Chapter 6

Seraphina's POV

That evening, I was called down to the living room.

Natalie was curled up on the plush sofa, Ethan sitting right beside her. My parents stood near the mantelpiece, broad, approving smiles plastered across their faces.

I knew Natalie had already spun her dramatic version of what happened at the boutique.

Natalie pointed toward the far corner of the living room, her voice cold: "Get on your knees, Seraphina."

I walked over and dropped to my knees.

My kneecaps slammed against the unyielding hardwood floor, a sharp shock of pain shooting up my legs. My entire body weight pressed against the bone; every second dragged out like torture.

Natalie leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs as she glared down at me.

"Seraphina, do you know why I'm making you kneel?"

I didn't answer.

"Do you know why I'm punishing you like this?" she repeated, raising her voice.

Silence was my only reply.

"Because I despise your pretentious little attitude," Natalie hissed. "You're nothing but a spare blood bag bred for me, yet you act so high and mighty. Who do you think you are? You think Ethan would ever give you a second glance?"

I kept my head down, offering no reaction.

"Ethan," Natalie turned to him, her tone instantly melting into pure sugar. "Come sit closer to me."

Ethan shifted closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Natalie melted into his side, looping her arms around his neck.

"Ethan, do you love me?"

"Of course I do." Ethan leaned down, kissing her forehead gently.

"Then kiss me properly."

Ethan cupped her cheeks, pulling her lips to his.

It was a deep, possessive kiss, heated and breathless. Natalie's soft moans filled the dead-silent living room, heavy with performative intimacy.

I kept my gaze fixed on the hardwood floor between my knees.

The hard ridges of the wood were digging into my bruised skin, the pain threatening to make me black out. But I didn't flinch, and I didn't make a sound. I knelt there like a ghost, enduring the humiliation in absolute silence.

After a long while, Ethan finally broke the kiss.

Natalie's cheeks were flushed pink, her lips swollen. Nestled against Ethan's chest, she purred, "Ethan, you're amazing... my legs are completely weak..."

Ethan chuckled softly, stroking her bare thigh.

Suddenly, Natalie turned her head, fixing her eyes on me in the corner.

"Seraphina, come here."

I raised my head.

"The sofa is dirty. Come wipe it clean."

I pushed myself up slowly, a violent stab of agony in my knees nearly making me collapse. I limped over to the sofa and saw the damp stain glistening on the leather cushion.

Left behind by their... display.

I knelt down, picked up the cleaning rag from the tray, and began to wipe it down.

Natalie looked down at me from Ethan's arms like a queen looking at an insect.

"Do you know why Ethan belongs to me?" she suddenly whispered mockingly. "Because he knows who saved his life. That person was me. It has always been me. And what about you? You're just a pathetic loser nobody wants."

My hand paused for a second.

Then I continued wiping, pretending I hadn't heard a word.

"Ethan, did you know?" Natalie tilted her chin up to look at him. "Back then, she used to stalk you, making up pathetic lies about being the one who pulled you from the ruins. You never believed her, right?"

Ethan's jaw tightened slightly.

"How could I?" he replied smoothly. "She's just a compulsive liar."

Natalie smiled with pure satisfaction.

"Hear that, Seraphina?" She looked down at me, her words coated in poison. "Ethan said you're a liar. You will never have his heart. Your heart is black, your blood is cold, and you are the most disgusting, vile creature on earth."

I didn't argue. I just kept wiping the leather in slow, deliberate circles.

Her venomous words sounded distant, muffled, as if separated by a thick pane of bulletproof glass.

I didn't care anymore.

I truly didn't care.

Natalie kept droning on, bragging about how much Ethan loved her, how he insisted on holding her every single night to sleep, how his steady heartbeat was the most beautiful sound in the world.

Not a single syllable registered in my mind.

I was thinking about something else entirely.

I was thinking about the fact that in three days, I would be walking out of this hellhole forever.

By then, the corrupted footage on the backup drives should be completely restored.

I wondered what expressions would paint their faces when the brutal truth was finally exposed to the world.

A sudden urge to laugh bubbled in my chest.

I swallowed it down.

He who laughs last, laughs best.

It wasn't my turn to laugh just yet.