Chapter 49 Tricky
Seraphina wanted to question the wedding. He hadn’t asked for her opinion about picking a date. Again, he had chosen for her.
But she wasn’t about to let the wedding issue distract her from the actual matter on ground.
She straightened her spine despite herself. Before she could say more, Julian raised one hand to shut her. “You’re not allowed to defy my decisions. Don’t forget that.” Seraphina’s gaze went to his hands- The same hands that had held her so possessively hours ago now moved as if she were nothing more than another object in the room.
It made her stomach twist.
But that was Julian. It was a mistake that she initiated intimacy in the first place. She thought.
She forced stability into her voice. “We can talk about the wedding,” she said. “But after you tell me where my son is.”
Julian didn’t react immediately.
He simply finished fixing his cuff, then reached for the door.
Something inside her snapped.
“Julian.”
He ignored her.
He actually ignored her.
The dismissal hit harder than any insult ever could. He loved doing this. Acting so cold and detached everytime like he had the final say in the world.
Before she could stop herself, she crossed the distance in two quick strides and grabbed his shirt, her fingers clutching the expensive fabric tightly.
He stilled.
Slowly, he looked down at her hand gripping him.
Then his eyes lifted to her face- cold and squinted.
Seraphina couldn’t tell what he was thinking and she didn’t care at this point. Her son was involved. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, but she refused to let go.
“You will listen to me,” she commanded, her voice shaking despite her effort to control it. “You can play with my emotions all you want. You can confuse me. You can manipulate me. You can… make me feel like a fool for needing you last night.” Shit. She almost regretted adding that last part.
Her grip tightened on his shirt as she continued anyway.
“But I do not joke with my child.”
The words echoed in the space between them.
Julian’s jaw flexed. And just as she expected a response, he turned toward the door again, like she hadn’t said anything at all.
The sheer indifference made her nerves itch.
Fury exploded through her veins.
Before he could open it, she shoved the door shut with her body, pressing her weight against it.
“No!”
Her palms struck his chest.
Once. Twice. Then again.
“You beast!” she cried, her voice breaking. “You heartless beast! You’re so selfish!”
Her fists pounded against him, fueled by fear more than anger.
Julian didn’t react at first. He simply let her hit him. When she wouldn’t stop, his hands caught her wrists firmly and unexpectedly. She gasped at the swiftness of his movement as he pushed her backward.
She gasped as her back hit the mattress.
Julian crowded her, his weight pinning her down, his hands braced on either side of her shoulders, trapping her completely.
Her breath hitched.
His face hovered inches above hers. And the sickening thing was, he didn’t look angry- his expression was hard and controlled.
“There is a lot going on that you don’t know about,” he said quietly, his voice calm, contrasting the storm building in her head.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly beneath him.
“And Phoenix,” he continued, his eyes locking onto hers, “is safest without us right now.”
Her body went cold.
Safest… without us?
“If you’re being a good girl,” he added, his voice dropping lower, softer, more intimate, his eyes shamelessly raking through her face, “you will get to speak to him once a week. On the phone.”
Her breath caught sharply.
Her fingers curled into the bedsheet beneath her.
“What… does that mean?” she whispered.
For the first time, something shifted in his expression.
And it almost looked like regret. Just then, his phone buzzed in his pockets.
He released her wrists slowly, as if she were fragile. Then reached for his phone, pulling it out of his pocket. It was Vincent calling. Seraphina was still reeling from all that were said.
She watched as he received the call, and whatever the person on the other phone said, summoned a small frown onto his face.
“Don’t spare him.” Julian said into the phone. Seraphina felt cold all over. Was Julian ordering a kill again? Who was their victim this time around? Many unanswered question- that might stay unanswered of course, fumbled with her already frailed mind.
He ended the call, straightened, and stepped away from the bed.
Seraphina decided in her mind that, that was his business. Her own priority is her son.
“You said Phoenix is safe without us. What does that mean?” She asked, her voice leveled this time around.
Just when she thought he would ignore and leave again, he looked her way, his expression still detached. She hated it.
“It means, it is my turn to protect our son.”
Her heart pounded painfully. Will Julian take Phoenix away from her?
“My turn,” he repeated. “You’ve had him for years. You kept him from me. You decided everything. You controlled his life, and didn’t bother to find me.”
His eyes darkened. “If I hadn’t found you, which was coincidental, you would have…kept my son away from me forever.” Seraphina’s breath hitched at the heaviness his tone carried. He was pained. She felt guilty.
“Now, It’s my turn. Phoenix is my responsibility now.”
She pushed herself up into a sitting position, clutching the sheets around her.
“Why can’t he be here?” her voice was fragile despite her effort to sound strong. “Why can’t Phoenix be with us?”
Julian swallowed.
It was subtle.
But she saw it.
His hesitation.
“It’s better if you don’t know why.”
Her chest tightened.
“You just have to trust me.”
Trust. She just couldn’t yet. Julian Thorne was very unpredictable, and she was just starting to learn this dangerous man.
Yet, she knew, arguing with him was like arguing with stone.
It was pointless and exhausting. Julian does what Julian wants.
She lowered her gaze slightly.
“…Does he know he’s safe?” she asked quietly. “Does Phoenix know he isn’t in danger?”
Julian’s answer came immediately.
“I would never risk making my son feel unsafe.”
Not our son.
My son.
The distinction didn’t escape her.
Her throat tightened, but she forced herself to breathe.
Last night replayed in fragments in her mind. How he held her, kissed her like she was a glass.
She had wanted it.
And now—
Now he stood there like it meant nothing.
Like she meant nothing.
“I have a surprise for you,” Julian said suddenly.
She blinked, thrown off balance.
“…What?”
His gaze lingered on her face. “Your best lady is here.”
Her brows furrowed. “My… best lady?”
He didn’t answer directly.
Instead, he said, “You should remember something, Phine.” She listened, her curiosity getting the best part of her.
“To everyone else, we are truly engaged.”
Her stomach twisted.
“I am your true partner.”
The words carried weight. It depicted ownership and possession. “Compose yourself when you see her. Don’t say anything that I wouldn’t like when I get to know about.”
Then, without warning, he reached into his pocket.
Her breath caught when she saw it.
Her phone.
He tossed it onto the bed beside her.
She stared at it in shock.
Slowly, she picked it up, holding it against her chest like something sacred. He finally returned her phone to her.
The sound of the door shutting made her realize he had left. Seraphina sat there, clutching the phone.
She powered her phone on.
The screen lit up. But her expression shifted when she noticed her wallpaper was blank.
She went to her gallery. Empty. Her heart dropped.
She checked everything else.
All was gone. Her contacts. Her messages. Her pictures. Phoenix’s photos. All of them. Formatted.
Her fingers trembled.
“Why…” she whispered.
Why would he do this?
What was he trying to erase?
Or hide?
Emotionally drained, she fell back against the mattress, staring at the ceiling, her body heavy with exhaustion.
She didn’t even have the strength to cry.
Then a soft knock sounded on the door.
Her head turned slowly, almost weakly.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
“…Who is it?”
The door opened gently.
And the moment Seraphina saw who stepped inside, shock flooded her face.