With a steady hand, I threw the water squarely onto Seraphina’s dress.

The bodyguards immediately burst into the room.

Mrs. Higgins stepped forward, blocking them two meters away.

"Get out."

I set the empty glass back on the table.

"If you ever use a key to break into my house again, I will break your legs. I don’t care if you’re pregnant or not."

Drenched from head to toe, Seraphina stood frozen in the middle of the living room.

Her mouth opened, trying to form words, but the woman behind her suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

The woman dragged her toward the door. As she passed by me, she cast a lingering look in my direction.

That gaze.

It was complex, piercing, and carried a profound, unsettling scrutiny.

It was the look of someone observing an individual they had known of for a lifetime, but had never studied up close.

"Let’s go."

She pulled Seraphina out the door.

The moment the door clicked shut, Mrs. Higgins let out a long breath.

"Miss Alaina, who on earth was that woman?"

"I don’t know."

But my intuition told me that she was the real guest today.

Seraphina was merely a prop she had brought along.

Chapter 8

That evening, Ethan came home.

This time, he didn't come alone.

A dozen men in identical black suits followed him inside, lining up silently across the living room like a wall.

He sat at one end of the dining table.

I sat at the other.

Separated by two meters of cold marble.

He tapped his fingers against the tabletop twice.

"Lana."

"You put your hands on her again today."

I leaned back against my chair.

"She brought herself to my doorstep. I didn’t invite her."

"She’s pregnant right now. You threw water on her—if something went wrong..."

"Then she shouldn’t have come."

"Lana."

His voice dropped, turning dangerously low.

"I am telling you for the very last time: leave her alone."

"You can say it for the last time all you want. Whether I choose to listen is an entirely different matter."

He fell silent.

We stared at each other from across the long table.

The dozen men behind him stood completely motionless, imposing and rigid.

But I had my own people.

Mrs. Higgins stood behind my chair, backed by a few of our own staff.

We were outnumbered, but not a single one of them flinched.

"Ethan, what is the meaning of bringing all these men here? Are you planning to force me to apologize to her?"

"I want to have a serious conversation with you."

"About what?"

"About how we are going to live our lives moving forward."

He fished a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and shook one out.

"I am not getting a divorce."

"And I am not giving her up."

"Those two points are entirely non-negotiable."

"The most I can do is ensure she stays out of your sight. The two of you will live completely separate lives, without interfering with one another."

I watched him strike a match.

As the smoke began to drift across the table, I lit a cigarette of my own.

"Then let me bring a few things to the table as well."

"During those ten years you were locked away, I took three different buses every single winter just to visit you. One year, the blizzard completely shut down the roads, and I walked for four hours in the freezing snow just to reach the gates."

"After you got out, I stayed by your side as we fought our way from muddy construction sites to high-rise corporate offices, moving from cramped, shared rentals to this exact villa."

"When debt collectors held a knife to your throat, I offered myself as a hostage just to buy you time to negotiate."

"And the child I carried for seven months died because of it. The doctors told me I would likely never conceive again."

"Ethan, what right do you possibly have to sit there and talk to me about 'non-interference'?"

I flicked my ash onto the marble surface.

"When I married you, you told me something."

"You said that in this life, our marriage would only ever have one exit—and that was if one of us died."

"I actually believed you back then."

"So now you’re changing the rules?"

"Adding a clause for 'non-interference'?"

I pulled the divorce papers from beneath the table and placed them before him for the third time.

"Sign it, and it won't be any of my business who you choose to spend your life with."

"Refuse to sign it, and this household will only ever have one mistress."

"Take your pick."

He stared at the document.

The cigarette burned down to the very end, scorching his fingers.

He crushed the ember against the tabletop and picked up the papers.

For a second, I thought he was actually going to read them.

Instead, he clicked his lighter.

With a sharp snap, the flame licked the edge of the paper.

The agreement burned into a heap of fragile gray ash right in his hands.

The remnants scattered across the two meters of marble separating us.

He stood up.

"She won't come looking for you again. I’ll take back her key."

"But Lana, stop digging into her past."

"Some things need to end right here."

He turned and walked out, taking his dozen men with him.

The exact moment the front door slammed shut, a violent, agonizing cramp seized my abdomen.

Mrs. Higgins rushed forward to support me.

"Miss Alaina!"

"It’s just the old ailment."

Ever since I lost the baby three years ago, any severe emotional distress triggers this unbearable pain.

The finest specialists had evaluated me, concluding it was a combined psychological and physiological trauma—nearly impossible to completely cure.

I doubled over, pressing my forehead against the icy surface of the dining table.

Slowly, agonizingly, my breathing began to steady.

Right then, my phone began to vibrate.

It was Felix.

"Alaina, we just uncovered Seraphina’s real name."

Chapter 9

I picked up the phone.

"Speak."

"Her original name was Seraphina. Her residency profile was moved out of Nashville three years ago, and she resettled in Washington after changing her name to Seraphina."

"Seraphina?"

"Yes. Her mother is named—"

The call was abruptly disconnected.

I dialed back immediately.

The phone was turned off.

I tried five times in a row, but it was switched off every single time.

I sat in my chair, my finger hovering over the screen for ten seconds.

Then I called Felix's assistant.

"Something just happened to Felix," the assistant's voice sounded rather panicked. "Some people showed up at the office and confiscated all his equipment."

"Who?"

"We don't know, but the people who came used Ethan's name."

I hung up the phone.

Ethan.

He told me to stop digging, but I didn't listen.

So he went straight after my people.

I leaned back against my chair, wanting to laugh but unable to find the humor.

Years ago, for my sake, he could pick up an iron pipe to commit murder.

Now, for the sake of Seraphina, he could intercept the person I trusted most.

What exactly did this count as?

Devotion?

Or turning his back on me?

The next day, an unexpected person arrived.

The old butler of the family, Arthur.

Arthur had been with the family for thirty years, serving since the time of Ethan's grandfather. Before Ethan went to prison, Arthur had played the role of a semi-father figure.

He arrived carrying a box of pastries.

"Ma'am, Grandma Helen asked me to come check on you."

Grandma Helen.

Ethan's grandmother.

When Ethan got into trouble back then, the entire family severed ties with him. Grandma Helen was the only one who put up the money to hire lawyers, successfully getting his death sentence commuted to a fixed term.

I had always maintained an excellent relationship with her.

She was the only member of his family who came to accompany me at the hospital during my pregnancy.

"Grandma Helen said she heard some rumors."

Arthur placed the pastries on the table, hesitating for a moment.

"Ma'am, Grandma Helen asked me to pass along a message."

"Go ahead."

"She said, 'Lana, some things are more complicated than you think. That girl is not simple. But don't be afraid, your grandmother is standing right by your side.'"

He added, "She also said she will tell you everything herself when the time is right."

I looked at Arthur.

"Arthur, does Grandma Helen know who Seraphina really is?"

Arthur did not answer my question.

He set down the pastries, gave a respectful bow, turned, and walked away.

As he reached the door, he paused briefly.

"Ma'am, Grandma Helen also added one last thing: 'Tell Lana to take care of her health and not to push herself too hard.'"

The door closed.

Grandma Helen knew Seraphina's true identity.

Ethan knew it too.

Felix's investigation had been cut off right in the middle.