Chapter 5

Seraphina POV

After dark, Adrian came to the villa. His tall figure stood before me, looking down at me from above.

"Vivian woke up." His face was cold as a frozen pond. "The doctor diagnosed her with a mild concussion and post-traumatic stress disorder."

I'd been kneeling until both my knees hurt terribly. Blood had seeped through my knees, staining the gravel beneath them red.

My vision kept going black. Cold sweat had long since soaked my hair.

But he showed no sympathy. He just looked at me. "I know you're very dissatisfied with her, but no matter how dissatisfied you are, you shouldn't have gone to the office to hit her."

I finally raised my eyelids. "Don't you know exactly why I hit her?"

If he hadn't brought Vivian to those places, if Vivian hadn't used an unknown number to send me those provocative photos, if they hadn't treated me—his wife—with such disregard, would I have struck her?

My eyes reddened. My throat felt tight and choked. "Adrian, I have no problem with you repaying your debt. But you slept with her. Don't you find that laughable? If you want to repay your debt, why does it have to be by trampling on my feelings and our marriage?"

"I told you, a year ago with her—we were drugged. It was an accident. I didn't lie to you."

"What about now? Her mother is seriously ill and needs money. You've already given her a check. Why do you still need to keep her by your side?"

His voice was low and hoarse. "Because that night a year ago, she got pregnant with my child."

My breathing stopped for an instant.

"Back then, you were threatening to break up with me. To get you back, I had no choice but to cut ties with her."

Adrian's voice carried a pain I'd never heard before.

He said, "While I was kneeling to beg you to come back, while I was personally making the cake you love, while I was announcing to reporters that I was transferring my shares to you and publicly winning you back—during all that time, she was alone, caring for her sick mother while constantly working to earn money. Eventually, from overwork, she miscarried the baby and fell into depression for a long time."

In this moment, he felt like a complete stranger.

I moved my lips. My voice was hoarse. "What are you trying to say—that her miscarriage and depression are my fault?"

"If you hadn't insisted on breaking up, I wouldn't have ignored her and cut ties with her. She wouldn't have..." He stopped, looking at me deeply. "I owe the Whitmore family a life. And you caused her to lose a child."

He said, "Seraphina, you're the one who wronged her."

Absurd.

This was the most absurd, laughable thing I'd ever heard.

"Kneel here properly. After you complete the full twenty-four hours, I'll come pick you up." Before Adrian turned to leave, he coldly instructed the bodyguards nearby. "Watch her."

"Yes, sir."

In that moment, I couldn't tell which hurt more—my knees or my heart.

I was forced to kneel in front of the villa for a long time, the bodyguards pressing down on my shoulders.

Around midnight, thunder suddenly crashed and lightning flashed. Strong winds rose and a torrential downpour fell.

The two bodyguards opened umbrellas, but didn't shield me.

I knelt on the gravel. The blood from my knees wouldn't stop flowing. I was forced to endure the rainstorm all night.

Whenever I was about to collapse and my body swayed, the bodyguards would press firmly on my shoulders, forcing me to correct my posture.

At dawn, the alternating sensations of cold and heat throughout my body finally became unbearable. I lost consciousness and collapsed to the side.

When I woke again, it was to the smell of disinfectant.

I opened my heavy eyelids to the white ceiling of a hospital.

An IV drip was attached to the back of my hand.

"You're awake."

Adrian's voice came from beside the bed.

I turned my head and saw him sitting there. His eyes were bloodshot, a shadow of stubble on his chin.

"You had a fever of 104 degrees. Why didn't you tell the bodyguards you were sick? The doctor said if you'd come any later..."

He reached out to touch my face, but I avoided it. "Don't touch me."

Adrian froze. He withdrew his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. "Seraphina, stop making trouble from now on, okay? We already owe Vivian too much."

His appearance made me feel sick.

My throat was dry and hoarse. My laugh was desolate. "Adrian, you're the one who owes her. Not me."