Chapter 4

Tamara felt as though the ground had vanished beneath her feet.

Before she could even process what had happened,Callum ordered his security team to forcibly take Tilly away.

Tamara lunged after her daughter,but Seraphina grabbed her and held her back.Her expression was gentle,almost considerate.“Callum,take the child away first.I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Tamara.”

Callum gave a low hum of acknowledgment,then picked up Tilly and walked away with her.

“Mommy!”Tilly’s cries faded into the distance.

Tamara wrenched herself free from Seraphina’s grasp,only for Seraphina to slap her hard across the face.

A searing pain spread across Tamara’s cheek.

She raised her hand to strike back,but Seraphina caught both her wrists before she could.

With Callum gone,Seraphina finally dropped the sweet,innocent facade she had been wearing.

A cold smile curled across her lips.“Tamara,sometimes I really don’t understand what you’re holding on to.After everything that’s happened,why are you still refusing to leave?”

She leaned closer,her voice laced with cruelty.“But look at you now.Your sick mother is dead,your daughter has been taken away,and everyone you’ve ever held close has left you one by one because of you.”

“How can you still sit there so comfortably,as if none of this has anything to do with you?”

Tamara’s gaze turned icy.She stared straight into Seraphina’s eyes.“What exactly did you mean by that?What do you mean,everyone close to me has left because of me?”

Seeing the confusion and devastation on Tamara’s face,Seraphina broke into a delighted smile.

She slowly leaned down until her lips were right beside Tamara’s ear,then whispered each word with deliberate cruelty.

“Tamara,how can you be this stupid?Did you really never wonder why your mother was perfectly fine before,only to suddenly die?”

“It was me.I deliberately pushed her over the edge.I told her that her son-in-law was going to be my husband soon.”

“She couldn’t even take a few words from me.She started foaming at the mouth right in front of me.”

“And when she was still clinging to her last breath,she crawled across the floor like a dog and begged me to save her.But she was your mother.”

Seraphina’s smile widened.“Why would I ever want to save her?I wanted her dead.”

Tamara felt the blood drain from her body.

Until now,she had believed her mother’s death was simply a sudden heart attack brought on by her age and poor health.

But it hadn’t been an accident.

Her mother had been deliberately murdered.

Tamara’s entire body began to tremble.Her eyes burned red with fury as she shot to her feet.

“Seraphina,my mother loved you.She treated you like her own daughter.How could you do this to her?You deserve to die!”

Tamara grabbed Seraphina by the collar and tried to shove her over the railing,ready to take them both down with her.

But the moment her hands touched Seraphina,Callum rushed over and shoved her away with all his strength.

Tamara stumbled backward,her head slamming hard against the railing.

Pain exploded through her skull.

Blood trickled down,drop by drop,staining the floor beneath her.

But Callum didn’t even look at her.His entire attention was on Seraphina,his face filled with panic and concern.

“Seraphina,are you all right?”

Seraphina immediately put on an innocent expression again,burying herself in Callum’s arms as she cried.

“Callum,I don’t know what happened.Tamara suddenly accused me of killing her mom and even said she wanted to die with me.Callum,I’m so scared.”

She had done something so cruel,yet now she played the victim as though she were the one who had been wronged.

Tamara barely felt the pain anymore.She pointed at Seraphina,her voice shaking with fury.

“She’s lying.She admitted it herself just now.She said she was the one who drove my mother to her death.”

She barely got the words out before Callum’s furious voice cut through the room.

“Enough!Tamara,your mother just died,so I’ll let this go.But her death was simply her own fate.You can’t blame anyone for it.”

“And don’t let me hear you accuse Seraphina of this again.Otherwise,don’t blame me for turning against you.”

Tamara’s heart sank.

Callum wasn’t incapable of seeing the truth.He simply cared too much about Seraphina.

So no matter what she did,he was willing to believe her.

In the end,Callum turned and walked away with Seraphina.

Just before leaving,Seraphina glanced back at Tamara and gave her a smug,taunting smile.

Callum noticed the blood covering Tamara’s hair and frowned.“Once you’ve calmed down,go find a doctor and have that wound treated yourself.”

“And don’t take things too far.Leave yourself some room to turn back.I told you before—as long as you stop making a scene,you’ll always be Mrs.Blackwood.We’ll always be family.”

Family?

In love,there had never been room for a third person.

If Callum was willing to make Seraphina part of his family,then Seraphina was no longer family to Tamara.

She was her enemy.

Her mother had lost her life because of her.

And Seraphina would pay for it.

The moment they were gone,Tamara pulled out her phone and called the police.

“Hello.I’d like to make a real-name report.Someone deliberately caused my mother’s death.”