void seemed endless, but not empty.It whispered.Clara could hear the echoes now — thousands of voices, speaking in unison and yet out of sync, as if every version of herself that had ever lived was calling out from behind the glass.Their words overlapped, indistinct, but one truth pressed through the noise:> “Every reflection must return.”Michael kept hold of her hand, his knuckles pale from the strain. The air here was weightless, yet suffocating. Every breath felt stolen from the mirror’s lungs.Jonathan — or the thing wearing his form — stood ahead of them, watching. His expression was unreadable, his once-warm eyes now fractured with shifting silver veins.Clara stepped forward. “You said one of us must take its place,” she said, her voice trembling. “But why? What does that even mean?”
Reflection Note
Would you have let Michael take the mirror’s place? Or would you have forced fate to choose differently — even if it meant breaking the balance forever?
Chapter 191: Fractures Of The Mind
The silence that followed felt heavier than the night itself. Every second stretched thin, trembling under the weight of unspoken fear. The echoes of the confrontation—Jonathan’s last words, the mirror’s violent shatter—still clung to the air like smoke after a fire.Clara sat by the window, knees drawn to her chest, her eyes fixed on the shifting glow of moonlight across the cracked glass. Outside, the storm had passed, leaving behind a world washed clean but eerily still. Even the wind seemed afraid to move. Inside, however, the tension remained—thick, tangible, alive.Michael stood in the center of the room, his breathing shallow. His gaze wandered over the scattered shards of the mirror, each one reflecting a fragment of his face, fractured and incomplete. For a long moment, he couldn’t tell which reflection was truly his.“Michael,” Clara said softly.He didn’t respond. His mind was still locked on that instant—when the reflection had looked at him and spoken, its voice almost hi
Chapter 192: Echoes Of The Breach
The air was different that morning — too still, too heavy. The kind of quiet that pressed against the ears until the smallest sound felt like thunder. Clara stood by the window, clutching a mug of untouched coffee, watching fog roll across the field outside the house. Every wisp of mist reminded her of the strange glow from the shattered sigil.Behind her, Michael sat at the kitchen table, a map spread out before him — one Jonathan had once marked with cryptic symbols. His fingers traced the red circles drawn in faded ink, searching for meaning where there might be none.Neither spoke for a long time.Finally, Clara broke the silence. “Do you think it’s over?”Michael didn’t look up. “It’s never over. Not with them.”She sighed softly, her breath fogging the cold glass. “Then what do we do now?”Michael leaned back, staring at the sigil burned faintly into the floorboards — its glow long gone, but its presence still there, humming like a memory that refused to die. “We follow the trai
Chapter 193: The Path Of Shadows
The forest was silent — not peaceful, but listening. Each step Michael and Clara took seemed to stir something beneath the ground, something that had been waiting far too long to be disturbed.The coordinates led them east, through the dense line of trees that bordered the old property. The early light was a dull gray, filtered through the heavy fog that refused to lift. Michael’s compass flickered faintly, as though uncertain which way was true.“Are you sure about this?” Clara whispered, glancing over her shoulder.Michael’s eyes stayed fixed on the small holographic map projected by the insignia. “No,” he admitted. “But it’s the only lead we’ve got. If Jonathan left those coordinates, it means he wanted us to find whatever’s there.”Clara frowned. “Or he wanted to warn us away.”The path narrowed, winding through gnarled roots and tangled undergrowth. Every so often, a faint sound echoed in the distance — something between a hum and a sigh. The forest itself seemed alive, pulsing w
Chapter 194: The Fracture Beneath The Skin
The house had never felt so unfamiliar.Clara stepped through the doorway first, still shaken, still clutching the insignia that no longer pulsed. The storm outside had begun just as they reached the edge of the woods—rain slashing against the roof, wind clawing at the windows like something desperate to get in.Michael followed behind her, silent, drenched, his eyes shadowed. He hadn’t said a word since the clearing.The fire Clara tried to start wouldn’t catch at first; the matches sputtered out one after another. When the flame finally caught, it flickered weakly, throwing jagged light across the room.“Sit down,” she said quietly, pulling a blanket from the chair and wrapping it around his shoulders. “You’re freezing.”Michael didn’t move. He stood there, staring at the windowpane, watching the raindrops chase each other down the glass.“Michael,” Clara said again. “Please. Talk to me.”He blinked once, then turned his head slowly toward her. “I’m fine.”The words were right. The
Chapter 195: Through The Glass Darkly
The fire had burned to embers. Only the faint orange glow remained, painting the walls in restless, trembling light. Michael hadn’t moved in hours. He stood before the window, his breath fogging the cold glass, his eyes locked on the reflection that stared back. Clara watched from the doorway, wrapped in silence. He didn’t blink. Didn’t speak. Every now and then, the reflection’s head would tilt — slightly, subtly — before Michael followed. Not the other way around. She wanted to call his name, but something held her back — a primal, instinctive fear. As though saying it aloud would invite the reflection to answer instead. The clock ticked once. Then again. Finally, Clara whispered, “Michael?” He turned, slow, mechanical — yet his eyes softened when they found her. “You’re awake.” “I couldn’t sleep.” He smiled faintly. “Neither could I.” He moved toward her, his steps deliberate but slightly uneven, as if some part of him lagged behind the motion. “I was thinking about what
Chapter 196: The Compass Of Shadows
The storm had been raging for hours. Rain lashed against the forest canopy like a thousand desperate whispers, and thunder rolled through the valley in slow, deliberate waves. The world had turned gray — smeared with mist, sound, and dread. Clara pressed her hood tighter around her face as she trudged through the thick undergrowth, each step sinking into the mud with a soft, reluctant squelch. In her left hand, the lantern burned low, its flame trembling against the wind. In her right, the insignia pulsed — faint, rhythmic, alive. It had begun glowing the moment she decided to leave the cabin. Michael’s last words haunted her with every step. He walks between. She had read that line over and over until it etched itself into her mind like a scar. And now, with the forest closing around her, she no longer knew whether she was chasing a man or chasing a ghost. The compass light flickered, always pointing east — toward the heart of the storm. “Michael,” she whispered, the sound