CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: AT LEAST IT PROVES... YOU’RE MORE DESPICABLE THAN ME!

Felicity Shaw achieved her goal, casting a smug glance at Seraphina Thorne.

"Let’s go, I’m treating the violin section today. Seraphina, you should come too?"

"No, thank you. I want to stay and practice a bit more."

Eating with her, it churns my stomach.

Felicity didn’t insist, she led a few people across the street to a restaurant.

Everyone ate and chatted, and naturally, the topic turned to Seraphina.

"Felicity, what’s the deal with this Seraphina?"

"You don’t know her?" Felicity had been waiting for this, "Haven’t you heard of the Zenith Group?"

Someone immediately thought of the big scandal from before, "Isn’t that... the Zenith Group involved in the collapse due to the chief designer’s faulty design?"

Felicity nodded, "That’s right, and that designer is Seraphina’s brother."

"And she still has the money to drive luxury cars?"

"Turns out a starved camel is still bigger than a horse."

"These corrupt construction companies, squandering homebuyers’ money, it’s disgusting!"

...

"You all just don’t understand, do you?" Felicity smiled suggestively, "There’s a saying online you haven’t heard? If a girl has money, there are only two reasons: either the man her mother sleeps with has money, or the man she sleeps with has money!"

The easiest way to ruin a girl’s reputation is to spread salacious rumors.

Moreover, Felicity didn’t think she was wrong.

How could Seraphina afford that car if not being kept?

She deliberately guided them, making it inevitable they’d think astray.

"Could she be kept by someone?"

"Definitely... the news reported the Zenith Group had fines in the tens of millions. If she wasn’t being kept, how could she afford a car worth millions?"

...

Gossip is the fastest-spreading thing in this world.

In less than half a day, the story of Seraphina being a kept woman spread throughout the entire orchestra.

The more a rumor spreads, the more outrageous it becomes, even the person supposedly keeping her was being described in vivid detail.

As rehearsals concluded at dusk and Seraphina entered the restroom, even the orchestra’s janitors were whispering about her.

"That’s her, I’ve heard... she’s being kept by some old Hong Kong businessman."

"I’ve heard it too, she’s even had two abortions."

"Tsk, no wonder she’s so skinny. Nowadays, girls will do anything for money."

...

Seraphina stood in front of the sink, biting her lower lip.

Her hand gripping the tissue tightened, relaxed, and gradually tightened again.

She wasn’t strong enough yet to face such rumors with calm indifference.

Behind her, the sound of flushing.

Felicity Shaw emerged from the stall with her purse.

Standing in front of the mirror, she shot Seraphina a sidelong look.

"Enough, stop pretending to be wronged and innocent, there’s no difference between you and me now."

Seraphina didn’t need to guess—it was Felicity spreading these rumors.

In her mind, Ethan Sterling’s voice inexplicably echoed.

"The best way to get back at someone is to live better than them, stand higher than them, and laugh brighter than them!"

Seraphina took a deep breath, straightened her back, and faced the mirror with a smile.

"I think there’s quite a difference between a Rolls-Royce and a Jaguar; at least it shows... you’re cheaper than I am!"

Felicity choked.

"And also..." Seraphina took a deep breath, casting a glance at Felicity’s face in the mirror, "My man adores me and would never hit me to the point of bruising!"

Felicity’s demeanor faltered as she anxiously glanced in the mirror.

Her makeup had started to smudge, unable to hide the redness and swelling on her cheek. She hurriedly pulled her hair down to cover it.

"I just tripped accidentally."

"Then you really are..." Seraphina’s smile grew even brighter, "you deserved it!"

Not giving Felicity another chance to react, Seraphina picked up her bag and violin, and walked out with her chin held high.

The custodians whispering outside stopped their chatter hurriedly, pretending to clean the floor.

Seraphina didn’t spare them a glance, striding between them.

Leaving the orchestra, she drove Ethan Sterling’s car to the hospital where her father was.

At the fruit store at the hospital’s entrance, she bought a few of her father’s favorite fruits to take to the ward.

Letting the caregiver go for a meal break, she pureed the fruits carefully and fed them through her father’s feeding tube.

Meticulously cleaning her father’s hands and face, Seraphina sat beside him, gently massaging his muscles.

As always, she started talking with him.

"Dad, today I officially started work at the Aethel Philharmonic...

The orchestra’s conductor, Tristan Quincy, appreciates me. You should remember him; we used to attend his concerts together.

If all goes well, I might become a full-time musician with them.

...

At first, Seraphina’s voice was still light and cheerful.

But as she spoke, her emotions inevitably fell.

Despite trying to act unbothered, in front of her father, she couldn’t help but show her true feelings.

Holding her father’s hand between hers, Seraphina gazed at his sleeping face.

"Please, don’t keep sleeping like this, alright?

Dad, open your eyes and look at me.

I so want to hear you talk, to chat with you.

Even just a single word...

It would be enough.

...

She could bear hardships, endure the scorn and gossip of others, but she couldn’t withstand the indescribable loneliness deep within her heart.

The world was so vast, yet she had only herself.

"Dad, you know what?

I... I now... really...

Really, feel so alone!"

Gazing at her father’s unresponsive face, Seraphina felt a tightness in her chest, as if she could hardly breathe.

She lowered her head, burying her face in his palm.

Tears slid from her lashes, soaking the man’s hand, which had grown thin from prolonged coma.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but her father’s hand seemed to move.

Seraphina lifted her face, nervously observing her father’s face.

The man’s eyelashes remained lowered, still without any movement.

She lowered her gaze, concentrating on her father’s hand in hers.

"Dad?"

"Dad!"

Theodore Thorne’s middle finger twitched again.

This time, she saw it clearly.

It wasn’t an illusion or a dream...

Seraphina turned and rushed out of the ward.

"Doctor, doctor!"

Too excited, she even forgot there was a call button right by the bedside.

The caregiver rushed in, the nurse rushed in, the on-duty doctor also rushed in...

This time, no matter how much Seraphina called, Theodore remained motionless.

"Miss Thorne, I understand how you feel..." The attending doctor offered her a comforting smile, "Don’t worry too much, Mr. Thorne is recovering well and there is definitely a possibility of him waking up."

"Really, I’m not lying, his hand really moved."

Seraphina cradled her father’s hand with one hand, supporting his face with the other, bending down to whisper in his ear.

Just like how he used to comfort her to sleep as a child, her voice was gentle.

"Dad... it’s me, Seraphina, your most precious Seraphina, can you hear me? Move once more, just once, alright?"