ALINA’S POV

“Why are you doing this?” Pain coursed through my body bas /bI desperately tried to crawl away from Seraphinab. /b

She was supposed to be my sister. Sure, I was adopted, but she had always showered me with love. Yet now, her eyes were

were aze with hatred and disgust bas /bshe red down at me.

“Are you really that daft, or do you genuinely not get it?” She sneered, her voice oozing with contempt as I looked up at her, my bpain /bmingling with confusion.

I had always done what she wanted. I had let her take credit for my jewelry designs for years. So why was bshe /bturning on me now?

“Please, just tell me what I..I did wrong. I promise I’ll do better.” My words were a weak plea, cracking as hot tears streamed down my

cheeksb. /b!--

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“Ughhh!” Seraphina bkicked /bmy outstretched hand away as if it repulsed her. “This is what I can’t stand about you!” She spat, her nostrils bring/b. “You act all sweet and innocent with that porcin face and those big, doe–like grey eyes, making everyone fall for you.” Her fists clenched, her whole body shaking with rage. “I hate you so much!”

“Why?” I croaked, may voice barely above ba /bwhisper. My head throbbed painfully from where the cold, unforgiving wall of the abandoned warehouse.

one of her goons had mmed it against

“Why? Why?” She suddenly screamed, her voice raw with fury. “Because you stole my life!” She spat the words like venom.

“Whatb?/b” I gaspedb, /bmy breath hitching bin /ba mix of pain and confusion.

“You stole eighteen years of my life!” She hissed. “I was stuck in an orphanage while you were living the life that was meant for me! I’m supposed to be engaged to Lucian, not your” Bitterness coated her every word, hands balled into fists beside her.

bMy /bstomach twisted violently. What was she talking about! It bwasn’t /bmy fault she had gone missing as a child, and when Mom and Dad found her six years ago, they had treated her with nothing but love.

And Lucian? What did he bhave /bto do with any of this? I didn’t even like him.

b“/bLucian?” My brow furrowing in confusion. “You know I don’t like him. If you wanted him, you should have just said so. I’m sure Mom and Dad would cancel our engagement and set you up with him-

“Stop calling them Mom and Dad!” She yelled, cutting me off. Her eyes were aze with raw anger. “They’re my parents, not yours!” She was breathing heavily, her brage /bpalpable, before she continued. “Besides, do you really think Mom didn’t try to break off your engagement? Lucian was as stubborn as a mule, he wouldn’t marry anyone but you!”

But

I don’t love him,” My bvoice /bwas a whisper, desperation creeping into my voice bas /bmy heart raced. “It’s bAdrian /bI love!” I searched her face, hoping, praying, that she would see that I never intended to take anything from her.

“Oh God, how dumb can you be?” Sheughed maniacally, the sound sending chills down my spine, “Adrian doesn’t love you, byou /bidiot, he bloves /bme.”

Her words sliced through me like ba /bbknife/b, bshattering /bmy bheart /binto a million pieces.

“That’s not true.” I protested, bshaking /bmy head vigorously, trying to bignore /bthe throbbing pain in my skull.

“Oh, but it is.” She smirked, her face twisted with cruel satisfaction. “All these years, he’s just been using you. You were just too stupid to

“No!” I cried out, my voice trembling-

“You should have listened to Lucian, you know.” Her designer heels clicked ominously against the cold concrete floor as she approached me. The sound echoed eerily in the empty warehouse. b“/bHe’s been trying to protect you from us, but all you did was humiliate, insult, and betray him.”

Suddenly, she grabbed my chin, her fingers digging into my skin as bshe /bforced bme /bto look her in the eye.

“You don’t deserve him!” She spat, shoving my head aside with revulsion.

“You’re lying.” My voice

ice was barely above a whisper. I didn’t want to believe her. I couldn’t believe her.

6.25 AM

She scoffed, “Am I?” Tilting her head mockingly, she continued “What reason do bI /bhave to lie to you when you’re dying anyway

My heart raced like a drum in my chest bas /bI searched her face for any hint of a lie. But there was nothing. The cold, hard truth stared bback /bat me from bher /beyes. Every word she uttered was genuine.

But.. why!

“You know that little friend of yours, Talia?” She continued, in a bored almost nonchnt tone, bas /bif she were discussing the weather. “She figured out what we were up to, and well.. we had to silence her.”

I gasped, my breath bitching in my throat bas /bmy eyes widened in pure horror. “What?f*

Talia was dead? My fiery, red–haired best friend?

“You pushed her away and neglected her,” Seraphina shook her head with mock pity. “And even in the end, bshe /bwasn’t lying. bShe /bwas trying to save you

She let out a bitterugh, bas /bif the thought of Talia’s unwavering loyalty made her sick.

“You know what herst words to me were? Right before I plunged a knife into her chest?” A wicked smile spread bacross /bher lips. She didn’t wait for me to answer, “She begged me–not to hurt you.”

Seraphina’s voice turned sharp, her eyes shing with a mix of anger and something that felt like bresentment/b. “I really don’t get why these people stay loyal to you when all you’ve ever done is treat them like shit”

I felt my entire body go numb.

“You killed Taliab?/b” I whispered, my heart clenching painfully in my chest.

Tears blurred my vision as the reality sank in. I had thought she left the country. She told me she was going to be with her parents since I wasn’t going to listen to her. Thest thing bI /bhad said to her was for her to stay away from me and my business. I had told her never to show her face to me again.

I had no idea she bwas /bdead.

How could I have been so stupid?

I had been so focused on giving my loyalty to those who didn’t deserve it while pushing away the only people who truly cared for me.

As I struggled to process everything she was saying. Adrian walked bin/b.

Seeing him bsparked /ba flicker of hope in my chest, bfragile /byet burning with desperation.

“Adrian.” I called out, a small bsmile /btrying to break through the pain etched on my face. But what he did next shattered mepletely.

Adrian didn’t even nce my way. He walked straight to Seraphina, pulled her to bhis /bchest by the waist and kissed her smack on the lips.

My breath hitched in my bthroat/b.

“No…

“Is it done!” Seraphina asked, beaming up at him as if I didn’t exist, as if my whole world wasn’t crumbling around me.

How did I never notice that these two were having sex behind my back?

“Yes. “His response was smooth. “The moment he got the news that Alina was btaken/bb, /bthe lovesick bfool /bjumped into his bcar/bb, /bspeeding here like a maniac,pletely unaware that the brakes bof /bhis car had been tampered with. It bwas /bba /bfullb–/bspeed collision. He died instantly.”

He held up bis phone, showing something bto /bSeraphina.

Please let that not be Lucian? I hoped to bGod /bthat it wasn’t Lucian

“Ooooh, that must have hurt.” She said, peering at the screen before bursting intoughter. Then, as if suddenly remembering I was still there, she turned to me with a nonchnt bshrug/b.

“Oh well. The bst /bperson on your bside /bis dead.”

“That’s not true,” I whispered, feeling myst shred of hope splinter into nothing. “Lucian can’t be dead.” 1 shook my head in denial.

b2/4 /b

1:27 AM

bChapter /b1

Lucian was a strong and stubborn man, he couldn’t just die easily.

Seraphina turned the phone toward me, and my stomach dropped.

There on the screen was Lucian, his face bloodied and lifeless, as they zipped him into a body bag

“No!” I screamed, overwhelmed with agony.

I had spent my whole life hating him, pushing him away, and yet… he died trying to save me

He had done everything for me, even signing over his entire empire to prove his love. And what did I do?

I handed it over to Adrian.

Adrian, who now stood beside Seraphina, looking at me with cold, indifferent eyes. Like I was a stranger. Like he had never known me at

all.

“Why are you doing this, Adrian?” I cried, my voice breaking. “I gave you everything!” Desperation wed at my chest. “Why save me from drowning if you hated me this much?!” I screamed, summoning thest of my strength

A cruelugh escaped his lips, “You think I saved you? Lucian was the one who saved you that day, not me.”

My breath hitched-

“He was such a coward, Adrian said with a smirk. “Didn’t even stick around for you to wake up, so I had to swoop in.”

I stared at him, feeling my world tilt as memories from that day, six years ago, flooded back.

Lucian.

It was Lucian who had pulled me out of the water when Seraphina and her friends thought it would be funny to push me into the pool, knowing fully well that I couldn’t swim.

bI /bremembered catching a glimpse of a retreating back, but when I woke up, it was Adrian sitting by my bedside. I had always thought it was him ball /balong.

But it had been Lucian.

bA /bsob caught in my throat, my chest tightening.

“It was Lucian,” I whispered, my voice empty. “It’s always been Lucian,

Memories crashed over me, memories 1 had been too blind and stubborn to acknowledge.

Whenever I found myself in trouble, Lucian was always there. Even when I pushed him away, yelled at himb, /band cursed him.

I had made a terrible mistake.

Lost in my swirling bstate /bof regret and despair, ba /bsharp, acrid scent suddenly hit my nose..

Gasoline.

I looked up bin /bbrm/b.

Adrian bstood /ba few feet away, pouring gasoline onto the floor, the liquid pooling in thick, dark puddles around me.

My blood ran cold.

“No please don’t.” I pleadedb, /btrying to move, trying to stand, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I felt so weak. I was already losing blood from the stab wound in my stomach, my vision blurring at the edges.

“bYou’ve /btaken everything from bme/b.” bI /bsaid weakly, my voice barely a whisper as I turned to Seraphina. “Aren’t you satisfied!”

bShe /bmet my gaze with a wicked grin.

“bNo./bb” /b

My breath caught in my throat.

6:27 AM

Chapter I

“I’ll only be satisfied when you no longer exist in this world.” She said, flicking a lighter on.

The tiny me danced in her hand, bright and hungry, merciless.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she tossed it in front of me.

mes erupted instantly, roaring to life as they spread around me, eagerly licking at the gasoline–soaked floor.

I screamed as the fire reached my leg.

g, searing my pale skin,

“Please, help me!” I cried out, my voice breaking as I struggled to breathe through the thick smoke that filled my lungs, scratching at my throat like a thousand fiery needles.

But they didn’te to my baid/b.

Instead, they justughed, cold, heartless, andpletely indifferent.

As the mes bwrapped /baround me, I watched them turn away, strolling out of the warehouse hand in hand, not even sparing me a backward nce

I found myself praying to anything and everything I could think of.

I prayed for a miracle, even though deep down, I knew it was futile.

I wished, oh, how I wished I had made different choices.

I wished I had treated the people who truly cared for me with more kindness.

And as the darkness finally enveloped me, I wished upon the stars for a bchance /bto go back and set things right.

Then-

Everything went dark.