Chapter 22 Broken Control
Seraphina hailed a cab and got down quietly at the address Damien had sent her. The road was almost empty except for a few people walking by and the soft wind brushing her hair. She brought out her phone and called the contact Damien had used to reach her.
“I’m here,” she said, her voice leveled.
“I’ll be there soon, Sera” Damien replied. She didn’t miss the hint of affection in his voice. For a moment, the good memories with him flashed in her mind, but she shook it off stubbornly.
The memories were dead to her.
She ended the call and looked around, her heart beating fast as the morning breeze carried her hair across her face. She crossed her arms and waited impatiently, glancing around at every passing car.
She had taken a very big risk to be here. She knew it. And it was dawning on her. But she was here already and couldn’t return.
Just then, without warning, a sleek black car swerved and stopped right in front of her with a sharp screech. She jumped back, startled by the sudden arrival.
The tinted window slid down slowly.
Her breath shook the moment she saw who was inside. Julian.
No way. How did he…
Her throat tightened. The weight of his stare through the open window made her freeze completely.
Before she could say anything, another car pulled up behind Julian’s. Its window rolled down too—and she instantly recognized Vincent, the man she had met at Julian’s house earlier. Her stomach twisted.
She quickly pieced it together in her head. Vincent must have told Julian. “Shit.” The word escaped her lips before she could swallow it.
Julian didn’t step out of the car. He just sat there, silent and unreadable. It was Vincent who came out instead, his tall figure moving toward her with calm control.
“Get in the car,” Vincent said in a firm tone.
Seraphina’s head snapped toward Julian’s direction again, but he didn’t speak or move. He only watched her, his expression blank, almost cold.
Seraphina shook her head, taking a step back. “No. No, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Vincent’s tone didn’t change. “The earlier you get in, the better, Miss Seraphina.”
“I’ll go with him instead,” she said, pointing at Julian’s car. “If he’s offended, he should speak to me directly.” She hated that her voice was shaking. She hated that she was truly terrified of Julian Thorne—The devil in a beautiful skin.
Vincent gave a faint smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “Julian has his twin brother to deal with.”
Her body went cold. “What? No…” How did Julian know he was coming to meet Damien?
Before she could say more, Vincent opened the car door beside her and guided her in firmly. “Let’s go, Miss Seraphina.”
She didn’t resist this time, but she folded her arms tightly across her chest as he drove off. There was silence between them as they drove, but she could hear her own heart beating out loud against her chest.
After a few minutes, she finally spoke. “You snitched, didn't you?” Her voice was tight with anger.
Vincent’s mouth curved slightly. “Snitched?”
“Don’t act like you have no idea what I’m talking about.”
He chuckled darkly. “There’s no such thing as snitching when Julian is involved, Miss Seraphina. In this world, I'm only loyal to Julian. Always have been.”
She glared at him like he had just said some abomination words. “You’re proud of that?”
Vincent shrugged. “Very proud.” He spared her a fast glare and gave a closed-teeth smile then returned his attention on the road.
She looked away, staring out the window, her thoughts tangled in fear and irritation. “What does Julian even intend to do now?” she asked after a long silence.
“Maybe help you attend to whoever you went to meet.”
Her eyes darted toward him. “Help me?”
He nodded slowly. “Julian doesn’t take betrayal lightly, Miss Seraphina. One thing you should never do is disobey him. You can never walk away from it.”
She scoffed. “I have my own life to live. I don’t need anyone’s permission to breathe.”
Vincent smiled faintly, eyes still on the road. “Then you should be very careful. Because now, you have a lot of enemies. The moment you got engaged to Julian, your name entered places you can’t even imagine. You’ll need his approval before you do anything. Trust me.”
She let out a short, sharp laugh. “I don’t need a killer’s approval.”
Vincent’s smile faded. “That same killer is risking everything to help you.”
Her hands clenched on her lap. “He’s doing it for himself,” she said quietly. “And I can see he has told you everything about…us.”
Vincent smiled. “I’m afraid that Julian and I don’t harbor secrets between us.”
“What?” Seraphina expressed incredulously.
Vincent didn’t respond. He only smirked again and focused on the road.
When they finally arrived at the penthouse, he parked the car neatly, stepped out, and opened her door. She didn’t thank him. She just stepped out, keeping her head high even though her stomach was twisting.
As they walked through the entrance, Vincent spoke to the guards in a clipped voice. “Make sure she doesn’t leave this building again. For any reason.”
The guards nodded immediately.
Vincent turned to her. “Have a good evening, Miss Seraphina.”
He walked away, leaving her standing there—furious, confused, and trapped.
She went straight to her room, slamming the door behind her. Her body trembled slightly as she began pacing around. Her mind was in chaos. She couldn’t call Damien. She couldn’t even call Julian. And she was too scared to know what Julian might do to his twin.
What if he really hurt him? Not like Damien didn’t deserve it but this wasn’t the way she planned to hurt him.
Her heart raced faster with every thought.
Almost an hour later, she heard footsteps approaching her door. She froze, her breath catching in her chest. The door opened quietly, and Julian walked in.
Her throat went dry.
“Are you going to kill me now?” she asked, her voice shaky.
Julian’s expression remained blank. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully at her before the words came, “You’ll be grounded for a week.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It’s your punishment for disobeying me,” he said in his deep, even tone. “Next time you try something like that, it’ll be worse. You also just got every security guard here fired.”
Seraphina blinked rapidly, shocked. “You fired them? Why? You can’t fire people because of my action! I can’t carry that guilt.”
Julian didn’t reply. He simply walked over to her table, grabbed her phone, and turned to leave.
She panicked. “What are you doing with my phone?”
“I’m seizing it,” he said.
“Julian, answer me! What did you do to Damien?” she called out after him.
But he didn’t respond. He just walked away, shutting the door behind him with quiet finality.
A loud click followed. He had locked her in.
Seraphina rushed to the door and banged on it once, her throat tight. “Julian! Please!”
But there was no answer.
Meanwhile, Julian walked down the hallway to his study, his expression dark and troubled. He closed the door behind him and opened the folded paper he had taken from Damien earlier. His eyes scanned it again and again, trying to make sense of it.
The paper was the least of his worries. The one that carried the truth of the late Ambrose Moreau’s Will. The one that says Seraphina is the true heiress of the entire Moreau empire.
What bothered him most was Damien’s angry words. It kept replaying in his head.
‘Seraphina has a five years old son. Do you know that? You engaged a single mother. She will ruin you!’ Julian had punched him in his jaw after he let out those words, but that did little in making him feel better.
His jaw flexed as he stared down at the will paper again, his mind spinning.
Then, Seraphina’s phone, which he had seized, vibrated suddenly in his hand. The name flashing on the screen read ‘Sheila’
He answered it but didn’t speak.
“Sera, I think there’s trouble! Your nanny left. There’s no trace of her and Phoenix anywhere!”
Julian’s grip on the phone tightened.