CHAPTER 4: Her
1052 Words
SERAPHINA’S POV
The media went into a frenzy the second I stepped onto the crimson carpet with Nicho. People flashed questions about Cassian's broken engagement, if I had a hand in it.
Little did they know, I did not want that dreadful man near me ever again.
Camera flashes exploded like fireworks. Microphones jutted toward us like bayonets.
But I kept my chin high, my hand firmly looped around his arm.
Then I saw him, the man standing just behind the velvet ropes, eyes locked on mine like he’d seen a ghost.
Cassian.
His lips parted slightly. Shock. Pain. Jealous.
Exactly what I wanted.
“Nicho,” I murmured sweetly, just loud enough for the press to hear. “Smile. Tonight is about us, remember?”
He gave a smirk, charming and lazy, just the way I coached him. “Of course, baby.”
The reporters lost it.
“Miss Vale! Are you confirming your relationship with Nicholas Thorn, Cassian’s half-brother?”
“When did this start?” Reporter one asked
“Is the engagement coming anytime soon ?” Reported two jumped in with more questions.
I turned slowly, giving them a single, devastating smile. “No comment.”
Cassian’s jaw clenched. His fists curled at his sides. And when I walked past him with Nicho’s arm still around my waist, I didn’t look back.
But I felt his stare burning into my spine like acid.
Good.
Let it haunt him. For letting me raise an innocent little girl alone, the tears he put in her eyes wishing he was there.
Let it destroy him.
Because that’s exactly what he did to me.
****
CASSIAN’S POV
The second the cameras stopped flashing, I snapped.
I didn’t care who was watching. Didn’t care about the goddamn gala. Or the headlines.
I found him behind the event hall, sipping champagne like he hadn’t just ripped my soul out in public.
The bastard I never thought twice about until he slid into her life like a parasite.
“You think this is a game?” I growled.
Nicho turned, unfazed. “If it is, you’re losing.”
I hit him. My heart pounding against my chest.
One clean, brutal punch to the jaw.
He staggered, eyes wide, wiping blood from his lip. “Touch her again, and I swear to God—”
“You’ll what?” he spat. “Lose her twice?”
My blood roared in my ears. “You have no idea what she means to me.”
“She doesn’t seem to give a damn what you feel,” he smirked. “She chose me.”
That smirk was a mistake.
I lunged again, shoving him hard against the concrete wall. “She’s not choosing you. She’s hurting me. You’re just a pawn.”
He winced but didn’t argue, he didn't deny it either
That was the worst part.
Because it meant she still hated me enough to ruin me publicly.
I let him go, breathing hard, fists trembling.
He straightened his collar and muttered, “You always were the emotional one.”
“Stay away from her,” I warned again, voice low and deadly. “I’ll ruin you.”
*****
An hour later
I didn’t go home or head back to the office either.
I drove until the sun dipped below the skyline, until the edges of my anger dulled into grief.
Then, somehow, I ended up at the park.
I saw people having a time of their lives. A couple playing with a dog.
Then something cought my eyes.
The little girl that ran into Sera's arms outside the gala. She was running through the grass with her puppy, laughter trailing behind her like a wind chime. I instinctively felt worried about her, it's not safe letting a little child play alone. The world wasn't so safe anymore.
Something in my chest cracked wide open, I wanted to approach her and ask about her parents but i kept my distance. I sat on a bench under a tree, pretending to read the paper.
I couldn’t talk to her.
A golden retriever ran straight toward me.
The little girl chased after, her high-pitched voice giggling, “Muffin! Come back!”
She stopped short when she saw me. Those eyes. They felt like mine.
But before she could speak, a gust of wind blew through the branches above her.
A few leaves drifted down... and with them, a single, pale silky dark strand of hair.
It clung to the bark just inches from my hand.
She didn’t notice, but I did.
I reached out, slowly, carefully, plucked the strand, and folded it into my wallet like a sacred relic.
My fingers trembled. I hadn't done this before.
There was only one reason I’d need that.
Proof.
Because no matter how many times Seraphina said nothing about this little girl, no matter how many threats or cold shoulders she threw my way…
I needed to know If the was possibly mine or possibly Nicholas'
****
SERAPHINA’S POV
I watched from the ice cream stand. Sunglasses on. Window down just enough to see her. The body guards stood a distance from her picnic set up, carefully watching her play like a hawk.
And he was there. I barely left for a minute to get my daughter some nice dessert and he was there.
Cassian sat on that bench like he belonged, like he wasn’t the man who had shattered everything I once believed in.
My stomach twisted.
I had warned him.
Told him to stay away, but of course, Cassian never listened. Not when it mattered.
I saw the way he looked at her. Quietly. Reverently. As if she was his salvation.
For one foolish second, I almost softened.
Almost let myself remember what it felt like to be loved by him.
But then I remembered the blood. The tears. The moment I stared down at the sonogram, alone, terrified, discarded.
He didn’t deserve her.
I picked up my phone, while steadily holing on to the ice cream.
I typed a text.
To: Bishop Kane
Message: He’s circling again. Make sure the test disappears if submitted. He can’t know.
Send.
I shut the phone off and walked straight to the picnic blanket and Aria ran towards me with her golden retriever.
- Writer
