"I understand."

Perhaps he should be grateful that Seraphina had managed to escape with her life.

Standing by the window, Julian stared at Seraphina's pale face, his heart aching intensely.

Riverdale.

Janice sat on the sofa, her arms crossed over her chest, trying her best to look natural.

"Ethan, when are you going to give me the share transfer documents?" She forced the corners of her mouth up, feigning casualness.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Ethan flicked the ash from his cigarette without even lifting his head. "Can't wait to enter Vance Enterprises?"

Janice let out a dry laugh. "I just want to work alongside you as soon as possible, and besides..."

She stood up, walked over to sit down right next to Ethan, and rested her head against his shoulder. "Aren't we getting married?"

Ethan's eyes darkened. He crushed out the cigarette, reached out to push Janice away, and said, "Depends on my mood."

Hearing this, the smile on Janice's face froze instantly.

It had been several days now. Whether she brought up these two matters intentionally or in passing, Ethan would either pretend not to hear or simply say it depended on his mood. Even if she were a fool, she could tell that Ethan had no intention of giving her the share transfer documents.

"Ethan..." Janice softened her tone.

"Get out." Ethan glanced at her, his voice chillingly cold.

Janice bit her lip. Though unwilling, she knew better than to infuriate him and could only leave for now.

Inside the massive villa, Ethan was left all alone.

His shoulders sagged as if shedding a heavy burden, and he leaned back against the sofa.

The distant clamor of people and traffic drifted into the living room through the cracks in the window, making Ethan rather irritable.

He picked up his phone and stared at Seraphina's number, a trace of longing flashing across his dark eyes.

What on earth was wrong with him? He was actually still waiting for her call! Ethan's gaze turned cold, and he hurled the phone to the side. Suddenly, a sharp knocking on the door shattered the absolute silence.

Chapter 16: The Birthday Gift

Ethan's brows furrowed. After a brief moment, he stood up and opened the door.

It was a courier.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Ethan Vance?" The courier looked up, only to be startled into a shiver by Ethan's grim face.

Ethan glanced at the package in his hands. "Yes."

"T-Then, this is your package. Please... please sign for it." The courier tremblingly handed the package over.

Ethan froze slightly.

The moment he caught sight of the sender's name—Seraphina Cross—his heart gave a violent jolt.

Seraphina had sent this to him?!

Ethan signed his name as if entirely detached from his own awareness, taking the package and noting that it wasn't heavy.

Holding the package in one hand, he shut the door with the other and sat back down on the sofa.

Tearing it open, he revealed an exquisitely wrapped gift box. Opening the box, a string of delicate seashell wind chimes lay nestled inside.

Ethan was stunned, but his hand moved ahead of his thoughts, lifting it up. A pink, palm-sized card fluttered out along with it.

Ethan, Happy Birthday!

Ethan's pupils contracted sharply. Those short words felt like a knife driving straight into his chest.

Today... was his birthday?

He stared at the gently swaying seashells, his gaze gradually growing lost.

His parents had died young, and it was his grandfather who had raised him. But because he had an stubborn personality, his relationships with both his grandfather and Julian were strained. He hadn't celebrated a birthday since he was ten, and he had long forgotten when his own birthday even was.

But how did Seraphina remember?

Ethan leaned down to pick up the card, his expression sinking as the sharp pain in his heart grew distinctly intense.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, he frantically grabbed the packaging box, scrutinizing the return address.

However, it explicitly stated her workplace. Did that mean she had prepared this a long time ago, and it was simply scheduled to arrive on this precise day?

In an instant, the spark of hope that had just been ignited felt completely snuffed out by a howling gale.

A deep wave of disappointment flitted across Ethan's eyes, and his grip tightened a few degrees further.

A month later, Oakhaven.

Having just been transferred to a regular ward, Seraphina already wanted to get out of bed and walk around; she had been lying down for over a month and felt as though her bones were turning to mush.

"Seraphina!"

An exclamation of surprise laced with panic caused Seraphina, who was just about to stand up, to jump.

Julian dropped the things in his hands, crossing the room in a few strides to support her back onto the bed.

"Don't move around recklessly, your injuries haven't fully healed yet." He glanced at the IV needle on the back of Seraphina's hand, letting out a faint sigh of relief only after confirming everything was fine.

Seraphina lay back down, her brows knitting. "... ..."

She wanted to say "I'm fine," but she couldn't utter a single word, able to produce only a hoarse, muffled whimper.

Seraphina's gaze dimmed, and she tightly pressed her lips together.

She still couldn't speak. Julian had said she simply injured her vocal cords and would be fine after resting for a while, but it had already been a month since she woke up, and she still couldn't produce a single word.

Had she truly become a mute...

Seeing the disappointment written all over her face, Julian understood her thoughts. Even so, he could only comfort her by saying, "Don't be impatient. Once your injuries heal completely, you'll recover slowly."

Seraphina stared at him, and it took a long moment before she forced a reassuring smile to set his mind at ease.

She ought to be happy—happy that she was still alive. Perhaps her parents in heaven simply couldn't bear to have her join them so soon.

Julian bit his lip and smiled, intentionally changing the subject. "Right, I bought you that canned fruit you like."

With that, he sat down, opened a can of fruit, and brought a small piece of yellow peach to Seraphina's lips.

The sweetness of the peach did nothing to dispel the heavy suffocating feeling in Seraphina's heart, and she shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Julian looked at her in confusion.

Seraphina reached out, taking the paper and pen from the nightstand to write.

Julian froze slightly. Written on the paper were just two words: Riverdale.

Chapter 17: The Man He Used to Be

Looking at the crookedly written word, Riverdale, Julian felt his heart tighten. "...Are you still thinking about Ethan?"

Hearing this, Seraphina gripped the pen tighter in her hand, and after a long moment, she shook her head.

Hearing the name "Ethan Vance" brought her nothing but heartache and disappointment, mixed with a few hints of deep regret.

If she hadn't agreed to marry Ethan out of the naive hope that love would grow over time for Old Mr. Vance's sake, perhaps she could have looked after her father in peace, and he would never have been in that car accident...

Seraphina's eyes grew slightly warm. Sniffing her aching nose, she continued to write two more words: My father.

Counting the days, her father's forty-ninth-day memorial was fast approaching, yet she was currently in Oakhaven, a thousand miles away, with absolutely no way to bow before his grave.

Seeing this, the worry in Julian's heart gradually dissolved.

He said gently, "The most important thing for you right now is to recover your health. I'm sure your father will understand."

Seraphina lowered her eyes, loosely letting go of the pen.

She actually wanted to go back. She hadn't spent much time with her father while he was alive, and she didn't want him to be left there all alone.

Julian offered a few more words of comfort, and only then did Seraphina manage to eat a few bites of food.

Once she lay down to rest, Julian stepped out of the ward and headed to Dr. Kane's office.

"Dr. Kane, is there any other way to recover her vocal cord nerves?" he asked earnestly, sitting across from the doctor.

Dr. Kane put down his pen, pondered for a moment, and then spoke. "If she undergoes surgery, there is hope. It's just that the risks are immense and the success rate isn't high, which is why I generally don't advise family members to take that gamble."

Hearing this, Julian furrowed his brows and lowered his head.

He had hidden the severe damage to her vocal cord nerves from Seraphina, leaving her to believe that she would be able to speak after resting for a while. The longer time dragged on, the greater her expectations would grow. If he told her she might never recover, could she accept it?

Dr. Kane retrieved a business card from his drawer and placed it in front of Julian. "This is a friend of mine. He is an expert in neurology. If you make up your mind, you can go see him."