Chapter 2

When I rushed to the hospital, Chloe only had her last breath left. She gently grasped my hand, her face scarred, her body a sight no one should see.

“Brother, I’m sorry. In the end, I’m leaving you alone in this world.”

“If my call had come a little later than Seraphina’s that day of the earthquake, would your child not have died, and Seraphina wouldn’t hate you?”

She brushed away my tears, her eyes gradually reddening. “Brother, don’t cry. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Chloe was covered with a white sheet and wheeled away. My entire body went limp; I couldn’t stand.

My mind was filled with decades of memories of Chloe and me, relying on each other. She was always so understanding.

Even at the very end, she was comforting me.

“Asher, what are you doing here?”

A sudden startled voice. Jax was standing around the corner, a small bandage on his hand, looking at me with a wicked grin.

He was the college guy my wife had started dating, and the culprit who killed my sister.

The emotions churning inside me could no longer be suppressed. I lunged forward, grabbing his collar. Just as my fist was about to land, Seraphina rushed out from the side and slapped me across the face.

She was furious. “You actually dared to stalk me?”

My head was knocked to the side, my face burning.

I looked at her in disbelief. “Don’t you know why I’m here today?”

Seraphina straightened Jax’s collar, not even looking up. “Asher, this is a hospital. What else could you be doing here besides stalking me?”

The pain made it hard to breathe; my chest felt terribly tight.

Words squeezed out of my throat, “I wasn’t stalking you. I came to the hospital to see my sister one last time.”

“My sister was killed by this animal!”

I pointed at Jax and roared, but he fearfully hid behind Seraphina.

His eyes welled up slightly. “Sister, he says I hurt someone? How could I…”

Seraphina looked at me with even greater disgust. “Asher, I know you hate Jax, but you can’t just say things like that!”

I looked at this woman, who I’d spent eight years with, feeling utterly heartbroken.

Jax, standing behind Seraphina, shot me a triumphant look.

I pointed at Jax and said, “You say he didn’t kill my sister? Then where did the wound on his arm come from?”

“I saw the video. When he was forcing my sister, she resisted and bit him. Does he dare to show me the wound?”

A flicker of emotion crossed Seraphina’s face.

Then, her gaze darted towards Jax’s arm.

Two seconds of silence later, a cold chuckle escaped her throat. “Asher, with your sister’s stick-thin figure, you think Jax would even look at her?”

I froze, unable to react.

Jax was the first to smirk. “Yeah, Seraphina. Chloe? Even if she stripped naked and stood in front of me, I wouldn’t give her a second glance. Force her? Please.”

“Asher, you really put your sister on a pedestal, don’t you?”

Seraphina’s eyes hardened with coldness. “He’s always doted on his sister, so it’s normal for him to put her on a pedestal.”

My fists clenched, burning with rage. “Seraphina, she called you ‘sister-in-law’ for eight years, she was so genuinely good to you! How could you say that about her?”

All pretense on Seraphina’s face cracked, replaced by intense disgust.

“Good to me? Being good to me meant calling you to save her when the earthquake hit, which made me lose my child!”

“Don’t forget that you and your sister are the reason I can never conceive again! How dare you say she was good to me?!”

A lump caught in my throat. I pressed my lips together for a long moment and said, “Seraphina, I’ve told you many times, Chloe called before the earthquake started. The earthquake happened when we were together. After it hit, we rushed back as fast as we could.”

“Chloe and I clawed through the rubble all night just to find you. My fingerprints were almost gone. You’ve suffered all these years, but so have we!”

A flicker of hesitation crossed Seraphina’s face.