To their left, Caspian watched the interaction between the two of them and let out a cynical sneer.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on the cup of coffee in front of him.

The pattern drawn into the foam was crooked and messy, thoroughly ugly.

Even uglier than the ones Seraphina used to make.

He lifted his hand and called the flight attendant over, speaking expressionlessly, "Take it away."

Hearing the commotion beside him, Christian, who was in the middle of telling Natalia a story to soothe her to sleep, cast a faint glance over.

He quickly averted his eyes again, his gaze resting on the coffee before him.

The coffee had already turned completely cold, its aroma entirely spent, and even the latte art had blurred into a distorted mess.

In a daze, he found himself remembering the first time Seraphina had tried making coffee.

She had held the mug, running excitedly up to him with eyes full of bright light.

"Christian, look! I made this coffee specially for you. Quick, taste it and tell me if it's good! The pattern in the middle is a little puppy, it's so much cuter than the ones we usually drink."

He had looked down into the cup. Inside lay a half-melted sugar cube, coconut jelly, sago pearls...

Rather than calling it coffee, it resembled a chaotic sweet beverage.

Yet looking at the girl's expectant eyes.

He couldn't bring himself to crush her high spirits.

Just as he reached out to take it, Caspian had pushed the door open and walked in after playing basketball.

Caspian tossed his basketball aside carelessly, strode over, and violently swept the cup right off the table, sending coffee splashing all over the floor.

"Are you making coffee or porridge? Who throws coconut jelly into coffee? I think you're trying to poison my brother to death."

Seraphina's eyes had instantly turned red with rage, and she raised her foot to kick Caspian.

But the moment she caught sight of Caspian's suddenly darkening face and the violent hostility in his eyes, she immediately lost her nerve, quickly hiding behind Christian's back while clutching tightly onto the hem of his shirt, her voice carrying a slight whimper.

"Christian, save me! He's going to kill me!"

Thinking of the past, a faint smile inadvertently touched the corners of Christian's lips, and his tightly wound heart eased slightly.

Chapter 9

By the time they stepped off the plane and checked into their hotel, thirteen hours had passed.

A recent rain had fallen over Berlin, leaving the night view outside the window crisp and cold.

Caspian returned to his room, and without even bothering to unpack his luggage, he whipped out his phone and dialed his close friend's number.

"Seraphina is throwing a tantrum with me. Go ahead and order nine hundred and ninety-nine Juliet roses right now and have them sent to the villa. They must be the freshest ones, and they have to be delivered tonight."

"Then go to La Maison du Chocolat and order a dark chocolate mousse cake. Keep the sugar low, Seraphina doesn't like things too sweet."

"Also, send over that emerald necklace I won at the auction last week."

The voice on the other end of the line was incredibly hesitant. "Cas, there's something... it seems Seraphina..."

Caspian frowned, his tone impatient. "Just spit it out."

The friend really didn't know how to break it to him. "Cas, you'd better just take a look at WeChat yourself."

An ominous weight settled into Caspian's heart as he switched over to the WeChat application.

The moment he opened it, his screen was completely flooded with messages from various people.

[Cas, you finally dumped Seraphina. Congratulations, man.]

[Congrats on regaining your freedom, Cas.]

His chest tightened. He randomly clicked on one of the threads and saw a screenshot of Seraphina's moments.

It had been posted more than ten hours ago, featuring a photo of the horizon outside an airplane window, accompanied by a single sentence:

[The marriage ends here. From this moment on, the mountains and rivers stand wide and far, and I shall only be a free soul.]

Those few words were like a block of ice, instantly leaving Caspian entirely frozen.

His voice grew tight. "What does she mean by that?"

Just because he hadn't brought her along and had left her behind for a single day, Seraphina was going to throw a tantrum and demand a divorce?

He had truly spoiled her too much.

The voice on the phone wavered, "We don't know. All of us who had Seraphina's contact info have been completely blocked and deleted. No one can reach her at all."

Caspian's breathing grew incredibly heavy, a ball of fury raging within his chest.

He could no longer hear whatever else was being said on the line.

He slammed the phone down, rushed straight out the door, and hailed a cab directly back to the airport.

Meanwhile, inside the master suite.

Christian had just finished putting Natalia to sleep and walked over to sit on the living room sofa, his long fingers pinching the bridge of his nose to soothe his exhaustion.

His assistant arrived precisely at that moment to hand over the medical documents.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, the bone marrow matching report for Miss Natalia has come out. There is only a minor deviation in one of the metrics, which won't affect the procedure. The hospital here is fully equipped to perform the surgery."

"Good." Christian felt a slight relief in his heart. "Arrange it as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

The assistant acknowledged the order, then seemed to recall something and added:

"By the way, Mr. Vanderbilt, we just received word from the front desk. The second young master rushed off to the airport to head back home just a moment ago."

Christian lifted his eyes and cast a brief glance at him.

Having worked beside him for many years, the assistant immediately understood his silent cue and continued to report the information he had uncovered.

When he heard that Seraphina had unilaterally announced the end of the marriage on her moments feed, Christian's fingers froze mid-air.

He suddenly realized something, his breath turning shallow and sharp.

"Check the status of my marriage registration with her."

The assistant hurried off to fulfill the task.

Twenty minutes later, the living room of the suite was so quiet that only the ticking of the clock remained, the heavy atmosphere turning suffocating.

Christian stared intently at the information displayed on his phone screen, his knuckles whitening from the sheer force of his grip.

From the date the divorce application was filed to the exact moment it legally took effect, every step of the process was clearly listed.

His gaze locked dead onto the column showing the application date.

It was the very day after he had brought Natalia back home while hiding behind Caspian's identity.

So...

Seraphina knew about the identity swap between him and Cas.

Not only did she know, but she had also taken the divorce decree he had signed years ago to completely sever their relationship.

The realization struck his heart like a bolt of lightning. Christian could no longer maintain his composure. He bolted to his feet, his voice carrying a rare, undisguised edge of urgency.

"Book the earliest available flight back home. Right now!"

Chapter 10

Christian had only walked a few steps when his phone rang. It was a call from his close friend, Julian.

"Natalia's surgery date is basically set. It can be arranged within this month."

"Keep her emotions stable during this time. Once she successfully cooperates and completes the bone marrow transplant, you can get rid of her for good."

Christian's breath hitched slightly. "Understood. Thanks."

After hanging up, Christian waited for a few minutes before speaking, "No need to book the flight anymore."

"Have someone keep an eye on Seraphina's side. Don't let Cas do anything drastic."

Assistant Gu acknowledged the order, but couldn't help but speak up, "Mr. Vanderbilt, you clearly didn't want to divorce your wife, why did you..."

Before he could finish, he was silenced by Christian's cold, sharp glare.

Knowing he had spoken out of turn, Assistant Gu quickly left the room.

As the door closed, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Until Miss Natalia's surgery was completed, Mr. Vanderbilt would probably have to stay by her side.

Thinking of this Miss Natalia made Assistant Gu's head ache.

Of the two young masters of the Vanderbilt family, the eldest was calm, self-controlled, and rigorous, while the Vanderbilt couple favored the younger son.

The eldest young master was practically raised by Professor Su.

Three years ago, Professor Su found his long-lost daughter, who was diagnosed with leukemia. She refused to cooperate with any treatment unless Christian was present to make her take her medicine and undergo checkups.

Professor Su could not let go of his daughter. After several pleas, Christian ultimately couldn't bear to disappoint the old man's wishes, which was why he put on this identity-swap act with the second young master.