Then, Seraphina caught the raspy murmur of Christian's voice, pleading, "Sera, let's start over."

A sudden laugh escaped her lips, her eyes filling with absolute mockery.

"Caspian said those exact same words to me."

"Start over? How are we supposed to start over?"

"Can I start over after being repeatedly humiliated and played with by Caspian in every imaginable way?"

She pushed up her sleeve, revealing the faint yet clear burn scar carved into her arm.

"Can I start over after you had your people arrange a fire that left me burned like this all for Natalia's sake?"

Though the wound on her forearm had faded into a light pink mark, the distinct texture of a burn scar remained clearly visible.

"Or can we start over after you clearly never loved me, only seeing me as a sister, yet still went ahead and married me? Can a fraudulent marriage built on self-deception ever start over?"

Christian's breathing turned violently ragged, his usually calm eyes instantly webbed with bloodshot veins from the sheer impact of his cracking emotions.

It felt as though an invisible hand were violently crushing his chest, leaving him almost entirely unable to breathe.

He opened his mouth, his voice raw and agonizingly raspy.

"Sera, I never ordered anyone to burn you."

"And I never actually saw you as a sister, I..."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Seraphina swallowed back the tidal wave of emotions inside her, cutting him off flatly.

She truly had no desire to entangle herself with Christian any longer.

Before walking away, her gaze swept across his face one last time.

Christian's eyes were bloodshot, and even his usually detached features were now twisted with a chaotic, unhinged hostility.

He looked exactly like Caspian now.

"Christian, you and Caspian... you two are exactly the same."

Leaving behind that final sentence, Seraphina didn't wait to see his reaction, turning on her heel to walk out.

Those words struck Christian like a cataclysmic shock, stripping every ounce of strength from his body in an instant.

He knew better than anyone exactly what kind of image Caspian held in Seraphina's mind.

Vile, depraved, and thoroughly repulsive...

And now, in her heart, he had become the exact same kind of monster as Caspian.

The realization shattered his remaining sanity completely.

Ignoring all restraint, Christian charged forward, violently grabbing Seraphina's wrist and wrenching her backward into his embrace.

He slammed his lips down over the very mouth he had hungered for countless times, forcing a desperate kiss upon her.

"Retch—" Seraphina violently pushed him away with a retching spasm.

Christian froze dead in his tracks, staring at her raw, physiological rejection, his eyes completely bloodshot.

It felt as though a spear had driven straight through his chest and been brutally ripped out again, leaving behind a jagged, agonizing wound.

"Sera... do you truly despise me to this extent?"

So repulsive that a mere kiss from him was enough to make her physically sick.

Then what about her and Caspian?

When Caspian had subjected her to those acts, holding her through all those intimate entanglements, had she fought back with this level of visceral disgust...

Seraphina paid no attention to his words as her stomach turned violently inside out, a wave of physical nausea rising straight into her throat.

Clamping a hand over her mouth, she didn't remain for a single second longer, turning unsteadily to flee frantically out the door.

Chapter 22

Long after Seraphina had gone.

Christian remained in his original posture, standing frozen on the spot.

His gaze locked tightly onto the direction she had vanished into, looking like a statue that had lost its soul, while even the air around him hummed with a dead silence.

Julian walked out from the adjacent private box.

He stepped forward, clapping a hand onto his close friend's shoulder, speaking with a trace of helplessness,

"Still looking? She's completely out of sight."

Christian's eyelashes fluttered slightly, focus finally returning to his eyes. He sank into his chair in silence.

Watching him like this, Julian couldn't help but tease,

"Didn't a certain someone talk big before? Claiming you only saw your wife as a sister, that the marriage was purely out of duty, and that you didn't have a single ounce of romantic feelings for her?"

"Now that your wife has run away, you finally know what regret feels like?"

The word "regret" was like a needle, driving ruthlessly into Christian's heart.

He clenched his fists violently, the veins on the backs of his hands, his neck, and his temples bulging out in a savage, terrifying display, looking as if they would rip through his skin in the next second.

Every single word he had spoken in the past had turned into a boomerang, stabbing into his chest and drawing blood with every strike.

He closed his eyes, his mind entirely filled with Seraphina's frosted glare.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never been able to win against Caspian in anything.

Perhaps a long time ago, he had used the excuse of "only seeing her as a sister" to numb himself.

He had constantly thought that this way, even if a day came when Caspian wrenched her away from him...

At least he wouldn't look so utterly pathetic in defeat...

Seeing his face turn pale, Julian knew when to stop and quickly switched the subject.

Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, and his voice turned dead serious.

"Seraphina seemed to be retching quite violently just now... Could she be pregnant?"

Christian snapped his eyes open.

...

Caspian exhausted every single method he could think of to pursue Seraphina.

The young master who had previously been so pampered that his fingers had never touched a chore now spent every single day soaking in the kitchen just to cook for her, his fingers either blistered by hot oil or sliced open by knives.

Even though the very first thing Seraphina did upon arriving at her desk every day was to toss the lunch box he had prepared straight into the trash can.

He still, without fail regardless of wind or rain, wore the white shirts she loved most to deliver food to her.

Knowing Seraphina had no desire to look at him, he carefully maintained his distance to keep her from finding out.

Until one day, he went to wait for her as usual, but Seraphina never showed up.

The calls went entirely unanswered, and she was nowhere to be found at her apartment either.

Caspian's gaze darkened instantly, and he whipped out his phone to order a search into her whereabouts.

But the moment he remembered Seraphina had said she despised being watched...

He clenched his phone violently, barking into the receiver in absolute irritation,

"All of you, back off! Stop the search! Don't you dare upset my wife!"

Slamming the phone down, Caspian ran his hands through his hair in frustration, the arrogant defiance completely gone as he paced frantically in circles like a massive, abandoned dog left behind by its owner.

The doorbell rang.

Felix pushed the door open, carrying an unfamiliar package inside.

He ripped through the outer wrapping, and the moment he caught sight of the glass jar preserved in formalin inside, his face changed completely.

Caspian perceived his reaction. "What is it?"

"No... it's nothing."

Felix snapped back to his senses, scrambling to hide the package, but he was a step too late.

Caspian had already strode over, picking up the miscarriage report from inside the box.

The moment the name "Seraphina" struck his eyes, Caspian's entire body froze dead.

He shivered uncontrollably from head to toe, his fingertips ice-cold without a shred of warmth.

His gaze moved slowly, inch by inch, toward that glass jar filled with formalin, the blood in his veins turning completely stagnant at this very second.

The last time he had shared an intimate night with Seraphina, he had forgotten to use protection, and according to the timeline on the medical report, it lined up perfectly.

A sudden metallic tang of blood rushed into his throat, and Caspian violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

"This is my child?" His voice was raspy, as if asking Felix, or perhaps asking himself.

"No... it can't be... Seraphina shouldn't be this cruel..."

Felix truly didn't know how to answer him.

Watching him in this state, he couldn't bear it and stepped forward to take the box away, but Caspian violently shoved him aside.

Caspian slowly sank to his knees, carefully lifting the glass jar as if cradling the most priceless treasure in the world, holding it tightly against his chest.

Tears fell without warning, slamming hard against the floorboards.

This was his and Seraphina's child.

In the past, it wasn't as if he hadn't fantasized about having a child with Seraphina.

He loved children immensely.

Preferably a beautiful, precious little daughter who looked exactly like Seraphina did when she was a child.

He would have spoiled her to be even more arrogant and indulged than Seraphina had been.

Yet he had never once imagined that his very first meeting with his child would happen under such circumstances.

Caspian's fingers lightly pressed against the glass wall, tracing the tiny silhouette of the fetus through the ice-cold barrier with a feather-light touch.

The miscarriage report had specified the gender with absolute clarity.

It was a baby girl.

Barely two months old.

Her form could be seen within the ultrasound image—she was curled into a tiny ball, her fragile limbs already taking shape, and even the curves of her eyelids were faintly discernible.

Only a few centimeters long, like a freshly sprouted grape, small enough to be easily cradled within a single palm.

"Ha... Hahaha..."

"Ha... Hahaha..."

A cataclysmic grief washed over him like a tidal wave, Caspian's shoulders shaking violently as he wept and laughed at the same time, his entire being submerged in a bottomless ocean of misery, his soul rotting away inch by inch.

Felix couldn't bear to look any longer, gently pulling the door shut behind him to leave him completely alone in the space.

An unknown stretch of time passed until only Caspian's faint breathing remained in the room.

He slowly lowered his head, pressing his forehead against the freezing glass jar,

And pressed a feather-light kiss upon it, his movements as gentle as if he were protecting an incredibly fragile glass treasure.

He closed his eyes, scalding tears tracking down his cheeks to splash onto the floor.

"Baby, Daddy is right here, don't be scared..."

"Baby, Daddy loves you... Daddy is so sorry..."

...

By the time Felix stepped back into the room, Caspian had collapsed onto the floor.

Both of his hands were still locked tightly around the jar, pressing it firmly right against the left side of his chest over his heart.

Felix couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

This Seraphina was truly ruthless.

That very night, Caspian fell into a deep coma.

Amidst his blurred consciousness, he felt as though he had traveled straight back into the past.

He had also wanted to share that very first opening dance with Seraphina.

He had wanted to drink that coffee she made, the one that resembled a messy bowl of porridge.

He had stomped his feet in absolute anxiety.

Why wouldn't Seraphina look at him even once?

...

Three years later, Seraphina returned home.

The moment the plane landed, the familiar air rushed over, thick with the bustling scent of the city.

Just as she stepped out of the airport's VIP arrival terminal, an incredibly familiar silhouette struck her eyes.

The man wore a flawlessly tailored black custom suit, his entire being radiating a dangerously sharp and commanding aura.

Seraphina froze for a split second, murmuring instinctively, "Christian?"

The man's eyes darkened violently.

"Seraphina, you just try calling me the wrong name one more time."

—The End—