"Mummy!" Seraphina turned around, a big grin on her face as her five years old toddler ran towards her. She quickly packed her curly dyed blonde hair into a bun so it wouldn't get in the way of holding him.

"Phoenix," She breathed as she caught him in her arms. 

"Oh my baby, I've missed you so much." She sank into the warmth of the kid's neck, closing her eyes to savor him.

"I've missed you, mum."

Five years.

That was how long it had been since Seraphina buried her father... and lost everything.

Since her name vanished from the Moreau legacy.

Since she woke up sore, to an empty bed without the nameless stranger that now haunted her dream every night. Maybe Sheila would have stopped her from being reckless that night if she had known she was a virgin.

And maybe she wouldn't have run away if she hadn't seen the text that came onto his phone while he was sleeping that night.

She had been consumed with fear after realizing she had lost her virginity to a dangerous man. He had given her the choice to leave in that bar. She was the one who chose to stay.

And as fate would have it, two months later, she had discovered she was pregnant for him. A total stranger.

Las Vegas became a war zone after her father's death. Her mother had died by committing suicide after evidences were pulled that she was the one who poisoned her father and made him sick.

Seraphina knew she wasn't the one. Her mother loved her late father way too much. Even after all he did, Leah Moreau would never hurt him.

It wasn't long after that Seraphina herself escaped a gunshot that was aimed at her.

So she did what anyone desperate enough to protect the growing bump in her tummy would do- She faked her death, and vanished. Or she would have been the next target.

Now, five years later, here she was in a quiet Seattle suburb- visiting the only reason she had fought hard to keep herself alive and not break down from mental trauma after she lost both parents within two months.

"Miss Sera? You didn't inform us you were coming!" Maris' voice rang from the porch, laughing as she stepped outside, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

Maris had cared for Phoenix since his first breath. She was more than a nanny Seraphina had found before she even birthed her son. She was family. A tall, brown-eyed woman in her forties who knew how to read Seraphina better than anyone.

"I wanted to surprise both of you," Seraphina smiled as she lowered Phoenix to the ground.

"You did. Coffee's on. I just made banana bread too."

"Thank you, Maris."

They stepped inside, and Seraphina took in the familiar scent of warm cinnamon and lemon cleaner. It always reminded her she made the right decision leaving everything behind. This peaceful, low-key life was worth it.

Her phone buzzed.

She picked it up- and there it was. A picture of her handsome fiancé. Damien Thorne. 

He was winking at the camera, dressed in his usual stylish button-down shirt with two buttons undone to reveal worked-out abs. Beneath the picture, the caption read:

"Let's skip work today. Dinner? Just you and me, baby girl."

Seraphina's lips curled into a smile. Damien was impossible to resist when he was like this.

She had never planned to fall in love. After all she'd lost, she didn't think her heart would ever stretch that far again. But Damien proved her wrong. 

When she met him, he was just a client in the firm she worked for as a cybersecurity analyst until he took interest in her. Though she had ogled his obvious attractive features, she never had romantic interest in him at first.

He had been patient, playful, and persistent. He'd pursued her like a man chasing a dream even when she closed off entirely and told him she had a son. For one whole year, he made her feel seen and safe.

He had proposed four months ago. A simple, quiet proposal on the balcony of his Seattle penthouse- with fairy lights, wine, and heavy kisses here and there.

And somehow... she'd said yes. She was tired of doing life alone and craved something real. Something that differed from her boring life as a cyber security analyst at a top firm in Seattle. Not for once had she stopped thinking about her father's empire back in Las Vegas, but she had chosen silence. Because of Phoenix.

She texted back,

"Spending the day with Phoenix. Dinner tomorrow?"

He replied almost instantly,

"Fine. But I'll miss you tonight."

She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. He was soft in all the right ways. She changed her mind- she'd surprise him later tonight.

She glanced at Maris, who was sipping tea at the kitchen island. "Do you think I have time to sneak back out later?"

Maris gave her a look. "Are you asking for permission or telling me your plan?"

Seraphina laughed. "Both."

That evening, after she tucked Phoenix into bed and whispered a prayer over his forehead, she left for her part of the city.

On getting to her apartment, she changed into a silky gray dress. The kind that hugged her in the right places but still looked elegant. She let her dyed dirty blonde curls cascade softly over her shoulders.

She sprayed her perfume- soft jasmine and something intense because the night could eventually get freaky so she had to be well prepared. Seraphina checked herself once in the mirror. Her heart felt light. Her gaze darted to the diamond ring on her engaged finger and she smiled. 

She drove across Seattle to Damien's house, already picturing the look on his face when she walked in.

She just wanted to see him, kiss him, maybe cook him something later and laugh about work. He'd been quiet lately, but she was aware of how busy he could be as the lawyer he was, hence why his text this afternoon surprised her. She didn't want to miss the chance to spend a lovely night with her lover. She'd missed him. 

When she reached his floor, she pulled out the spare key he'd given her a few months ago. He had once said, "This means I trust you, babe." Those words had stayed with her. Anytime she remembered all she had lost, there was also the fact that she had Damien Thorne, her loyal and intentional fiancé who would go to the end of the world to fight for her.

When the door unlocked and she stepped inside, she expected a little mess in the living room from a long day at work, maybe Damien tired on the couch, or even asleep.

Instead, the place was too quiet. The TV was on mute, the vampire diaries series was playing on it. They both used to watch it together. A smile tugged at her lips as she remembered how they argued about being team Damon and team Stefan.

"Damien?" She called out, but was met with silence.

She walked in slowly, setting her black designer purse on the side table. Something didn't feel so right as she treaded the floor of the dimly lit hallway. His jacket was on the armrest of the couch, and beside it, her eyes fell on... a pair of nude heels.

Her brows drew together.

She glanced at the shoes again. They weren't hers.

Still, she kept moving, though her steps slowed. She hesitated for a second before cornering to his bedroom. Her heart was already pounding in her chest when she heard it.

She paused.

Then she heard Damien's voice.

"She's too soft," he said with a laugh. "Give it a little more time, and I will bring her to Las Vegas to thumbprint the vault herself. She thinks we're in love."

Seraphina couldn't think. She stepped closer to the hallway wall, careful to stay in the shadows, her breath held tightly in her chest.

"I still can't believe she's alive," came the second voice- a very familiar feminine voice.

"You should see how she had teared up when she was telling me about her true identity and whatever tragedy befell her life. It bored me the hell out cos I already knew it all."

The woman let out a mockery laughter. "You really pulled it off. Who knew the pathetic Moreau bastard daughter could find herself worthy of a love like yours."

Seraphina's heart was racing wildly; she thought it would fly out of her chest. 'Moreau bastard daughter' 

Only one person could have said that. No way this could be real. She must be dreaming.

Damien knew her before?

She ignored the tight pain she was starting to feel largely in her chest and inched forward, slowly, knees trembling as she neared the bedroom door. It was slightly ajar, the golden lighting inside illuminating faint streaks into the hallway. Her fingers rested on the doorframe as she peered inside.

Then she saw it.

Damien was standing shirtless near the bed. And sitting on the edge, one leg crossed over the other, was Talia.

Her stepsister. The current heiress of the Moreau Empire. Wearing a silky red robe that clung to her thighs and shoulders.

She had her back turned slightly, but Seraphina didn't need to see her whole face. She recognized her step-sister from her side frame. Even after five years, she looked just as poisonous.

"I told you I'd make her fall for me. It's delusional for any woman not to, I mean..." Damien said, his hand brushing over Talia's bare thigh like it was routine.

"Gosh, she was easy to manipulate," Talia replied with a sly smile. 

Before Seraphina could blink, Talia rose and walked up to Damien, and kissed him. A deep, seductive kiss that he embraced like familiarity. Her hands were curled into his hair like she had done it numerous times before.

That was all Seraphina needed to see.

Something inside her snapped. Her legs gave way and she gripped the wall to stay upright, her chest heaving. Her vision blurred. Her ears rang. She stumbled back from the door like it had burned her.

She staggered down the hallway, bumping into the wall, breath shallow and quick.

"No... no..." she gasped, her hand flying to her chest. The pressure there was unbearable, like someone had cracked her ribs open and poured ice into her lungs.

She dropped to the floor, her back against the wall, knees bent to her chest, trying to breathe- trying not to scream.

Her hands trembled so badly, she couldn't even pull her phone out of her purse.

Her vision was spinning.

All she could do was curl tighter against herself as her chest kept rising and falling in desperate gasps.

And just before the darkness closed in, she heard Damien's voice echo from the room.

"Who is there!?"

Seraphina couldn't feel the cold in the night air as she drove away. The only reason she was glad was because she was able to bail before Damien could find her.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she drove through the winding streets. Her breath came in shallow bursts, her chest still aching from what she had seen and heard. 

Talia was here in Seattle. She knew she was alive. She knew Damien. 

Nausea climbed her throat but she suppressed it.

She tried to focus on the road, but her mind kept flashing back to that image- his hands on Talia, their voices, their laughter, that kiss. 

She bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from crying out. Her vision blurred for a second, and she blinked fast, struggling to stay focused. 

She slowed the car as she reached a quiet corner near a gas station. Her hands were shaking too hard now. She couldn't keep driving.

"I can't..." she whispered to herself, pressing her forehead against the steering wheel.

Her whole body trembled.

She reached for her phone with stiff fingers and fumbled to unlock it. Her contacts were a blur, but she found Sheila's name and pressed call. Hopefully Sheila wouldn't be on her nursing duty. They had moved together to Seattle here to live a private life.

It rang once.

"Hey Sera," Sheila's voice came through cheerfully until Seraphina spoke.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out for a second. Her throat was tight. Finally, her voice broke through, low and shaky. "I need you to come get me."

"What? Where are you? What happened?"

"I..." Seraphina swallowed. "I left Damien's place. I saw something. I-I can't..." Her voice cracked. "Please. I can't drive anymore. My hands won't stop shaking."

"Okay, okay, breathe. Where are you?"

Seraphina looked around, trying to focus through the tears brimming in her eyes. "I think I'm near a gas station... Shell. There's a big green sign. It's on the corner of... I think Lakeview and Grant."

"I'm coming right now. Don't move, Sera. Just stay there."

"Okay," Seraphina whispered, her voice barely audible.

She ended the call and dropped the phone on her lap. The car was still running, but she didn't move. Her head leaned back against the seat as tears slipped down her cheeks one by one. She didn't wipe them.

She just sat there, under the dim lights of the empty road, broken and betrayed, waiting for the one person she could still count on as dizziness crawled through her body.

~

When Seraphina woke up, it was at the hospital. Sheila was by her side.

"Oh my...Thank God. You are awake." Sheila dashed to her side, then grabbed her hands, worry etched on her face. "I was so worried, what happened to you?"

Seraphina wanted to speak but couldn't. There was pain all over her body. The past event came rushing in but apart from it, was the chronic pain she was feeling in her stomach.

"Wha...what happened to me? My stomach hurts so bad." She struggled to sit up, but Sheila cautiously held her down.

"Don't move for now, Sera. You will have to rest for a while."

Seraphina didn't miss the somber look in Sheila's eyes. 

"I'm sorry, Sera." Now Seraphina was growing more worried. The female doctor entered before she could ask any more questions from Sheila.

"You are awake." Then the doctor looked to Sheila, "Does she know yet?" Sheila shook her head timidly, avoiding Seraphina's gaze.

"You both are scaring me. What is it? Did you diagnose anything?"

"You lost your baby, Miss Seraphina." The doctor revealed. Seraphina could hardly process the words. 

"Baby?" she repeated slowly, as if the word didn't belong to her. She looked at Sheila, hoping this was a bad joke. But Sheila's eyes were already starting to water. And in that moment, something hollowed out inside her- like her chest was caving in from a grief she hadn't even had the chance to prepare for.

"I was... pregnant?" she whispered, barely able to form the words.

Sheila's hold on her hand tightened. "You didn't know?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Miss Sera. Your baby was barely two months old and it's normal that you hadn't realized yet. You must have lost track of your period count downs."

Seraphina could only stare. Her mind was blank.

After the doctor gave her advice to not stress and all, she was left alone with Sheila.

"It's okay, Sera. You don't have to talk about it now." Sheila's concerned voice cut through the silence.

"What happened...to me?" Seraphina asked, eyes narrowing at nothing in particular.

"When I came to get you, there was blood on the seat. Your dress too. You were unconscious, Sera. You weren't even breathing properly. I had never been that scared in a while."

Seraphina blinked hard. The hospital room swam in and out of focus. Her heart was still racing, but her body felt like it had been hollowed out from the inside.

"How did you find me?" She asked weakly.

Sheila hesitated. "You told me where you were... over the phone. Forgotten?" She had forgotten. All she could process now was Damien's betrayal and the loss of the baby she hadn't been privileged to know about before the loss.

Seraphina nodded faintly, trying to connect the dots in her spinning mind.

Then she frowned.

"My phone..." she murmured.

Sheila reached into her bag and pulled it out. "Here. It kept buzzing, though. Nonstop."

As soon as Sheila handed it over, the screen lit up again.

"Damien" name popped on the screen.

Seraphina's stomach turned.

"I didn't answer," Sheila added quietly, already sensing something was wrong. "But he's called...for more than ten times now."

Seraphina didn't say a word.

She stared at his name on the screen until the call ended and his picture- his lying, smiling, bastard face- faded into darkness. Then there were lots of messages that followed.

'Were you at my house? Saw your purse.'

'Please pick your call. I need to know what's going on!'

'Sera? Please call me back. We need to talk.' Seraphina's mind went back to earlier. They needed her thumbprint to access her father's vault. That was why he was with her. She had even forgotten that it was her thumbprint her father used as the access for his vault. Did that mean Talia and her mother hadn't been able to access her father's real wealth?

That only left her with questions- why would her father leave the vault's matter out of the will? If her father had really prioritized Talia and Sheryl more than her, then why was it her thumbprint he used as his vault's access?

And also...how had Talia found out she was alive? She was Sera Knox here. She had long pulled away the identity 'Seraphina Moreau' after she narrowly missed a bullet.

She had made sure she was guarded this whole time, avoiding parties and open spaces in Seattle. She had even burned down fat to look totally different, dyed her hair blonde.

The plan to fake her death had gone smoothly. If Talia knew she was alive, then it must have been someone that knew her who shared it with Talia. But who?

 "Sera... what happened?" Sheila's voice jolted her from her deep thoughts.

Seraphina shut her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply, then slowly opened her eyes. 

Her phone buzzed again and she peeked at the message, thinking it was from Damien. But it was not. Her entire body froze as she read the content in the message from an anonymous sender.

"I need to be discharged."  She said before she could change her mind.