Chapter 4

When the police handed me the suicide note, my hands trembled as I took it.

On the A4 paper, her familiar handwriting, though somewhat scrawled, was evident.

But the love pouring from her deepest heart was undeniably sincere.

Only, the object of that affection wasn't me.

It was Caleb Jones.

He was a guy from a low-income background who'd made it into our university on a full scholarship.

In all the years we'd been together, I’d never once heard his name from her lips.

Yet, to my shock, the person she truly loved in her heart turned out to be him.

This love, she had guarded so carefully, so perfectly.

I couldn't stand it any longer and crumpled to the carpet.

The sudden shock sent a searing pain through my chest, making it impossible to breathe.

But the next second, my gaze fell on a jar of carefully folded paper cranes tucked away in the corner of her closet, plunging my heart into an icy abyss.

I remembered, once, I’d stumbled upon her folding paper cranes in her study. She’d scowled, angrily telling me to leave.

Back then, I’d thought she was simply embarrassed about me discovering a secret gift she was making for me.

I never imagined that her dedication was never for me at all.

My hands trembling, I pulled the paper cranes from the glass jar. Each one was inscribed with a single phrase.

"I love you, Caleb Jones."

"I miss you so much."

Seraphina’s suicide note was filled with these same words, written over and over.

She had fallen in love with Caleb Jones at first sight, drawn to his reserved demeanor.

And then, the regret that their vastly different social standings made their union impossible.

C.J.

It was for Caleb Jones all along.

Not Julian Hayes.

The person she could never let go of wasn't me.

She had personally admitted that her greatest love was Caleb Jones.

And in that entire suicide note, my name appeared only once.

"I regret marrying Julian Hayes."

How utterly laughable.

For years, I'd given up inheriting the Hayes Corporation for her, choosing to be a humble medical consultant instead.

I'd firmly and repeatedly rejected others' advances, my heart solely devoted to her.

All my sacrifices, yet in the end, she completely ignored them.

Her eyes saw only Caleb Jones, a man from the slums, of humble origins, who in no way deserved her.

Every word in the note felt like a burning ember, scorching my heart, leaving it raw and bleeding.

Seraphina had repaid my deep affection with an emotional affair.

A woman like her simply didn't deserve my love.

Just as I resolved to sever all ties, the doorbell suddenly chimed at the mansion's entrance.