Chapter 151

Seraphine's POV

I stood there in the cold wind, shivering uncontrollably.

But I'd still come.

From the moment I heard Quinlan's recording, I drove straight here, desperate to understand what was going on.

When I first received that recording, I'd been urging Heath to come clean about everything, to stop hiding the truth.

I told him to dig around—to find out what really happened to the Whitaker family all those years ago, to track down Grandpa's old butler and get some answers.

But I never imagined—never in my worst nightmares—that Octavius hadn't actually been proposing to me for real.

He'd done it to move me. To make me willingly help him uncover the truth.

"Seraphine." Octavius's brow furrowed tightly as he looked at me, panic flooding his eyes.

I'd never seen Octavius like this before. I glanced at him and let out a soft laugh. "What, didn't think I'd figure it out so fast? Didn't think Quinlan would tell me?"

His face changed. He stepped forward and grabbed my hand. "No, it's not like that. It's not what you think. Just let me explain—"

I yanked my hand away. "I'm tired, Octavius. I could never read your heart, but now I finally understand. You only got close to me to uncover the truth."

Pain and loss flooded Octavius's eyes. "Is that really who you think I am? You're going to believe everything Quinlan said?"

I smiled at him faintly. "Fine. Then give me one reason not to believe her."

Octavius stared at me in silence, unable to speak.

I didn't want to guess what was going through his head anymore.

It didn't matter.

I forced a small smile. "Actually, I get it. If I were carrying that kind of hatred, I'd have to uncover the truth too. Nothing else would matter."

"So I understand why you used me. But it hurt. It really hurt."

Quinlan stepped out from the doorway, arms crossed, standing on the steps watching me.

I ignored her.

Quinlan had sent me that recording just to watch Octavius and me tear each other apart, hadn't she?

This time, I wouldn't give her everything she wanted.

"Octavius, I'll help you uncover the truth. You don't need to worry about that. But I have conditions."

Octavius frowned at me, saying nothing.

"Why aren't you asking what my conditions are?" I didn't understand what he was hesitating about.

Octavius closed his eyes bitterly. "I don't want our relationship reduced to just... conditions."

"But that's already where we are!" I cut him off. "We were never meant to be together. From now on, let's not talk about feelings anymore."

I pulled the ring off my finger and handed it back to Octavius. "Your ring—save it for someone you can genuinely accept. Clearly, that person isn't me."

"That's not true!" Octavius pulled me toward him.

I could tell he wanted to explain, but I didn't want to hear it anymore.

"Don't hold onto me!" I shook off his hand and walked away without looking back.

I heard Octavius's quick footsteps chasing after me. I heard Quinlan call out to stop him.

He didn't keep following.

I didn't turn around again either.

This feeling I had for him—I had to let it go.

Once I got in the car, I drove while crying.

Tears blurred my vision more times than I could count despite the fact that I kept wiping them away.

Once I uncovered the truth, I'd move somewhere else. Far away from all these people.

Even if Octavius's feelings for me were genuine now, I didn't know how to trust him anymore.

Without trust, two people can't last.

And if the Stewart family incident really was my father's doing, there would always be a barrier between us. We'd never be able to be together properly.

No matter how I looked at it, we were headed for an unhappy ending.

Like a chess piece moved to the wrong square—destined to lose.

I tried to pull myself together and drove home, only to find a crowd of people gathered there.

Bodyguards surrounded Heath.

He stood expressionless, staring at the mother-daughter pair before him.

Amara and Brielle were trembling, too afraid to speak.

I frowned and walked over. "What's going on?"

Heath glanced at me and snorted coldly. "They've confessed everything."

Amara's face looked terrible. She kept shaking her head. "It was all Orion! He threatened me into being with him. I didn't want you to know I'd been married before, so I had no choice but to give in!"

She clutched Brielle tightly. "My daughter and I were both threatened by him! Heath, I genuinely cared about you. You have to give me a chance!"

Amara cried and lunged forward, trying to grab Heath's arm.

Heath shoved her away.

"You were forced? I don't believe that! If you'd been honest about your past marriage, even if I'd left you, you would've gotten a huge settlement from the divorce!" He grew angrier with every word. "But instead, you poisoned me! You conspired with Orion to steal the company! You betrayed me for years! You deserve to die!"

I breathed a small sigh of relief.

I'd been afraid Heath would believe whatever Amara said.

Knowing Amara's personality, she'd definitely try to pin everything on Orion.

But thank goodness—Heath hadn't fallen for it.

Amara cried even harder. "But I really was forced by him! That's why I kept following his orders. He said if I confessed everything, you'd leave me!"

I laughed. "So were you also forced by Orion to poison my father?"

Amara froze, then quickly explained, "I didn't want to keep feeding him that poison! Please believe me. Heath, you have to believe me—I'm your wife!"

Heath's disgust deepened. "Yes, you're my wife. And you still tried to harm me! After all these years, haven't I been good to you and Brielle? Yet you betrayed me like this! I'll never forgive you. We're getting divorced!"

I exhaled quietly.

Amara suddenly lifted her head and glared at me, eyes blazing with fury.

She jabbed her finger at me. "It's you! You're the one keeping your father from forgiving me, aren't you? You've always hated me! You've wanted him to divorce me this whole time, haven't you?"

I found it laughable. "Amara, I won't call you Mom anymore. If you hadn't done these things, no one would've caught you. You wanted to kick me out of the company. You schemed with Orion to take everything. Of course I'd stand against you to protect my father's interests."

"This is your karma. What does it have to do with me?"

Amara clenched her teeth and said nothing more.

I had no interest in dealing with her anymore. "There's nothing left to say. Dad, divorce her."

Heath nodded. "Of course. I've already assembled a top legal team. Not only will I divorce her—she'll leave with nothing!"

"Dad, what about me?" Brielle rushed forward, crying as she grabbed Heath's hand.