Chapter Three
1008 Words
Seraphina stood beside Maureen, hands folded in front of her like a child summoned for scolding. She’d been told to dress nicely, wear a soft makeup with hairs neatly done. She had worn a pale pink dress she didn’t pick.
She had no clue why she was all dressed up. She hadn't been told why.
The front door of the Hart Mansion opened, and in walked a man with sharp eyes and an even sharper jawline. Garrett Blake.
He looked like money, confidence……and secrets.
“Seraphina,” Maureen said, with a smooth voice, “this is Mr. Garrett Blake, CEO of Blake Holdings. He and his family are close associates of ours. He’s here today… as your suitor.”
Seraphina blinked. “My—what?”
Garrett’s lips curled into a cunning smile as he strolled forward towards them. “You’re prettier than your pictures,” he said coolly.
“Pictures?” Seraphina blinked again.
“Ivy’s phone is full of you,” he said, glancing toward the couch where Ivy sat.
Maureen smiled lightly as she took Garrett’s arm. “We’ve arranged everything already, darling. The Blake-Hart merger will go public in few months. The wedding will be in two weeks. Consider this your formal introduction.”
Seraphina’s voice caught in her throat. “I… I don’t understand.”
Maureen’s smile vanished. “There’s nothing to understand. This is what’s best for the family. Can you be useful for once in your lifetime. Besides, Your Papa would’ve wanted this. ”
“Papa would’ve never—” Seraphina began to say.
“Papa is dead,” Maureen snapped. “And I am in charge now.”
Garrett stepped closer, towering over Seraphina. “To be honest, I am not interested in fairy tales or love. All I need is a wife who will look pretty beside me, attend functions, and keep her mouth shut. You’ll have the Hart name and my money. You should be grateful.”
Seraphina’s legs felt like jelly. She looked toward Ivy, desperately hoping for some sisterly solidarity.
The room buzzed with laughter.
Except Seraphina wasn’t laughing.
She was just lost, drowning in the silence inside her.
---
That night, she sat at he attic room window, staring out into the night sky. The reality of her situation settled in like a stone in her chest.
She was being handed off like a bargaining chip.
But the worst part?
No one—not Maureen, not Ivy, not even Garrett—cared what she wanted.
Downstairs, she could hear Ivy’s voice whispering.
“You’re really going to go through with it?” Ivy asked.
Garrett’s voice followed. “You know I don’t care about her. This is business. Once the merger is complete, she’ll be on her own.”
A pause.
“You don’t mind sharing me, do you?” he teased.
Ivy laughed. “As long as I get the better end of the deal.”
Another pause.
Then something unmistakable—flesh against flesh. A low gasp. A hungry kiss.
Seraphina was taken aback.
She hadn’t even married him yet, and he was already wrapped around Ivy’s finger.
She looked in the mirror and barely recognized the girl staring back.
Seraphina Hart was about to become Mrs. Garrett Blake…
…against her will.
………..
The Blake mansion was silent. Too silent for a place that looked so full. There were no wedding pictures on the wall, no framed memories of love or laughter. Just paintings, expensive ones.
It had been six months since the wedding, and not once had Garrett looked at her like a wife.
Not once had he touched her with affection.
He came home late, smelling of expensive perfume and wine. He spoke only when necessary—and even then, it’s more like she was an inconvenience he’d rather avoid.
“You’re not my wife,” he had told her one night when she confronted him, tears in her eyes. “You’re a contract. Learn to play your role, Seraphina.”
She stopped trying after that.
At first, she had tried. She tried so hard. Cooked for him. Waited up. Wore what he liked. Smiled at business dinners. She hoped that maybe he would at least see some good in her, and probably be different from where she was coming from. She was hoping the marriage might eventually be all she needed to gain peace, freedom and even be loved again.
He didn't even notice her. Or maybe he just didn't care.
Meals were eaten alone. Events were attended in silence. The bedroom? Separate.
Worse, Ivy had taken up an even larger presence in their lives. She visited daily, strolling about the house like it was hers —dropping subtle touches on Garrett’s arm, sharing private jokes in front of Seraphina, calling him “baby” when Maureen wasn’t looking.
But she remained silent.
What could she say? That her husband preferred her stepsister? Or that she was nothing but a means to an end?
They weren’t even hiding it anymore.
Maureen wouldn’t even give her an ear. She was too busy enjoying the rising status that came with the Hart-Blake merger.
If anything, she grew colder.
“The merger went through because of you,” she said bluntly one morning over coffee. “That’s your only value now. You should be happy you contributed something. We would go public in few days time.”
Seraphina wanted to scream. But her voice had died since she was sold out from a business merger. There was no use anymore. She was voiceless.
She instead found solace in books, music and movies she watched alone in her room. The garden was also another place she goes to other than her room.
Then came the success headlines few days later:
BLAKE-HART MERGER SOARS—Joint Empire Now Among Top Ten in the Country.
Photos of Garrett and Maureen shaking hands flooded the media. Ser
aphina stood beside them in one of the pictures, eyes dull, smile forced. Like a furniture.
And then… it happened.
- Writer
