Chapter 3

I waited for her for seven days in the Thorne Estate.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want a divorce; she simply didn’t have time.

Julian sent me another “battle report.”

In the photo, he lay on Seraphina’s lap, as she leaned down, tenderly peeling an apple for him. Sunlight bathed them, painting a scene as beautiful as a picture.

Ten years later, I stepped into this house I’d once risked my life to protect, but now as a defeated man about to be kicked out.

I glanced at the photo, then handed it to Marcus behind me, my face devoid of emotion.

“Find out which room he’s in. Hang him from the balcony for me.”

“He stays there until Seraphina comes back to sign the papers.”

The wind was strong that day, carrying the chill of early autumn.

I watched Julian, hanging from the third-floor balcony, still cursing relentlessly.

I pulled my trench coat tighter. Marcus carefully held a black umbrella over my head.

Julian, still dangling upside down outside the third-floor balcony, continued to curse obscenely.

My expression was indifferent as I quietly waited for Seraphina to arrive.

“Asher Vance, how dare you do this to me! Just wait until Sister Seraphina gets back, she won't let you off! She’ll kill you!”

“If you know what’s good for you, just sign the papers and get out of the Thorne family! Stop clinging to Sister Seraphina like a parasite!”

I didn’t bother to meet his gaze.

It wasn't until Seraphina's familiar black Bentley sped into view that I pulled out the prepared fountain pen.

Seraphina’s movements paused as she stepped out of the car, her face instantly grim, her gaze sharply piercing me.

The divorce agreement in my hand fluttered to the ground, caught by the wind.

I spoke, my voice cold:

“Marcus, shut his mouth. Just don’t kill him.”

“Enough, Asher Vance! He’s just a kid!”

Seraphina’s voice trembled with a hint of desperation.

The moment she moved closer, the fountain pen in my hand plunged violently into her shoulder.

Scarlet blood instantly stained her moon-white trench coat, the color a searing pain in my eyes.

“You know he’s just a kid?!”

“Then what about our Leo?! He was just a baby when he died, wasn’t he?!”

Seeing my near-collapsed expression, a flicker of anguish crossed Seraphina’s brows.

Instead of retreating, she stepped closer, seizing my hand and pushing the pen deeper into her flesh.

She unhesitatingly emptied a bottle of pills into her mouth, swallowing them down with her own blood.

“Asher, he’s young, he doesn’t know any better. It doesn’t have to go this far.”

“You’ve gotten your anger out. Let him down.”

My hand, in the end, still trembled.

The pen slipped from my grasp. The scar on my abdomen, left from saving her, began to throb faintly.

Before, she protected me with her life.

Now, she was coercing me with hers.

I was utterly exhausted, waving my hand weakly.

“Let him go.”

Julian was brought down, soaking wet. He lunged into Seraphina’s arms, wailing, pointing at me, his eyes filled with raging hatred.

“Sister Seraphina, he almost killed me! He even forced you to take those pills! Our baby… our baby might…”

Seraphina, her eyes red, held him tight, gently comforting him.

“It’s alright, it’s over. It’s okay if there’s no baby. You’re still young, we’ll have other chances later.”

Julian fainted in her arms, utterly distraught. Seraphina carried him, hurrying into the car and driving away.

The divorce agreement I’d thrown on the ground was run over by her speeding tires, splattered with mud.

The divorce still didn't happen.

Leo’s memorial day was approaching, and I didn’t want any more disruptions.

But Julian, once again, proactively provoked me.

He sent a package, inside only a small card.

“So what if you made me lose a baby? Sister Seraphina will just compensate me twofold, and you, you’ll never get close to her again!”

Along with the card, another item fell out.

It was the jade amulet I’d personally made for Leo, crafted from the only piece of precious jade my mother left behind.

It should have been enshrined in Leo's memorial hall, accompanying the eternal flame that never died out.

How did it end up in Julian Hayes’s hands?