Chapter 3

Seraphina's POV

That evening, Natalie sent a maid to fetch me, demanding that I go down to the kitchen and bring her a glass of ice water.

I carried the glass up the stairs. The icy surface numbed my fingertips, but I kept walking.

The hallway was quiet, lit only by dim, warm wall sconces.

The second I pushed open Natalie's bedroom door, the scent hanging in the air froze me dead in my tracks.

It was the unmistakable musk of post-coital sweat—heavy, musky, and thick with a suffocating, intimate sweetness. The bedside lamp was on, casting a golden glow over two completely tangled, naked bodies on the mattress.

Natalie was propped lazily against the headboard, her hair splayed across the pillows, a smug, satisfied smirk playing on her lips. Ethan was on top of her, his head buried in the crook of her neck, leaving hot kisses on her collarbone.

The glass slipped from my numb fingers, shattering into pieces against the hardwood floor.

Ethan's head snapped up instantly.

When our eyes locked, I didn't see shame, panic, or even the slight awkwardness of getting caught. All I saw was pure, unadulterated disgust.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Ethan snarled, his voice hoarse with violent fury. "Who told you to barge in here? Creeping in unannounced—what's your game? Trying to turn me on?"

My lips parted, wanting to defend myself.

But what could I even say? Tell him Natalie ordered me to fetch her water? He wouldn't believe a word. He never had.

"Ethan..." Natalie pulled the duvet up to cover her chest, her voice instantly dropping into a fragile, trembling whimper. "I knew it... I knew she was obsessed with you... Just look at the way she's staring at you. She's completely jealous of me..."

Her tears came on cue, her delicate shoulders shaking with theatrical sobs.

Ethan's heart visibly broke for her. He pulled her tight against his chest, his eyes locking onto mine with lethal malice.

Grabbing something off the nightstand, he whipped his arm back and hurled it directly at me.

It was a used condom.

It slapped wetly against my shirt before dropping to the floor, carrying a sickening, humiliating warmth.

"Get the fuck out!" Ethan roared. "A pathetic bitch like you could never crawl into my bed! I'd have to be blind to ever look at you! Get out!"

I stood paralyzed, the spilled ice water soaking through my socks and sending a bone-deep chill rushing straight up my spine.

Memories flashed through my mind in rapid bursts.

I remembered clawing my way out of the earthquake wreckage, covered in blood, screaming until my voice gave out with no one in sight. Ethan had been the one to wake up first under the neighboring concrete slab. When he saw my dirt-streaked face, he had whispered, "Don't be afraid. I will find you."

Back then, his eyes had been so bright, shining like stars in the dark.

I remembered the countless times I chased after him later, begging: "Ethan, I was the one who pulled you out, not Natalie. I have proof, just listen to me—"

Every single time, all I got was his biting disdain.

"I don't want to hear your pathetic lies."

"You think I'd believe a single word coming out of your mouth?"

"Seraphina, lie to me one more time and I'll have security throw you onto the street."

I remembered my parents beating me bloody, screaming: "If you ever dare say another word to Ethan, we'll break your legs! If Natalie hadn't 'saved' him, this family would have gone under years ago! Who do you think you are?!"

I remembered kneeling before Ethan, handing him my diary from the disaster—pages filled with every detail of those seventy-two hours beneath the rubble. Ethan had taken the notebook, ripped it to shreds right in front of my face, and tossed it into the trash.

"Your storytelling is getting pathetic," he had said with a mocking sneer.

Back then, a small part of me still held out hope. I naively believed that if I just persevered, Ethan would eventually realize the truth.

Until tonight.

I stared at the puddle by my feet, then looked up at the two people in bed.

Natalie snuggled deep into Ethan's embrace, her lips curling into a triumphant, mocking smile. That look said it all: See that? He's mine. You'll never take him from me.

Ethan was still spewing venom, his words vile and degrading.

Yet, I couldn't hear him anymore. A deafening buzz filled my ears, like ten thousand bees swarming my skull. My vision blurred; my mind drifted away into a vacuum.

So this was what it felt like to be thoroughly trampled into the dirt.

So this was what it felt like when your heart completely died.

Slowly, I bent down and began picking up the shards of broken glass.

"Sorry," I whispered, my voice completely flat. "Excuse me."

I turned, walked out of the bedroom, and gently pulled the door shut behind me.

The corridor was pitch-black; I couldn't see a thing. But I didn't need a light anymore. I was leaving soon anyway. I had always been entirely expendable in this house.

As the door clicked shut, Natalie's sweet, cloying voice drifted through the crack: "Ethan, you're the best. I know you love me most. Who does Seraphina think she is? Don't be mad, she's not worth your energy..."

I didn't catch the rest.

I didn't need to.

I raised a hand to touch my cheek and found it completely dry.

Not a single tear.

Not even one.