"I have conducted a full assessment. I am pleased to inform you that your sub-personality is gradually merging with your primary self. With continued treatment, you will soon be whole again."

The doctor tapped his forehead as if remembering something else.

"Also, regarding your forcibly altered memories—some have returned due to the intense shock you experienced. However, full recovery will require professional psychiatric and psychological therapy."

Chapter 10

Throughout the explanation, Julian remained silent. Only his uncontrollably trembling hands betrayed the sheer panic and fear he was feeling.

The moment he had seen Seraphina’s body, he had remembered everything.

He remembered her years of despair and helplessness; he remembered the look in her eyes—broken, devastated, filled with an ultimate hatred and an unspeakable agony. Most of all, he remembered the sub-human cruelties he had inflicted upon her during those years.

He had never counted those sins, and he didn't dare to start now. The mere thought filled him with a soul-crushing remorse.

He hated Clarissa for making him forget Seraphina's kindness and for driving him to torture her. But more than that, he loathed himself. He hated himself for treating the person he loved most in such a way.

She was so sensitive to pain. How much despair must she have felt to choose the path of no return? To even describe herself as a "gift of atonement" for him?

How terrified she must have been as the seawater slowly rose to submerge her.

An unprecedented wave of regret and panic wrapped around his heart like a venomous snake. He practically stumbled all the way back to the Sterling estate. He knelt before her body, weeping in penance, his tears falling like heavy stones onto the cold marble floor.

"Sera, I was wrong. I was so wrong. Please wake up... please wake up, okay? I’m so sorry."

In the following weeks, at Silas’s insistent urging, Julian cooperated with the treatment.

Consequently, his memories of Seraphina grew even more vivid. He couldn't forget her smiles, her tender love, or the thousand days and nights she spent in broken helplessness.

As a result, he began to punish himself with self-destructive intensity.

He bought the drafty, cheap attic where they had once lived and spent his days drowning in alcohol. He abandoned contracts worth hundreds of billions. The Sterling Group’s reputation, built over years, plummeted instantly. Stocks crashed, and shareholders cleared their positions and fled with their funds.

In just three months, the massive Sterling empire became a hollow shell.

Julian, however, cared for none of it.

Most of his time was spent stroking Seraphina’s decaying face, whispering his love and his regrets.

In the depths of many broken nights, the thought of joining her in the afterlife flashed through his mind.

Finally, he made his decision. He lay in a bathtub filled with water and slashed his arms deeply with a blade.

Blood surged out, instantly staining the water a deep crimson. Julian lay there, letting the water rise over his nose and mouth. As his consciousness blurred, he thought he saw Seraphina waving to him in the distance.

Just before he lost consciousness completely, the door was kicked open with a bang.

Silas Moore burst in with a group of men.

He hauled Julian out of the water. Seeing his friend looking like a hollow ghost, Silas could no longer contain his fury. He grabbed Julian by the collar and landed a heavy punch on his jaw.

"Julian Sterling, are you still not awake? If Seraphina were alive, she wouldn't want to see you like this!"

While Julian was unconscious in the hospital, Silas took the opportunity to have Seraphina’s remains cremated.

Hours later, Julian woke up in the ICU.

The first thing he saw was Seraphina’s funeral urn.

"Don't be too sad," Silas said. "Life has to go on. She wouldn't want to see you like this from the afterlife."

From the day Seraphina was laid to rest, Julian’s health collapsed completely.

His tailored suits hung loosely on his frame, and his sharp face became gaunt, leaving only his large, haunting eyes protruding.

In moments of extreme longing, he would frantically search the villa for anything belonging to Seraphina, only for the servants to inform him that he had personally thrown all her belongings into the trash months ago.

On the day he dismissed the villa staff, the servants took their pay and walked toward the gate without looking back.

"What's wrong with Mr. Sterling? He treated Ms. Vance like that when she was alive, and now that she's dead, he’s acting all devoted?"

"Sigh, you don't know the half of it. Back then, Ms. Vance traveled halfway across the world just to cure him. Who knew that when she came back, all she’d find was the news of his engagement to someone else."

Every word was like a drop of blood.

Each sentence felt like a sharp scalpel, stabbing into his heart until it was mangled and bleeding.

Yes, it was him. He was the one who killed her.

The suppressed remorse boiling in his chest finally overwhelmed him. He couldn't take it anymore and spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

The brilliant red stained the floor instantly.

It reminded him of the first time he met Seraphina. She was wearing a vibrant red dress, and she had run to his side with concern, her voice soft and gentle.

"Are you okay? How did you end up like this? Don't be afraid. I’ll take you home."

In the final moment before he lost consciousness, he thought he saw Seraphina appearing beside him. He reached out to grab her, but his hand found only empty air.

"Okay... take me home."

Chapter 11

On the other side of the vast ocean.

During these past few months, Seraphina’s days had been spent either in the lab or caring for her mother. Her life had become stable and fulfilling.

When she had been abroad previously, it was for the sake of Julian’s treatment. Now, her mission was different, her mindset had changed, and her experience was naturally different.

The team members were mostly experts and PhDs in various fields, with professional knowledge far exceeding her own. Consequently, she learned a great deal from them.

In this environment, Seraphina gradually found her true value in life.

No Julian, no haunting past, no messy romance—only her mission and responsibility. She knew that from the moment she arrived in Switzerland, she had truly embraced a new life.

Seraphina "Sera" Vance (Now going by Seraphina "Sera" Wynn) — Wynn, like the morning dew that has not yet dried, full of possibility.

This was the expectation she had for herself after changing her name.

One night, she finished her experiments late and left the institute in the dead of night.

It happened to be a night of torrential rain in Switzerland.

Large raindrops hammered against the ground, splashing onto Seraphina’s hem. The stray hairs on her forehead were quickly soaked by the blowing rain.

She stood at the entrance of the institute, looking at the sky and wondering how she would get back.

Her apartment was quite a distance away—at least an hour's walk. She couldn't very well walk home in this downpour.

At this hour, it was difficult to catch a cab. She would have to wait for the rain to let up.

Just as she let out a sigh, an umbrella was pressed into her hand.

The cool handle touching her palm startled her. She looked up and realized it was a fellow researcher from her department.

He was a man of few words, rarely smiling, and spent most of his time buried in data in his lab. As such, she didn't have much of an impression of him.

In fact, this was the first time she had really looked at his face.

His features were sharp and well-defined, his eyes cold and intense, carrying a certain aggressive edge.

"Use mine. I live nearby. It won't take me five minutes to run home."

Seraphina tried to stop him, but the man gave her no chance to refuse. After handing her the umbrella, his figure quickly disappeared into the rainy night.

"What a strange person," Seraphina murmured, looking at the black umbrella.

Still, she took his kindness to heart. The next day, she specially brewed some ginger tea at home. However, when she reached the institute, he was nowhere to be found.

"Sera, who are you looking for?" a colleague from the same department asked, seeing her glancing around.

It took her a moment to recall the man's name.

"That colleague... Caleb Sterling (Formerly 裴瑾川). Why isn't he here today?"

The department head, who had just walked in, overheard and spoke up.

"Looking for Caleb? He called in sick this morning. Said he wasn't feeling well."

Not feeling well? Could he have caught a cold from the rain?

The thought weighed on her, and she found she couldn't focus on work. After all, he was sick because of her. After quickly asking the department head for leave, she found out his address and headed over with the ginger tea.