In the past, no matter how much Natalia threw a tantrum, Mr. Vanderbilt would at least have the patience to coax her into cooperating with the treatment.

Now, it had changed to 'no matter what methods have to be used'...

Medicine had plenty of ways to keep an uncooperative patient quiet on the operating table, though whether the side effects of the drugs would impact the surgery's efficacy or cause damage to the patient's mental state remained to be seen.

All Christian cared about after all these years was a single outcome: Natalia successfully completing the surgery.

As Assistant Gu turned to fulfill the task, Christian's low voice sounded once more.

"The latest photography collection Seraphina released, has it been purchased?"

Chapter 15

It was yet another morning waking up with a throbbing hangover headache.

Caspian rolled over, instinctively reaching out his hand to pull the person beside him into his arms, only to encounter nothing but a stretch of freezing cold air.

He snapped his eyes open, staring at the empty half of the bed beside him, his gaze momentarily lost in a daze.

Then he looked down beneath the sheets, his face turning completely dark as he strode into the bathroom.

As the cold water cascaded over him, Caspian looked at the frustration that refused to subside, rubbing his face in irritation.

He couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"With Seraphina gone, you really can't handle a vegetarian diet, can you?"

Ultimately, with a sullen expression, Caspian pulled a silk nightgown Seraphina had left behind from the deepest cabinet in the walk-in closet and walked back into the bathroom.

By the time he stepped out again, he looked thoroughly refreshed, the hint of hostility between his brows mostly cleared away.

As he was getting dressed, his phone screen lit up with a message from Natalia.

[Cas, I've thought it through. The one I've loved all along is actually you. Once the surgery is over, I'll clear things up with your brother. Let's be together.]

A lazy smile touched Caspian's thin lips, and he carelessly tossed his phone onto the bed.

Be together with Natalia?

He had absolutely no interest.

Even in the past, his pursuit of Natalia had merely been for Christian's sake.

Christian had been willing to swap identities with him and deceive Seraphina all for Natalia's sake, which showed just how much weight Natalia carried in his brother's heart.

Caspian didn't have many hobbies; he simply lived to steal whatever Christian cared about.

Their parents' favoritism, limited-edition sports cars, coveted business projects.

Whatever Christian valued, he would wrench it away.

And every single time, he had won.

Except...

Caspian gazed at his reflection in the mirror, dressed in a white shirt.

He possessed almost the exact same deep facial structure and expressions as Christian.

Yet an uncontrollable edge of dark hostility lingered between his brows, making him look fierce and untamed.

His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the early summer of his eighteenth year.

On that afternoon, he had just finished taking a shower and was drying his hair as he walked into his closet to look for clothes.

Suddenly, a memory popped into his mind—of Seraphina staring at Christian's back whenever his brother wore a white shirt, her eyes sparkling with unvarnished admiration as she spoke.

"Christian, you look so entirely different when you wear a white shirt. You look exactly like a cold and abstinent male lead stepping right out of a comic book."

Caspian had let out a cynical sneer at the memory.

What a flatterer.

It was just a white shirt; what could possibly be so special about it?

A creature with absolutely no taste.

Perhaps finding the sea of dark-colored clothing in his own closet too monotonous, he had wandered over to Christian's walk-in closet. Opening the doors, he saw a whole row of white shirts hanging neatly, pressed so perfectly that not a single wrinkle could be found.

He had frozen for a split second, then curved his lips into a cold sneer.

"He really knows how to put on a show."

He had carelessly grabbed one of the white shirts, put it on, and headed downstairs, where he happened to run into Seraphina coming over to find Christian.

Amused by the idea of playing a prank, he had used Christian's tone to reach out and take her hand.

But how had Seraphina reacted?

She had violently slapped his hand away, her eyes filled with nothing but intense mockery and disgust.

"Caspian, what kind of act are you trying to put on? Do you honestly believe that throwing on a white shirt makes you identical to Christian?"

"No matter how pristine and immaculate you dress yourself up, it will never alter the dark, malicious hostility and twisted cruelty buried deep within your bones!"

"You're exactly like a vicious wolf baring its fangs, do you honestly take yourself for a human being just because you've draped yourself in human skin?"

With every single sentence Seraphina spoke, Caspian's eyes had turned a shade redder, his entire being radiating a bloodthirsty fury.

By the end, he couldn't even remember exactly how he had lost control.

He had rushed forward, pinning her down, and bit violently into her fair neck.

Amidst the intertwinement of frantic cries and the metallic tang of blood, his bloodshot eyes had locked dead onto that small, alluring red mole on her neck, as if determined to brand it into his very bones.

Snapping out of his memories, Caspian let out a deep breath, swiftly ripped off the white shirt, and changed into a black one.

Just as he was fastening the buttons, Felix's call came through.

"Cas, a friend of mine abroad just snapped a photo of Seraphina."

Caspian's fingers fastening the buttons froze instantly, his heart violently twisting with constriction.

His throat swallowed hard. He wanted to speak, but the words felt completely wedged in his throat.

Without waiting for his response, the voice on the other end continued, "There's another man in the photo with her. According to my friend... Seraphina's relationship with him is anything but ordinary."

Caspian's eyes darkened violently, his grip on his phone tightening with so much force that his knuckles turned entirely white.

...

Inside the quiet study of the Berlin master suite.

Christian was lowering his eyes to sign documents when a soft knock sounded at the door, which was then pushed open.

"Is Natalia's surgery finished?"

He didn't even lift his head, his tone perfectly flat.

Assistant Gu spoke in a low voice, "No, the procedure is still underway."

"The second young master... has gone to the UK to find Miss Seraphina."

The hand Christian used to hold his pen froze almost imperceptibly, the force behind his grip suddenly fracturing out of control.

With a sharp rip, the golden tip of the custom fountain pen tore right through the paper, the black ink bleeding rapidly across the document, staining it with a dark, heavy smudge.

...

London.

The evening along the south bank of the River Thames carried a damp, freezing wind, sweeping the crisp scent of the river across the embankment.

With a soft click, Seraphina pressed the shutter, capturing the final night view before lowering her camera.

She stood beside the railing, her white wool coat accentuating her slender silhouette, the evening breeze scattering the stray hairs framing her face, lending a touch of fragile brokenness to her pale features.

Seraphina's eyes remained perfectly clear and untroubled as she gazed quietly at the distant lights reflecting off the river.

After a short while, she pulled the collar of her coat tighter, turning around to leave.

But before she could take more than two steps, the door of a black Koenigsegg parked nearby suddenly popped open with a sharp click.

A pair of burning, large hands violently locked around her waist, dragging her directly into the car.

In a dizzying blur, her back slammed against the cold leather seat, her hands pinned securely above her head against the backrest.

The man leaned over, pressing close as his cheek brushed against hers, his burning breath fanning against her ear.

His voice was incredibly low and raspy.

"Sera."

Chapter 16

"Sera."

The man called her name over and over again, his voice raspy and broken, like a beast trapped in a desperate corner, carrying a desolate cry.

His tall frame pressed down, looming like a heavy mountain, trapping Seraphina firmly beneath him.

No matter how she struggled, she could not break free from those iron-like shackles.

"Let go!"

Yet the force pinning her grew tighter and tighter, as if trying to grind her directly into his bones and blood.

"Get off me."

"Caspian, I can't breathe!"

The moment those words left her lips, the hands tightly clamping her waist suddenly loosened a fraction.

Seraphina seized this fleeting gap, pushing him away with a sudden surge of strength, and slammed a sharp slap across his face.

"Snap!"

The crisp sound of the slap exploded inside the silent car cabin, exceptionally piercing.