Illusion clashed with reality. Seraphina's mind was a chaotic fog until she tripped over a stone, her head striking the ground with a heavy thud.

The blunt pain in her head brought a sudden, terrible clarity.

After the countless injuries and the repeated verbal abuse, Seraphina realized with a desperate certainty that the Julian who loved her—the gentle, attentive man—was gone. This version of Julian was cold and selfish, a stranger to her memories.

In the final moments before she lost consciousness, she used the last of her strength to dial her director's number.

"Director... the confidential project in Switzerland starting in two weeks... I'm coming with you."

She didn't want Julian anymore.

This ridiculous, hopeless dream had to end.

Chapter 2

When Seraphina woke up again, she was choked by the sharp smell of disinfectant. She opened her eyes to the unfamiliar surroundings of a hospital room and instinctively tried to move her hand.

A nurse nearby quickly moved to steady her arm. "Dr. Vance, thank goodness you were brought in when you were. Any later and you would have been staying here for a month."

Seraphina touched the bandages wrapped around her head and spoke in a raspy voice. "The person who brought me here... where are they?"

"The gentleman? He was just passing by. He left after paying your deposit."

Seraphina froze, then let out a bitter, silent laugh.

Even though she knew it was impossible for Julian to save her, her heart had still instinctively reached for him.

She pushed the pain deep down and closed her eyes, refusing to think of him again.

After a few days of recovery, she felt strong enough to handle her own discharge.

Thinking of the departure for Switzerland in less than two weeks, she secretly contacted the world's most prestigious agency for "disappearance" services.

The identity of Seraphina Vance, along with every memory—good or bad—was something she planned to leave behind forever.

Once the arrangements were made, she went to a shopping mall to buy a few changes of clothes.

She hadn't brought much with her when she returned to the country, and the things she had left at the Sterling estate had long since been thrown away by Julian.

Steeling herself, Seraphina drove to a high-end mall in the city center. She tried on several outfits and found a few she liked. But just as she was about to pay, the clothes were snatched from her hands.

She looked to the side and met the triumphant eyes of Clarissa Thorne.

Clarissa had dropped the mask of the gentle, obedient girl she wore for Julian. She tilted her chin up, looking at Seraphina with pure provocation.

"Where did a doctor like you get the money for this? Did you fail to hook Julian and find yourself a new sugar daddy these past few days?"

The friends standing on either side of her chimed in.

"Look at her. She clearly failed with our Mr. Sterling and has moved on to a new target. She probably just crawled out of some man's bed."

"Exactly. She looks decent enough, but who knows how many men she’s slept with. A total homewrecker."

Seraphina ignored their slander and turned to walk away.

But she had only gone a few steps when one of them grabbed her by the hair.

"I see the jewelry you're wearing is quite expensive. How does a pathetic doctor afford this? You don't deserve to wear these things."

The woman pulled hard, tearing at Seraphina’s hair and reaching out to snatch her jewelry.

Under the sharp pain, Seraphina felt a wave of cold fury. She struggled upward with all her strength and swung her hand, landing a resounding slap across Clarissa’s face.

The loud crack echoed through the entire store.

Everyone froze, staring at Seraphina in shock. Clarissa clutched her face, her voice rising to a screech.

"What do you think you are? You dare hit me?"

She turned to the other girls, her eyes turning murderous. "You two, hold her down!"

The women lunged forward, pinning the struggling Seraphina to the floor.

"This is illegal!" Seraphina screamed, looking desperately at the store clerks who were watching the scene.

At a sharp look from Clarissa, the clerks quickly fled the area.

"I'm going to make sure you know the price of hitting me."

Seraphina was pinned to the ground, unable to move an inch. She watched in horror as Clarissa raised her stiletto heel and slammed it down onto Seraphina’s palm.

Clarissa threw her entire weight into the strike.

In the next instant, a blood-curdling scream and the sound of crushing bone filled the air.

Seraphina’s cry was agonizing as the pain radiated from her palm through her entire body, leaving her shaking uncontrollably.

Her hand—the hand of a surgeon—had been brutally crushed by Clarissa’s heel.

As her consciousness began to fade from the shock, the last thing she saw was the undisguised hatred in Clarissa’s eyes.

Clarissa leaned down, whispering into her ear with a malicious smile.

"If Julian knew that the woman he once worshipped was being tortured by me like this, do you think he’d want to kill me?"

"Too bad. He’s never coming back for you."

At the mention of Julian, Seraphina finally broke. Tears flooded her eyes.

It was true.

The Julian who loved her most... was truly gone.

Chapter 3

Seraphina Vance was startled awake by a surge of white-hot pain. The sharp scent of disinfectant filled her lungs, and the agonizing throb in her palm made sleep impossible.

As she opened her eyes, she found Julian Sterling sitting by her bed.

Seeing her awake, Julian flicked a signed check onto her face. His voice was light, carrying a suffocating coldness.

"Because some meddling person posted the security footage online, Clara is being cyberbullied. You will start a live stream immediately and clarify to the public that you struck her first. Tell them that’s why she and her friends reacted the way they did."

He paused, his voice turning threatening as his gaze sharpened like a hawk’s.

"I’m not giving you a choice. Don't even think about calling the police. I have a thousand ways to make any case disappear, and this hospital is crawling with my men. You have no way out, Seraphina."

As if to prove his point, Julian gave a light clap. The bodyguards standing at the door filed in, their eyes fixed on her. It was clear that if she refused, a cruel punishment would follow instantly.

Seraphina froze, looking at him in utter disbelief.

"Julian, why should I explain for her? You know perfectly well she was the one who started it."

"As compensation," Julian spoke with a trace of reluctance, "I’ll stay with you for a few days. Isn't that what you’ve always wanted? To be with me?"

He spoke as if he were granting her the ultimate act of mercy.

And perhaps to him, it was. For the past three years, Seraphina had been the one desperately chasing him, begging for even a single date.

But now, Seraphina laughed. She laughed until tears threatened to spill.

If she had still harbored a flicker of hope or expectation for him, it vanished in this moment. She was now certain that the old Julian was never coming back.

Years ago, when their lives were still a struggle, she had been cornered by a group of thugs on her way home. They had stolen her money and tried to assault her.

Julian had come running like a madman. He threw punch after punch, and even as he was beaten until he was covered in blood, he had shielded her with his own body. Afterward, with blood-stained hands, he had wiped the tears from her eyes and whispered, "Sera, I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again."

The eighteen-year-old Julian would have died to protect her.

But the twenty-five-year-old Julian was demanding she protect her own abusers for the sake of Clarissa.

Why?

Seraphina snatched the check, tore it into pieces, and threw the confetti into his face.

"Julian, you think too highly of yourself and far too little of me. You aren't worth it."

Julian watched her—flared up like a cornered animal yet with eyes rimmed red. A strange emotion flickered in his gaze, gone before it could be named. When he spoke, however, his voice remained icy.

"If you don't want your research data on your laptop to be permanently deleted, start the stream. Now."

Seraphina gasped. She grabbed her laptop and tried to turn it on, only to find the screen remained black.

"Julian, have you lost your mind?" she demanded, her voice trembling.

That data didn't just represent her team’s hard work; it contained the critical results of a study on Alzheimer’s disease.

The data was unique and irreproducible. If it was lost, it was gone forever. How could he dare?

Seraphina was shaking with rage. But no matter how she emphasized the importance of the research, Julian refused to budge, repeating only one sentence: