Chapter 13 Plan A
Even though the reasons Julian gave for killing the man was shocking enough, extremely disturbing even, Seraphina couldn’t make peace with the idea of him taking laws into his hands.
“You should have handed him to the law. Still not justifiable.” She spat almost angrily. She couldn’t get the image of the shooting out of her head. It was messing her emotions up and didn’t feel like it would go away anytime soon.
Julian was still slightly hovering over her- against the wall. She was breathing hard.
His hand came up to touch her jaw as he murmured close to her ears, “You’re seductive when you are angry.”
The statement blindsided her. Seraphina blinked, her heart leaping into her throat. “What…”
Before she could finish, his gaze sharpened as he released her. “Was it Damien? The pregnancy…” He didn’t have to combine the words rightly for her to understand. She knew what he was asking.
Her pulse stuttered. “I don’t think my personal life is any of your concern,” she said, her tone laced with cold composure that barely masked the flicker of panic beneath. “And I’m not obligated to share it with someone like you.”
Julian appeared indifferent, gaze narrowing at her. He stepped back from her.
“You have no right to judge me, Phine.” he said quietly, his voice low but assertive. “You know nothing about my past.”
The hint of depth in his voice made her breathing pace slow down.
He continued, “And if you’re worried about your image after our marriage- don’t be. No one knows this part of me exists. Only a very few people close to me do.”
A strange tug pulled at her chest at his words. Something between pity and confusion. She didn’t know what to think or what to feel.
Then, almost as if to distract herself, she began speaking. “I met Damien in Seattle,” she said softly.
“He came to our firm as a shareholder… and to me, as a love interest. Things happened fast. He was so charming, doing everything right…he filled a void I didn’t even realize I had. He made me feel seen. I felt like I belonged and I…loved it.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “He was going to propose. I thought it was love.”
Her breath caught, pain flashing across her features. “But then I discovered he was involved with Talia. I overheard them at his place, laughing about how I’d been a fool all along. How he’d soon get me to thumb the vault. I ran before he could see I was there.” Her voice broke. “That same day, I lost the pregnancy I never even knew I had for him.”
Julian didn’t interrupt. His eyes darkened as he listened, unreadable but focused like a man memorizing every word.
She swallowed hard. Silence stretched between them for a few seconds.
“Why were you in Seattle?” Julian asked.
Her heart jolted. For a split second, Phoenix’s face flashed in her mind. She wanted to tell him about their son so badly. But she couldn’t.
So she said, “After my father’s mysterious death… the lawyer read the will on his burial. My mother and I got only a small portion of money, while Sheryl and her daughter inherited the entire wealth...everything including his business.” She let out a shaky breathe then continued,
“My mother was accused of killing him. She was arrested, disgraced.” Her eyes blazed with hurt. She could still vividly remember how Sheryl embarassed her mother publicly and accused her of poisoning him. People bought the lie.
“She was accused of poisoning him. And yes…the autopsy result confirmed he was poisoned…and the surveillance camera showed my mother as the last person who brought him food. People asked…why did she bring him food when they weren’t even in talking terms? She hadn’t checked on him since the sickness befell him and suddenly…she did. She couldn’t defend it. She was traumatized. Took her own life after she was arrested. The humiliation was too much for her, I guess.”
Seraphina took a moment to steady her breathe before the tears pricking her eyes could fall. “But I never believed she did it. She loved my father too much. They only fought because he got involved with dangerous people and she was worried he might implicate me.”
Her voice faltered. “I never intended to come back because of my…” And again, she was carelessly going to mention Phoenix, but she called her senses back.
“Because of your?” Julian spoke for the first time since she started explaining.
“I mean…I narrowly missed a bullet aimed at me one day. That made me believe there was more to my father’s death. Someone wanted to clear us all. So I ran away.”
When she looked at Julian, a deep serious frown was on his face- as if he was more invested in her history than she was herself.
She continued, “But days ago, I received an anonymous message saying my father’s journal would be auctioned. I had searched for that journal desperately before I moved from Vegas…before I faked my death…but I never found it. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed the anon, but the person sent me a link… and I saw the announcement there…the top percents promising to bid…That’s why I came back. The journal meant a lot to my father when he was alive. It was his favorite possession.”
Julian fiddled with the black steely ring on his finger, his deep but clear voice filling the room as he asked, “You didn’t try to investigate who messaged you? Even though everyone was supposed to think you were dead?”
Sera blinked. “I didn’t think about that at first. I did later…just don’t know what to do. But Talia knows I’m alive. Damien does too, so…it could have been anyone. Getting the journal is the most important thing to me even though I wish I can avenge my parents death and claim their wealth back.”
Desperation and frustration oozed from her tone. She didn’t even realize she had been biting her nails into her palm so hard it had turned pink.
And she wasn’t going to stop until Julian appeared in her front. He lowered himself to her level on the bed, grabbed her hands and pulled them apart. She flinched. “ You are going to hurt yourself.” His voice came out like a scolding.
Her breath had changed, she could feel the panic crawling onto her chest as the past invaded her thoughts again.
“Breath.” Julian commanded, his voice low and hypnotizing.
That seemed to bring her back to her sense. She didn’t know how he did it.
Their eyes met.
“Does this happen often?” He asked, his long lashes darting to her hands.
Seraphina didn’t bother to answer to that. She snatched her hands away from his hold and shifted from him.
“I just want to have the journal back.” The tears fell. She blinked away, feeling embarassed that he witnessed that.
Julian reached into his pocket and pulled out a crisp white handkerchief, offering it to her.
Seraphina’s chin trembled, but she jerked her head away. “I don’t need your pity.”
Julian lowered the handkerchief slowly, his gaze steady on her. “It’s not pity,”
He studied her for a long moment, his expression softening only slightly. “Do you really want revenge, Seraphina?”
Her lips parted. The tears fell more. “Badly,” she whispered.
Julian’s eyes glinted darkly, “Then you will get it.”
She blinked, uncertain if she’d heard him right. “You’ll what?”
He rose from his position on the floor.
“The first step,” he said, “is to make them see what they’ve lost.”
“How?” she asked faintly.
He smiled faintly, the kind of smile that never reached his eyes. “By making sure they all watch when I propose to you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What?”
Standing on all six-foot-four, he revealed, “I’m orchestrating a gala night in two days time.” His jaw moved stiffly, eyes flicking to his floor-to-ceiling window.
“I will propose to you on that night, Phine.”
Her pulse thundered.