They say love is blind. For Seraphina, it was a death sentence.

For six years, Seraphina believed in Marco Rossi's love, even when it cost her everything. The first betrayal broke her heart. The second cost her their unborn child. But the third... the third would shatter her soul.

When Marco's mistress needs a kidney, he doesn't ask—he demands. And to force Seraphina's consent, he devises a twisted ultimatum: her organ, or her ailing mother's life. Bound and helpless, Seraphina can only watch as her mother's car plunges into the icy depths of the lake.

But that was only the beginning of the nightmare.

Broken, bereaved, and brutally violated, Seraphina is left with nothing but ashes and a burning rage. The innocent woman she once was died alongside her mother in that lake. What emerges is someone new—someone cold, cunning, and utterly ruthless.

From the depths of despair, a vow is forged in steel: She will make him pay.

The silence in my office feels like a tomb. I've been staring at my phone for the past hour, willing it to ring with news about Seraphina. Any news. But when it finally buzzes, the name on the screen makes my stomach clench.


"Marco, darling," her voice purrs through the speaker, that familiar coquettish tone that used to make my pulse quicken. Now it grates against my nerves like nails on glass. "Where are you? Everyone's waiting for me at the party."


Her birthday party. Right. The celebration I'd promised to attend, back when I thought the world made sense.


"I'm dealing with something," I mutter, rubbing my temples where a headache is building.


"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're still thinking about that woman." There's a sharp edge beneath her sweetness now. "Marco, you need to understand something about Seraphina. She has a wicked heart. She's always bullying me, making my life miserable."


Chapter 8 - Chapter 08: The Call of Suspicion