Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Seraphine's POV

"Of course not."

I pulled out my phone and showed her photos of three men.

All of them were heirs to prestigious companies—real family princes.

"I'll find a way to get them to agree to marry you. A proper alliance. But you have to promise me one thing."

"What?" Brielle stared at me blankly, confused.

I looked straight at her. "You can never contact Amara again. She's bitter right now, and once she gets out of that psychiatric hospital, she'll definitely come looking for you. But none of the families you marry into will accept Amara. If you stay tied to her, forget about living peacefully. Think about it."

Amara had poisoned her own husband and helped her ex-husband steal his fortune.

Who would want Brielle if she stayed bound to someone like that?

As long as Brielle wasn't an idiot, she'd understand.

Brielle bit her lip and nodded. "Okay. I get it. Don't worry, I won't have any contact with Amara anymore. I can tell she only cares about Orion anyway."

I raised an eyebrow. "How'd you figure that out?"

Brielle gave a bitter smile and sighed. "She never looked at Father the way she looks at Orion. I finally understand why it felt so weird when I saw them together back then."

"Good. Get some rest and think about which one you'd most like to marry. I'll make the arrangements." Now that my engagement to Octavius was public knowledge, with his influence, those men would be lining up for Brielle.

Once Brielle was married, she'd have no reason to come after me. It might even help me.

If she married well, she'd become part of my network. It could strengthen my position in the company.

Still, one thing worried me. If Octavius went after the Whitaker family for revenge on behalf of the Stewart family, the Whitaker Group might not even survive.

No point dwelling on that now.

What mattered most was finding out the truth about what happened all those years ago.

After leaving Brielle's room, I went to find Heath.

"Where's your engagement ring?" The moment I sat down, Heath noticed my bare hand.

I smiled at him. "Octavius and I aren't right for each other. We shouldn't get married."

"Why would you say that?" Heath looked instantly alarmed. "Did something happen between you two?"

I had to tell him the details.

When he learned that the proposal had been Octavius’s way of getting to the truth, his face darkened. "How could he do something like that? How could he lie to you and use you?"

I cut him off. "Dad, sometimes I don't blame him. He really doesn't trust us. I’m not even sure whether you actually lost your memory or not."

"There's no one else here. Just tell me the truth, okay? What really happened? Did you actually lose your memory?" I looked straight at Heath, hoping he'd give me a real explanation.

Heath hesitated for a long time before finally speaking. "All right. I didn't lose my memory. I lied to you."

"What?" I shot to my feet in shock. "Dad, what's the truth about what happened back then?"

Heath's smile was bitter.

"Our family did go after the Stewart family, but it wasn't me. It was your uncle. He's already been prosecuted for it—locked up on financial fraud charges."

"Your uncle got a life sentence. He'll never live a normal life again. He's already been punished."

"But I was afraid if you told Octavius, he'd take it out on us. On the company. So I didn't dare tell the truth."

I looked at Heath's serious expression, but I didn’t believe a word he said.

First it was amnesia, now it was my uncle's doing and none of his business. Nothing added up.

I didn't let on that I suspected him. I just smiled. "I see. Don't worry, Dad, no matter what, I'm on your side. Whatever you have to say, just say it. You don't need to lie to me." I pretended to believe him.

Heath visibly relaxed and smiled back. "I won't do it again. You can tell Octavius and at least give him some kind of answer."

I nodded and left.

But one question kept nagging at me.

If all of this was true, why hadn't Heath just told me the truth from the start?

Something still wasn't right.

Back in my room, I called Octavius.

"There are definitely holes and suspicious points in what my father said. I don't completely believe him. Tomorrow I'm going to the prison to meet this uncle of mine who's supposedly serving a life sentence. I'll see if his story matches my father's."

After I finished, Octavius stayed silent.

I didn't know what he was thinking. "What? Do you have something to say? Any concerns?"

"No concerns. Thank you for doing this tomorrow." Octavius's tone sounded strange.

I didn't understand what he was thinking. Maybe he was just being polite. Maybe I was overthinking it.

I could only agree. "Okay. I'm going to the prison tomorrow. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up. I need to get up early."

Just as I was about to end the call, Octavius called out urgently. "Wait, Seraphine!"

I paused and brought the phone back to my ear. "What?"

Octavius's tone suddenly softened. "That engagement ring—I really wanted you to have it. I want to give it back to you. Tomorrow I'll take you to the prison, and when we meet, you can take the ring back—"

"No." I cut him off. "You already used that ring to get what you wanted—to make me help you find the truth. I already promised I wouldn't take my father's side. If he did something wrong, you can get your revenge however you want. But everything else? We're not discussing it."

"Is there really no chance for us to be together?" Octavius pressed, his voice tinged with unmistakable sadness.

I didn't know how he could even ask that.

He was the one involved with Quinlan.

I'd already decided to leave Octavius. I'd told him so several times.

"There's no room for negotiation. Nothing you say will change my mind. Goodbye."

I hung up.

I had no idea what Octavius thought after hearing that.

But right now, finding out the truth mattered more than whatever was between us.

I barely slept that night. The next day, I went straight to the prison.

I needed to find out what really happened. The sooner, the better.