Zane let out a dry, dark chuckle that echoed off the stone walls, sending a cold shiver down her spine. "You have no choice but to remain dutiful. So, come inside before you catch a cold. Hmm, wifey?"
"Don't dare call me that name again! We share no bond!"
"We share a bond, Selina," Zane corrected, his calm returning as a subtle form of frustration. "You can speak to me nicely. If you won't, then I have nothing more to say."
"Why my father? Why did you hurt him?"
A sneer settled on his lips. He tilted his head back, shaking it in displeasure. "I see Hudson is still breathing. That's almost disappointing news."
"What? How is that disappointing?"
Zane ran a hand through his hair, letting out a performative sigh. "Your father traded everything he lost for my 'love.' He wanted me to cherish you. And I might consider doing that now. Let's start over, Selina. What do you think?"
"Zane!" she screamed his name through gritted teeth. His mockery was a physical blow. Her eyes grew misty, her voice a heart-wrenching rasp. "You promised me. You promised you wouldn't harm this marriage. I trusted you."
"I have given enough," Zane uttered, nonchalantly flicking ash into the rain. "It was time for accountability. I believe I kept my promise."
"You didn't!" Selina countered.
"You really think sparing Hudson until now, after he was part of my parents' tragedy, wasn't generous enough?"
Those words sounded like a thunderclap. Selina's jaw dropped in bewilderment.
No. No. That can't be.
She searched his face for an excuse, but it wasn't there. The restrained grief burning behind that stoic gaze was unmistakable. It struck her hard—the reasons for his cold treatment and the distance in their marriage.
How could fate toy with her this way? The cruelest part was that she had prayed daily, desperately, to be by his side—like a devotion—even when he hardly noticed her during the nine years she had crushed on him in secret before becoming his wife.
She reminisced about the day she signed the marriage contract—how she had smiled radiantly, feeling the timid flutter of a new bride finally marrying her secret crush. Instead of a fairy tale, she had simply signed up for the greatest retribution of her life.
How did it all come to this? A strange, taunting smile settled on her lips—the look of someone who had finally reached their breaking point. The air between them felt thick and chilly, but she didn't mind the freezing rain piercing her skin; it was nothing compared to the gnawing ache she had carried for years.
"Ms. Selina! Get out of the rain, you'll catch a cold!" a familiar voice echoed from the entrance.
Eloise, the housekeeper, rushed to her side, hovering an umbrella over her. She wrapped a comforting arm around Selina's shaking shoulders.
"Please, don't stay here. Come inside," Eloise begged, her face contorted at the sight of Selina's sheer grief.
"I'm not going back into that house," Selina murmured, shrugging off the woman's hand. "I've been living in a cage all this while. It's not my home anymore."
She had nowhere to go. Yet, the open, rain-slicked streets felt safer than the prison Zane had built for her. Selina turned her back on the estate, walking away into the darkness.
"Selina! Where are you going? It's already late!" Eloise cried out, glancing desperately up at the balcony. She expected the young man to say something—anything. To at least come down and persuade her, or stop her from disappearing into the storm.
But Zane remained there, high above them, watching her walk away with an unbothered, icy stare.
"Gracious Heaven!" Eloise exclaimed, her heart sinking.
Without hesitation, the housekeeper hurried after her, the umbrella swaying in the wind as she pleaded with Selina to return.
…..
[Aurolis City Hospital]
Once the hospital entrance doors were pushed open, Selina ran inside, her chest heaving with a tight dread as she battled to catch her breath. She darted her gaze across the doctors and nurses rushing down the hall in a frenzy, responding to the emergency.
Overwhelmed by the chaos and unsure of whom to approach, she was suddenly bumped by someone, stumbling backward.
"I'm so sorry, miss. I'm in a hurry to fetch a doctor," the man apologized quickly.
Then, he recognized her. "Miss Selina," he whispered, not expecting her to reach the hospital so fast. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"D-Dad... where is he?" Selina's voice came out in a panicked rush, her eyes glued to her father's chauffeur.
The man glanced around, weighing whether to share details with Selina. In the eyes of the prestigious Everett family, she was an outsider—ostracized at fifteen, forced to live in disguise to mingle in society, and long estranged from their world.
She frowned at his hesitation. "Please, tell me where he is. Nothing has happened to him, right?" she asked, her voice quivering with a desperate need for good news.
"He's alive, but he's in critical condition," the man explained, glancing down at the documents in his hands. "I've contacted Chairman Gilbert; the family should be on their way. The consent form needs a legal signature—"
Selina snatched the form from his hands and quickly scribbled the name that came to mind. "Gilbert Everett," she said, forcing a hollow steadiness into her tone to authorize the surgery. "Please, tell the doctors to save him. I'll reach out to the others now."
The chauffeur gave a brisk nod. "I will." He spun around, sprinting down the corridor toward the surgical wing.
Selina knew she had to inform the rest of the Everetts, but....
Suddenly, her phone buzzed against her thigh. She pulled it from her purse, her thumb scrolling through a crowded inbox of twenty-four missed calls and frantic messages from her sister.
[Sis, where have you been? Everyone has been worried about Father's whereabouts since yesterday. Is he with you?]
[Say something if you know where he is!]
"How will I explain this when I don't even trust the conflict myself? Not Dad. Not even Zane," she mumbled. She clicked into the thread, replied with the hospital's location, and hit send.