Chapter 7 +25 Bonus Chapter 7 Seraphina POV I lay back on the lounge chair, letting the sea breeze wash over me as I watched the waves roll onto the shore and slip back again. No lectures from my parents. No scheming from Karen. No hard, unyielding face of Macro. The long-lost sense of freedom finally let me relax completely. This was the life I was meant to have. Yet for some reason, my mind betrayed me, and he crept back into my thoughts. I pressed a hand to my chest. At least it didn't hurt anymore. Not the way it used to. The welts across my back hadn't fully healed. Every day I smeared scar cream across them, careful not to tear the skin. Even here, in a swimsuit, I draped a sheer wrap over my shoulders to hide the marks that still mapped my body. A tall figure appeared, casting a shadow over me. I looked up, and my heart seized. Damn it! Macro. His eyes were filled with a raw, desperate relief, like a drowning man who had finally found a buoy. "Sera," he said, his voice rough and breathless. "I finally found you." I stared at him as if he were a stranger. He looked haggard, his face hollowed out and gaunt. His eyes were haunted, their usual sharp edges replaced by a frantic desperation. He reached for my hand. "You've been gone for a month. I missed you so much. I haven't slept a single night." 1/3 Chapter 7 His words were a frantic tumble, a confession of his own weakness. I pulled my hand away, a flicker of disgust on my face. "I don't know you. Stay away from me." His hand hung in the air, a flash of pain crossing his face. +25 Bonus "Sera, stop being angry. Come home with me. I know I did a lot of things to hurt you, but I promise I won't ever do it again." I let out a cold, cynical laugh. "Come back for what? To watch you defend Karen again? To watch you marry her?" "You're wrong. I don't love her, never have." He grabbed my hand again, his eyes welling up with tears. "I've only ever loved you, Sera." His hand was warm, his grip tight, but I felt nothing. It meant nothing to me anymore. I frowned, prying his fingers off one by one. "You don't love Karen? You defended her to a point where you couldn't tell right from wrong. No matter what happened, I was always the one in the wrong, the one to be punished. Karen was always the innocent one. You don't have to pretend to be devoted to me while loving her." He looked desperate. "I got your voice recorder. I did a DNA test. Karen is an impostor. Both she and your father have been locked in the dungeon now. They will pay for every wound they inflicted on you, tenfold." He paused, his gaze dropping from mine. "I also found out Karen was the one who hung you on the side of that building. And she manipulated your father into having you whipped in the dungeon. "I only intended to lock you up for three days. I never meant to hurt you." My heart ached with a pain far deeper than the whip marks on my back. All the unfairness and suffering came flooding back, and the scars on my back began to sting as if they were fresh. Tears blurred my vision, but I swallowed them back, refusing to let him see my vulnerability. "It was all Karen, so what?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm. He pulled me into a fierce embrace, his arms wrapping around me like a cage. 2/3 Chapter 7 "So, Sera, stop being angry. Let's forget all the unpleasant things and start over, okay?" U Support Share +25 Bonus 3/3 +25 Bonus