So, she kept her face mask-like and told him, "Fine. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow. But tonight, you’d better go home and take care of your grandfather."

Seraphina had no way of knowing that those words would lead Ethan to believe she was the one responsible for the old man's death.

The next day, Seraphina arrived full of hope, only to find an Ethan who looked like he had been carved from ice. He hurled a backup surveillance tape at her face, his eyes bloodshot and dark with malice.

"I was blind to ever love you. Seraphina, I have my answer. Just wait—I will make you pay for this."

Seraphina watched the footage of "herself" violently pushing the old man down. In the video, she turned and walked away, ignoring the elderly man's cries for help. By the time Ethan had made it home, his grandfather had stopped breathing.

"That’s not me. I did go to see him, but I never pushed him!"

She tried desperately to explain, but Ethan only sneered, his eyes overflowing with hatred. "Then who is that on the camera?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but her father’s voice from behind her choked the words in her throat.

"If you say one more word to this brat, the next person to die will be Ethan Cross."

Seraphina admitted it—she was terrified.

She could only stay silent, watching as her father’s bodyguards beat Ethan until he was a broken, bloody mess and threw him out of the estate. As he stumbled to his feet, the look he gave her was one of infinite hate.

Not long after, Ethan Cross re-emerged as the heir to the Cross empire. When she had asked her father about it, Arthur Thorne had been dismissive.

"The old man Cross was dying and had no other heirs. He remembered a woman who came to his door years ago with a pregnant belly whom he'd paid to go away. It turns out that bastard child was Ethan Cross."

Arthur Thorne never imagined that the boy he looked down upon would be the one to set the trap that eventually forced him to flee into the night.

The memory ended. Seraphina closed her eyes, forcing back the tears.

She hadn't cried when she was forced to insult him. She hadn't cried when her father abandoned her and the world turned its back. If she cried now, she would truly lose.

From a pampered princess to a hidden plaything in the shadows. Ethan was right—death would be a mercy.

Since living was this agonizing, she would seek the end. If Ethan Cross was so determined to turn her into a woman of no reputation, then she would give him exactly what he wanted.

Chapter 4

She opened her eyes and met Ethan’s gaze defiantly, a self-deprecating smirk playing on her lips.

"Mr. Cross is right. I’ll have to trouble you then—make sure every cent earned from those videos is transferred to me without a penny missing."

Ethan’s face turned as dark as coal, his entire presence radiating a bone-chilling frost. He snapped the camera shut, his voice so cold it felt like ice water.

"Seraphina Thorne, you truly have no shame."

Seraphina nodded, accepting his verbal lashings with poise. Her slender fingers traced the red marks on her skin in a slow, suggestive motion as she blew him a mock kiss.

"If I cared about my dignity, I wouldn't be spending every night beneath you. I should be grateful this body of mine still catches your eye; otherwise, I’d have been beaten to death long ago."

She didn't bother to reach for a robe to cover her nakedness. Instead, she walked toward him, pressing her soft curves against his arm and whispering into his ear.

"Ethan, what time are you coming tomorrow? I’ll prepare in advance. A maid outfit? Or perhaps a teacher? Which do you prefer?"

Ethan’s expression darkened further, his fists clenching at his sides until his knuckles cracked. With a violent shove, he sent Seraphina sprawling to the floor.

He knelt down and gripped her chin, his eyes like frozen pools, his voice a jagged blade.

"Don't you dare say my name. This is the last time I’m coming here. The one-year deadline is only two weeks away—which also happens to be the day of my engagement to Eva. You’d better pray your father crawls out of his hole by then. If he doesn't, I promise your life will become a hundred times more miserable than it is now."

He released her face, his rough thumb trailing mockingly over her smooth skin.

"The taste of a fallen heiress... I’m sure there are plenty of men eager for a turn."

Seraphina froze, her eyes trembling as she stared at him in sheer shock.

Ethan brushed off his hands as if touching filth, standing tall to look down at her with a look of pure contempt.

"I told you, Seraphina. I will make you pay."

He took a final, lewd inventory of her body, his tone light and cruel.

"Enjoy these last moments of freedom. Once the debt is due, you won't be getting out of bed very often."

The moment the door slammed behind him, Seraphina’s mask shattered. She collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for air as if she had been drowning. After a long silence, she forced her aching body up and retrieved a hidden phone from beneath the mattress.

The call was answered on the first ring.

Arthur Thorne’s steady, commanding voice came through the speaker.

"Well? Have you seen the true colors of the man you loved yet?"

Seraphina felt a crushing exhaustion in her soul. "Dad, I was wrong. I agree to the marriage alliance. Arrange a fake death for me."

"I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses. I’m your father; I would never hurt you. I told you Ethan Cross was no good. But never mind that now—how much time do you need to tie up loose ends?"

"Two weeks."

After hanging up, Seraphina sank into a hot bath, her mind replaying the conversation she’d had with her father a year ago.

"Sera, don't say I never gave you a chance. Let’s make a bet. Someone is setting a trap to ruin our family. If it isn't Ethan Cross behind it, I’ll give you my blessing. If it is, you break it off and do as I say."

Seraphina had argued back then with stubborn desperation.

"Even if it is Ethan, he’s only seeking justice for his grandfather! To make me give up on him, you hired a double to frame me and caused the death of the only person who loved him! How can you blame him for wanting revenge?"

Arthur Thorne had let out a cold snort, looking at her with bitter disappointment.

"Ethan Cross isn't worth my personal attention. He brought that trouble on himself with his own messy affairs. Don't go pinning that old man’s death on me."

Chapter 5

He had slammed a thick file in front of her, puffing on a cigar.

"He lacked the power to find the truth back then; I don't blame him for that. But now that he’s back in the Cross family, if he’d rather believe his own delusions than investigate the facts, then he’s destined to be a small man who will never achieve greatness."

Seraphina sat up in the tub, recalling the photos in that file, and softly whispered a name.

"Evangeline Vance."

Ethan’s fiancée.

Over the past year, Seraphina had tried to tell Ethan the truth, but her words were met only with mockery and scorn. He believed she was merely trying to drive a wedge between them by slandering the "saintly" Eva.

Every time she spoke the truth, Ethan’s heart grew colder toward her. Meanwhile, Eva played the role of an angel, gently making excuses for Seraphina's "jealousy."

Eventually, Seraphina grew tired. You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.

She chose silence.

Emerging from the bathroom, she collapsed into bed and fell into a heavy sleep. When she woke, she was greeted by the sight of Ethan, who had sworn just yesterday never to return.

He stood with his arms crossed, a frigid smile on his face.

"Our great Miss Thorne certainly lives a charmed life, sleeping until noon."

Seraphina sat up, running a hand through her hair and giving him a sultry smile.

"Miss me already?"

Ethan’s face went pale with rage. He threw an evening gown at her.

"Have some dignity. Get dressed and come with me. Eva wants to see you."

Seraphina shrugged. She put on the dangerously low-cut gown and climbed into Ethan’s car. From the backseat, Ethan glanced at her attire, a flash of anger crossing his eyes before he suppressed it.

"Act your part at the gala. Don't embarrass me."

Seraphina sat perfectly still; the dress was so revealing that any slight movement risked exposing her. She swallowed her shame and replied softly.