Chapter 3

Her familiar voice reached my ears, and my hands froze.

“Nowhere. The closet’s a mess, just tidying up.”

Hearing my answer, a flicker of suspicion crossed Seraphina’s face.

But perhaps thinking I knew no one else besides her, she seemed to believe my explanation.

She sighed, wrapped her arms around my waist, and gently nuzzled her head against my chest.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just see him as a friend. I’m going to marry you, Jax.”

“That necklace, he said it was special, so I let him wear it for a couple of days. If you’re upset, I’ll go get it back tomorrow.”

“Don’t be mad, hmm?”

That final “hmm,” with its rising inflection, was soft and intimate, laced with playful seduction.

After three years together, she knew exactly how to make me melt.

Every time I was even slightly upset, that single phrase from her would completely soften me, and I’d be instantly appeased.

But this time, smelling the faint scent of men’s cologne in her hair, my nose just stung with a sharp ache.

Before I could reply, Seraphina’s phone rang.

“What’s wrong? Did you scratch the car?”

“Don’t be scared, I’ll be right there. Are you hurt?”

“Liam, don’t panic. Listen to me first, call the police and insurance…”

Her face was etched with anxiety.

She spoke rapidly, pulled open the door, and left the house without a backward glance at me.

The entire house fell silent again, as if she had never returned.

I smiled, reaching up to brush away the tears welling in my eyes.

That necklace, so casually mentioned by her, was once a bullet that had nearly pierced my heart.

As a top mercenary, our organization frequently took on illicit missions from the dark web.

My acquaintance with Seraphina began because she was my client for one of those contracts.

During that period, she was being hunted by rivals, and I was her bodyguard for three months.

In those three months, I saved her life countless times.

And on the day the three-month period ended, a killer hired by the other side and I fired our bullets simultaneously.

My opponent died on the spot, and the bullet meant for me lodged half an inch from my heart.

I narrowly escaped with my life.

When I woke up in the hospital bed, Seraphina was asleep by my bedside.

Her eyes were swollen and red, like a startled rabbit.

“I’m fine, don’t cry. Our contract is over, and that mercenary is dead. No one can hurt you anymore, don’t be afraid.”

At the time, I truly believed her tears were from fear.

After all, she was different from someone like me, who dealt with death constantly.

For someone like Seraphina, who’d lived a life of privilege since childhood, and a woman at that, experiencing such a life-and-death situation, fear was only natural.

But she shook her head, pressed her forehead against the back of my hand, and choked out each word.

“This world is too dangerous, Jax. I want to build a life with you.”

“My Jax, my heart aches for you. Stay, stay by my side, okay?”

I don’t know if it was Seraphina’s tear-reddened eyes that were too sincere then, or if her words were simply too moving.

When she asked that question, I nodded, as if compelled by some unknown force.

From that day on, I fought tooth and nail to leave the organization.

I stopped dead in my tracks for Seraphina, fantasizing about building a home with her.

And that bullet, Seraphina had made into a necklace, wearing it close to her skin.

“This bullet will remind me every single moment that Jax is the love of my life.”

But now, she knew the meaning of that bullet, yet she still gave it to someone else.

Then, it was time for me to exit the stage.