Chapter 5

Half an hour later, Ashton drove towards the hospital.

At the parking gate, two security guards changing shifts were chatting.

"Heard we need to beef up patrols now, especially on the wards with patients who don't have family visiting."

"That girl who had the accident..."

"Don't even mention it. The human body with dog legs... nearly scared me to death!"

"Those dog legs were jammed right into her thigh stumps, wired tightly together with steel wire! The bone inside the flesh was practically sticking out! Gave me nightmares for days!"

"Heard her family's loaded, but they wouldn't even cough up the five hundred thousand for proper treatment. By the time they finally scraped it together, the girl was already gone."

Ashton's hands clenched on the steering wheel. He stared at the guards, his voice tight with fear. "The girl you're talking about... her name wasn't... Seraphina, was it?"

One guard glanced at him. "Don't know her name. But the ones who picked up her body were two huge, thuggish-looking guys. Probably her brothers or something."

Ashton let out a breath of relief. Just then, his phone pinged. A message from Rosalind with a link to my supposed Twitter account. The post had countless likes.

It showed someone who looked vaguely like me, partying hard at a nightclub.

Rosalind's voice message followed. "Ashton, I'm so envious of Seraphina. Will I ever be able to dance freely like her? Will I ever be truly happy?"

"Slut!" Ashton spat the word, completely missing that the face in the video only bore a slight resemblance to mine.

"That damn bitch Seraphina! I've been looking everywhere for her. She faked her death to mess with me, and now she dares to provoke me!

"Go grab her cheap mother. I'm making them pay today!"

Before he could finish, one of his subordinates rushed in.

"Mr. Sterling, bad news! Ms. Rosalind Sterling's legs are bleeding heavily again! She's refusing treatment, and... she slit her wrists!"

Ashton sprinted into the hospital room in terror.

"Rosalind! What happened? Don't scare me..."

"I'm fine... I just... I just feel like I can never be as happy as Seraphina..."

Rosalind stood up, showing a weak, apologetic smile, blood seeping through the bandages on her wrists.

"Maybe it's better if I just die."

With that, she collapsed onto the floor.

Ashton watched in horror as she was rushed into the emergency room. He sank to his knees, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"She dares provoke Rosalind!

"She deserves to die!"

He looked up at Cole, who stood nearby.

"She wants to play games? Fine. I'll play.

"Dig up every piece of dirt on Seraphina. Leak it all online. I want her infamous across the entire internet!"

But Cole couldn't find any dirt on me. Instead, he carefully edited photos of Ashton abusing the cats, removing context, and posted them on the official Sterling Group website.

Ashton even made a video.

"Bullying her sister, terrorizing classmates, shamelessly sleeping with businessmen, abusing animals... a person like this does not deserve to be part of the Sterling family!

"If anyone sees her, please contact me immediately! Generous reward offered!

"Let's make sure this trash gets what she deserves!"

The internet exploded in outrage. "FindTheEvilSeraphina" started trending everywhere.

Just as Ashton was reveling in his apparent victory, a major online influencer tagged him.

The video showed Lucinda kneeling in front of the Sterling Group building.

Behind her, a banner read: [Exposing the inhumane Sterling family, who forced Seraphina to death.]

Bound to Ashton, I followed him as he went, my spectral form arriving alongside him at the Sterling Group building.