CHAPTER 48: THINGS ARE SLIPPING FROM YOUR HANDS, MELISSA!

Melissa’s POV

I was drowning in exam pressure, barely getting any sleep, and honestly, I didn’t have time for anyone’s bullshit. But lately... something felt off.

I’d been getting these bad premonitions these days — like something bad was coming.

I couldn’t put my finger on where things were going wrong.

What made it worse was Brother Asher.

The one who always spoiled me rotten and treated me like I was the center of his damn universe.

He stopped talking to me just like that after Jim’s incident.

At first, I thought maybe he had gotten something against me, and I was in trouble. Or mad about something small.

But then I remembered — he came to me again and told me that he was just under the weather these days and had lost his temper.

And then he just... left.

He didn’t say anything, he didn’t even smile at me, and walked away.

Since then, he’s been ignoring me, no texts and no calls. Not even a glance when we cross paths at home.

I had my doubts. Of course, I did.

But I told myself — it’s fine. Once I ace my exams and show him the results, he’ll be proud again. He’ll shower me with gifts, take me shopping, and call me his perfect little sister.

That’s how it’s always been.

And I’m sure... that’s how it’ll be again.

Right?

I was still thinking about everything, how my Big Brother hadn’t spoken to me properly for days, how things weren’t feeling the same anymore, when my phone suddenly rang.

I didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment when my mind was full of deep thoughts. But when I saw the name on the screen flashing, the name Lia and I stopped.

My fingers moved before I could even think, and I picked up the call.

If she were calling me, she must have something interesting and juicy to say.

Because Lia wasn’t the kind to call without a reason. She only called when she needed something or it was related to Seraphina.

Yes, Sera might have slipped away from Jim and his dirty group of men. She might have gotten lucky, but girls like Lia... they didn’t back down easily. Not when they had found a target who was below them and easy to trample, who had no background with no one to look after them.

Lia wasn’t someone who hurt people out of fear or need...She did it because it gave her pleasure. She enjoyed watching people struggle, especially those who couldn’t fight back.

And if she was calling me, it only meant one thing—she had seen something to tell me that I would enjoy knowing and could use for my own use in the future.

I leaned back on the chair, still staring at the screen for a second before pressing the phone to my ear.

"Let’s see what mess she got herself into now," I muttered to myself as I answered the call.

The phone hadn’t even rung twice before I picked it up. Lia didn’t waste a breath.

"Melissa! You will not believe what just happened at the mall!" Lia said all that in a single breath.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back. "What now? Did someone finally kick you out or knock some sense into you?"

"Can you cut it and hear me out?" she spat. "It’s about her. That crazy, mute, and autistic freak... Seraphina."

My hand froze mid-air.

I knew it! I knew that it was about her! Seraphina!

"She caused a damn scene," Lia barked as she was full of anger. "I thought she would shrink and shiver in fear, but then she brought someone with her. And not just a normal person, but he seemed dangerous and untouchable. Every manager in that place nearly pissed themselves taking just one look at him."

My brows twitched.

"She called him and when He came... He treated that bitch as a Queen, treated as if only she was present there and we were invincible!" Lia’s voice cracked from disbelief. "He didn’t speak much, but the moment I opened my mouth and said a few words against him... She slapped me in front of everyone, right across the face like I was nothing!"

She paused for a bit or probably waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t.

I was just thinking how she could have had such guts and who was that mysterious man?

"Then... Something her brothers came up! I didn’t know she had one." Lia sneered. "And then... your Brother Asher showed up."

My heart sank.

"Yeah, now you are shocked!? He walked in, saw her, and acted like she was some treasure he had lost. He took her hand, defended her, and when she almost fainted, he carried her out like she was some fucking princess."

Lia scoffed. "And the crowd? They just watched. Who would have such guts to talk against the Third Young Master of the Lancaster family? Everyone around her acted like she was something they had to protect."

I tightened my grip on the phone.

"Let me warn you, Lis," Lia said and scoffed. "Things are slipping from your hands. I don’t know where her brothers came from or who that person was.

She’s turning everything upside down," she whispered. "If even Asher is falling for her drama... You might lose everything."

The line went dead. Lia came, barked, and left me agitated.

And I just sat there, completely frozen.

Seraphina had slapped Lia!? Where did those guts come from?

And Asher went to find her? Took her where?

"Don’t tell me... He took her to the Lancaster Mansion!" I instantly rose to my feet, forgetting everything.

I ran out of my dorm room, but it was already over ten at night.

I couldn’t leave.

"Fuck!"

Did he really bring that slut back home when I wasn’t there?

My blood boiled, I didn’t care about anything, and called my mother to send the car first thing in the morning.

I got to see what was happing there.