Chapter 1
Seraphine's POV
The cold operating table bit into my bones, and the ropes binding my hands and feet had already chafed my skin raw. Every slight movement sent a sharp, climbing pain through my entire body. What little strength I had was long gone, drained away by days of torment. I wanted to break free, but my limbs felt as if they were filled with lead, refusing to move.
"Stop struggling." the familiar voice said from above. "That kidney of yours is going into Brielle today, one way or another."
A tremor ran through my heart. I snapped my head up, tears streaming uncontrollably as I stared at the man standing before me, my husband, Mitchell Stafford.
I forced the words out, my voice a ragged question. "Why are you here? Why is it you?"
He let out a cold laugh, his eyes looking at me as if I were a joke. "Seraphine Whitaker, you didn't actually believe I had real feelings for you, did you?"
A roaring filled my head, and my lips trembled too violently to form words. During our first year of marriage, Mitchell had been wonderful. A single word from me in the middle of the night, and he would drive across the city to buy the dessert I craved. He would pick me up from work personally on rainy days. Once, when I had a fever, he stayed up all night, never closing his eyes, to take care of me. But after that first year, his fluctuating hot-and-cold attitude had always left me uncertain.
Despite it all, I had still made excuses for him in my heart.'He must be under too much pressure from work. He doesn't mean it.' But now, hearing those words from his own mouth was like a slap across my face, forcing me into a brutal clarity.
"I don't believe you!" I shook my head wildly, my voice tearing from my throat. "All those days... were they all fake?"
"My dear sister, I don't know whether to call you stupid or not." Brielle Whitaker, standing beside him, chuckled softly. Her hand rested lightly on my chest. "If it weren't for that kidney of yours being able to save me, do you really think Mitchell would have bothered to play the part of the devoted husband for so long?"
Finally, I closed my eyes, my voice so hoarse it didn't sound like my own. "Is what she's saying true?"
Mitchell's gaze fell on her, his eyes impossibly tender. "Why would anything Brielle says be untrue? Besides, you're just a fake heiress. Did you really delude yourself into thinking you deserved true love? Are you even worthy?"
"You two..." A sharp blade seemed to pierce my chest, the pain so intense I couldn't breathe. At this point, what was there left not to understand? They had been colluding ever since Brielle was welcomed back into the Whitaker family.
I hated. I hated myself. I hated that I had been so blind, that I had believed Mitchell's sweet words and his feigned affection. I hated even more that I hadn't believed Octavius Capulet. I still remembered the day he was taken away. He looked at me through the iron bars, his face calm. "Seraphine, as long as you can be happy, what happens to me doesn't matter."
And I had been the one to send him to prison. He never uttered a single word of complaint.
Thinking back now, it was Octavius, the one who had always protected me and waited for me, who truly loved me. How could I have been so foolish not to see it?
Mitchell leaned down, his fingers digging into my chin, his smile wild. "I forgot to tell you. From the very beginning, I was never the person from your memories. That photograph you considered a token of love—it wasn't mine."
My entire body went rigid, my pupils shrinking. "What do you mean?"
Brielle laughed triumphantly. "You didn't know? Mitchell stole that photo from Octavius while he was unconscious from his injuries."
Mitchell raised an eyebrow, as if reminiscing. "He was in such bad shape but still clutched it so tightly. I thought it must be something important, but it was just a worn-out picture of the ocean. Still, it turned out to be quite useful."
My mind exploded. No wonder. No wonder he was so different from the person in my memory. No wonder Octavius always looked at me with such pain, such reluctance in his eyes. I had been loving the wrong person all along, and the one who truly loved me had been pushed into the abyss by my own hands. I didn't know whether to call myself laughable or pathetic. If only I had asked one more question, investigated a little more, how could the ending have turned out like this?
"I'm sorry." I murmured, closing my eyes as tears slid down my temples and into my ears.
"Mr. Stafford, it's time for the transplant. We can begin."
"Start." Mitchell uttered the word coldly.
I was held fast, a broken doll with no life left in me. After the surgery, he took Brielle's hand and started to leave without a backward glance. I turned my head and saw their intertwined fingers, no longer feeling any pain. Mitchell didn't even look at me once.
"Secretary, clean this place up. I don't want any news of her survival getting out."
Just as he finished speaking, a sudden, muffled thud came from outside, followed by the sound of a heavy body collapsing. I forced my eyes open and saw a familiar figure burst in. The man was unshaven, his eyes sunken, his body so thin he was almost unrecognizable. It was Octavius. He was out of prison?
"Octavius."
His eyes were red as he stumbled to my side, his voice trembling. "I'm sorry, Seraphine. I'm late."
I stared at him, a lump forming in my throat. As the head of the Capulet Group, Octavius had once been such a powerful, untouchable figure. Now, for my sake, he had given up his status, his power, everything.
"I'm sorry." I choked out, struggling to sit up and apologize.
Octavius gazed at me as if I were the most precious thing in the world. "Seraphine, you don't ever have to apologize to me."
My nose stung, and the tears flowed freely. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Mitchell stealthily reaching for a detonator on the wall.
"Octavius! Run! Go!" I pushed him with the last ounce of my strength, but he didn't budge.
Instead, Octavius pulled me tightly into his arms, tears welling in his own eyes. "Seraphine, I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want you to be alone."
I knew he must have suspected a trap, but he had come anyway, because he couldn't bear for me to face this alone.
"You fool! Go!" I sobbed, unable to push him away any longer. He held me tight, refusing to let go.
Slowly, my struggles ceased. I wrapped my arms around him in return. If there is a next life, I will never love the wrong person again, never give my heart away so recklessly. If there is a next life...
"Octavius, in the next life, would you let Seraphine be the one to chase you?"
The words had barely left my lips when a deafening boom erupted. Flames shot to the sky, and the entire room collapsed in on itself in the massive explosion.
And Octavius's answer was something I would never get to hear.