Chapter 3

Seraphina POV

In the early morning, the mansion's front doors were slammed open.

A dozen movers poured in, bustling in and out of the house.

My belongings were tossed out one by one.

My piano scores, my orchids, even our wedding photo hanging in the entryway-all were bundled up and thrown into the trash can in the yard.

Pink shag carpets, giant diffusers, and a pristine white Steinway grand piano were hauled inside.

I sat on the small balcony of the guest room, a glass of water in my left hand.

A sweet, tinkling laugh floated up from downstairs.

"Julian, does this vase look good here? Is it in the way?"

Valerie sat in a wheelchair, dressed in a white lace dress, a delicate porcelain doll.

Julian stood behind her, pushing her wheelchair, his eyes soft with tenderness.

"Whatever you like. The whole house is yours, change it however you want."

"But... won't Seraphina be upset?"

Valerie looked up timidly.

"There's no Seraphina here," Julian said. "Only a maid who's about to be kicked to the curb."

I heard every word clearly.

A maid.

Indeed, in three years of marriage, the most I'd done was serve him.

Just then, a knock came at the door.

Mr. Davies stood there, holding a maid's uniform.

"Ms. Seraphina." Mr. Davies's tone shifted quickly. "Julian has instructed that there's a party tonight, and we're short-staffed. He wants you to change into this and help with serving drinks."

I looked at the ridiculously skimpy maid's uniform.

"I'm injured." I pointed to my casted hand.

"Julian said that if one hand's useless, you still have the other." Mr. Davies placed the clothes on the bed. "If you don't change, Caleb's situation..."

Caleb, again.

I closed my eyes.

"Get out."

After Mr. Davies left, I changed into the uniform with one hand.

The dress was tight, making it hard to breathe.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

Pale, gaunt, like a ghost.

Good.

The more pitiful I looked, the more Julian would relish it, and the less he'd suspect me.

At six in the evening, guests poured into the house, Julian and Valerie's entire social circle.

These were the same people who, back then, had scoffed at me as a "desperate hanger-on."

Now, their eyes were filled with smug amusement and thinly veiled contempt.

"Well, well, isn't that the former piano prodigy? Look at her, dressed like that!"

"Heard she sold her husband for money? Still clinging to the house?"

"Utterly shameless."

Valerie was surrounded by guests, smiling, radiating happiness.

When she saw me approach with a tray, a flicker of pure malice darted through her eyes.

"Seraphina, darling, could you fetch me a glass of red wine?" Valerie's voice was soft.

I walked over, my left hand holding the wine glass steady.

Just as I handed it to Valerie, her hand suddenly trembled.

Red wine splashed across Valerie's pristine white dress.

"Ah!" Valerie shrieked, her eyes welling up. "My leg... it's so cold..."

"What happened!"

Julian shoved through the crowd, practically throwing me aside.

Losing my balance, I fell to the floor.

My casted hand slammed against the table corner.

The agony made my vision swim, then black out for a second.

"Seraphina! Are you trying to die?!" Julian knelt to check Valerie's leg.

"Julian, don't blame Seraphina... I just lost my grip..." Valerie sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Seraphina must be upset that I'm getting her cornea. She's just so angry..."

The room erupted.

"What? She won't donate?"

"Valerie got her leg injured because Seraphina pushed her, and now her eyes are going bad, and she's still so selfish?"

"Exactly! She took Mrs. Sterling's place for three years, and she's still not satisfied!"

Julian suddenly turned, glaring at me.

"Apologize."

I lay on the floor, pushing myself up to a sitting position.

I looked at the 'couple'.

Apologize? Fine.

I slowly got up and walked to Valerie.

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't hear you!" Julian roared.

I took a deep breath, bent at the waist, a deep, mocking bow.

"I'm sorry, Miss Valerie. I shouldn't have spilled wine on you."

"I shouldn't have taken Mrs. Sterling's place."

"I shouldn't even be alive, bothering your perfect lives."

"Get to the kitchen." Julian ordered. "Don't come out until the party's over."

I turned and walked away.

No looking back, no tears.

Back in the kitchen, I closed the door, shutting out the noise from outside.

I pulled a tiny USB drive from the pocket of my apron.

I'd slipped it from Julian's suit pocket during the chaos of my fall.

It contained Julian's company's most sensitive data. Exactly what Liam needed.

I found a piece of raw meat, shoved the USB drive deep into it, then tossed it into the very bottom of the freezer.

After that, I leaned against the freezer door, gasping for breath.

My right hand throbbed as if it had broken all over again.

But I smiled.

Julian, if you'd just checked the security footage, you'd see Valerie deliberately spilled that wine herself.

But you wouldn't check.

You would never believe me.

My phone vibrated. A bank transfer notification.

Five million. It had arrived.

I immediately transferred the money to the offshore account I'd been preparing for three years.

Then, I factory-reset my phone and tossed it into the churning garbage disposal.

The phone shattered into fragments.

That was the first connection I severed.