Chapter 140

"What?"

Seraphina froze, momentarily unable to process what she'd heard.

"I said, you can leave now." Freya's voice was icy as she repeated herself.

The words hit home. Seraphina understood immediately—her family must have completed their deal with Jack, so he'd ordered Freya to release her.

Which meant...

She was free.

For a moment, conflicting emotions washed over her—relief tangled with an unexpected melancholy.

These past few days, even though she'd been a prisoner, being confined in this small room with Freya had given her a strange sense of peace. Once she walked out of here, she'd become a tool of her family again.

Everything she did would have to serve the family's interests first.

That was her fate.

It had been decided the moment she was born.

"Freya..."

Seraphina stood, facing her longtime adversary. That playful, devil-may-care smile finally faded completely from her eyes.

To her, Freya was a friend. Their bond ran deep.

But their respective positions made them mortal enemies.

This absurd twist of fate was like an invisible net trapping them both, cutting into their flesh until they bled, with no escape in sight.

Seraphina lowered her gaze, hiding the flash of darkness in her eyes.

When she looked up again, her signature lazy, mischievous smile had returned.

"Goodbye, my friend. You can go back to being Jack's servant now."

Watching Freya's expression turn cold, Seraphina's smile widened triumphantly as she strode out of the room.

After Seraphina left, the room fell into deathly silence.

Freya remained standing in place, still as an ice sculpture.

Only when she looked down at her right hand gripping the knife handle did she notice her fingertips had gone white, trembling almost imperceptibly.

---

However.

A knock sounded at the door moments later.

Freya looked up, her expression freezing over. She turned and opened the door.

Seraphina stood there.

And right now, she looked furious—practically seething.

"Why did you come back?"

Freya studied her, genuine confusion flickering in her eyes.

Seraphina didn't answer immediately.

She shoved the half-open door aside and stormed in like an angry gust of wind, then slammed it shut behind her.

Her chest heaved violently. The lazy, cunning mask she usually wore had been completely torn away.

She looked up at Freya, her eyes churning with fury at being made a fool of, mixed with deep self-mockery.

"I can't go back." Seraphina's voice shook with anger.

"Can't go back?"

Freya frowned slightly. Had Joseph and the others refused to let her leave?

That was impossible.

Jack had given the order.

Joseph was Jack's right-hand man—he would never dare disobey.

So what did Seraphina mean by 'can't go back'?

"Just like your family did to you, my father sold me to Jack. I'm his servant now too."

When Freya had first released her, Seraphina had actually felt a spark of happiness—at least it meant her family still valued her.

She never imagined the deal they'd struck with Jack was to make her his servant for five years.

For those five years, she would have to obey his every command.

Freya stiffened, then a smile finally curved her lips. After all that, Seraphina had ended up walking the same path as her anyway.

Still fuming, Seraphina caught sight of Freya's smile.

Her anger flared even hotter.

"Are you happy about this?"

Seraphina demanded.

This time, Freya looked at her and said simply, "Yes."

"You—!" Seraphina was livid.

"Don't celebrate too soon."

"I'm telling you, I'm going to seduce Jack right now. Once I sleep with him and become his woman, I won't be his servant anymore—I'll be his lover."

"Then I'll be your 'mistress.' You won't just have to listen to him—you'll have to listen to me too." Seraphina was practically hysterical.

Freya's response was flat. "Shameless."

But she knew Seraphina well enough.

Despite her wild, carefree exterior, Seraphina was actually quite traditional at her core.

She would never actually do what she'd just threatened.

Still, Freya was genuinely surprised by the Igaru faction's decision.

The Kogara and Igaru factions had always been at each other's throats.

Her father had bet the entire Kogara faction's future on Jack, which was why she'd been sent to serve him.

She never expected the Igaru faction to make the same choice.

Were they also betting their future on Jack?

But if they both belonged to Jack now, what was the point of their continued rivalry?

---

Imperial City.

The night sky was carved into fragments by countless blinking aviation lights atop skyscrapers, like a massive net woven from neon and light pollution.

In Times Square, cascading colors from giant LED screens poured over hurried pedestrians like a waterfall, turning them into faceless ghosts.

In a wealthy neighborhood nearby, inside a luxurious mansion.

"Miss."

A manager was reporting work updates to Vivian.

"The Grammy selection committee sent you an email inviting you to their awards ceremony."

Vivian sat on the sofa, completely absorbed in eating snacks.

"Not going."

She rejected the invitation without a second thought.

The manager hesitated. The Grammys were the biggest music awards in the industry.

Most celebrities considered even being nominated an honor.

Even those who weren't nominated would jump at the chance to attend the ceremony.

But Vivian had been invited many times before.

And she'd won awards.

Yet she'd never attended once.

She'd never cared about those trophies, never bothered to collect them.

The manager continued reporting other work matters before finally leaving the room.

Once she was alone, Vivian stretched luxuriously, completely abandoning any pretense of grace. For her, making music was about passion, nothing else.

Her music could be criticized or praised by her fans.

But she refused to let some panel of self-important judges measure her soul with their yardstick of commercial calculation and hollow values.

She crumpled an empty snack wrapper and tossed it perfectly into the corner trash can, then melted into the plush sofa cushions.

Vivian picked up her phone and started scrolling through short videos. Suddenly, she stopped.

The video showed a man playing piano in a restaurant.

And that man—she would never forget him as long as she lived.

"Jack!" Vivian breathed his name involuntarily.