Seraphina POV
I had been betrayed by my family. Not by strangers, and definitely not by fate. And the one person I trusted above all, the one I thought loved me, laughed as I was taken from this world. My heart shattered again, even in death.
I floated outside the funeral hall. Trying to get away from what had become my reality now, my ghostly form invisible to the eyes of the living. Strangers passed, murmuring condolences.
"Such a tragic loss," a woman said, her tone sweet but empty. "Oh, she's so young; the Carter family would be devastated," said the second woman as they both left.
Lies! Every word was a lie. If I hadn't seen the truth myself, I might have believed them.
I shivered as the cold wind brushed past me. And then… headlights. Bright and sudden. The engine of his luxury car broke the quiet of the estate's driveway. The car stopped, the doors opened, and he stepped out.
One foot forward, then the other.Tall with broad shoulders and a cautious movement, like a predator walking through his territory. He wore a perfect dark suit, no flash or show, making him look like Lucifer himself. Just his presence pulled every eye in the area, even the eyes of those pretending to mourn.
I saw him. I rolled my eyes, Lucien Rhys. The heir to Rhys's empire and my business rival, the one I'd gone head-to-head with for months, the man everyone feared except me. He is arrogant, ruthless, and powerful. And now he is here.
I panicked. Why is he here? To gloat? Or… is he part of the plan?
Before I could finish thinking it through, I was pulled back inside the hall by the strange force of being a ghost. The polished marble glowed under the dim light, and I caught the faint smell of incense in the air, now mixed with the sharp metallic edge of tension.
Gunfire.
I froze, horror lacing through me. I turned just in time to see movement on the floor. Marina, my half-sister, collapsed as her lifeless body hit the marble with a dull thud.
The room went silent, then the sounds of footsteps echoed across the hall. Calm, cold, and terrifying.
Lucien entered. The hall, once open, felt suffocating. The air was thick with shock, fear, and disbelief.
My stepmother lunged at him, screaming, but a bodyguard stopped her with one swift motion, holding her down as if she weighed nothing.
Elias froze mid-step. The arrogant look on my father's face vanished, replaced with something raw: fear and anger. "Mr. Rhys!" my father shouted, his voice cracking. "My family and yours were never rivals; why are you doing this to us?"
Lucien didn't answer. He just raised a hand, signaling his guards. They moved like shadows, fast and brutal.
While my stepmother cried," "My daughter, my child," she started screaming as they were being beaten helplessly. My father's voice rose in panic, mixing with the gasps and cries of the few staff still there.
Lucien exhaled slowly, lighting a cigarette. The orange glow cut sharply across his pale face, his bloodshot eyes showing anger or sleepless nights, or both. He inhaled, smoke curling around his face like a crown, and for a moment, he looked almost calm.
Then he spoke, cold and sharp like broken glass.
"An eye for an eye, Mr. Carter."
The words rang through the hall. My father stumbled back, confused and dread twisting his face. The guards paused. Even Elias and my stepmother froze.
"You took the only person I have ever loved," Lucien continued, his voice low but cutting. "And you expect your lives to be fulfilling?"
My father stammered. "Who… Who are you talking about? You mean Seraphina? She is my daughter! What… What made you think I killed her?"
"She is gone," Lucien said softly, almost to himself. "But the pain she went through, the betrayal she saw, it would have eaten her alive."
My stepmother hissed, venom dripping from her words. "That bitch… Even in death, she still torments us."
My father, scrambling to save himself, pointed at my stepmother. "She is the one! She poisoned her!"
Lucien's patience snapped like a dry branch. With a gesture, his guards tightened their grips on both of them. They were beaten until even their screams sounded hollow, swallowed by the silence of the hall.
Then Lucien told them to stop, and the room fell silent. He stepped forward, coming towards my father, slow and predatory enough to make my dad almost wet his pants.
"You killed her," Lucien said softly, crouching to meet my father eye-to-eye. "The daughter who loved you, the daughter who trusted you… But you betrayed her. What kind of a father are you?"
Those words made tears roll down my face, and I didn't even notice it. My father's face went pale, laced with pain as he whispered, "This is… this is my daughter. What did we do to you? Why… why?"
Lucien's eyes burned into him. "You didn't just kill her. You broke her. You let the people she trusted betray her." His gaze cut to Elias, sharp as daggers, and Elias dropped his eyes, shivering like a chick caught in the rain.
Then Lucien said to himself, in a pained whisper, "I watched it happen."
My father frowned. "What…what are you talking about?"
My breath caught. Watched? Has he been watching me?
My chest tightened. Did he know everything? Elias' betrayal, my death? Here I thought he only saw me as a competitor.
No! If he knew, why didn't he stop it or warn me, to say the least?
Lucien tilted his head slightly, his voice calming every passing second.
His gaze darkened. "And now, you will feel every second of fear, helplessness, and loss she felt." He finished with a slap that cracked through the hall as he straightened.
He stood silently, lighting another cigarette, exhaling slowly. Smoke drifted across the hall like a fog you couldn't outrun. He signaled the guards, and they dragged my father, stepmother, and Elias outside as my father trembled, weak and defeated, while my stepmother screamed and sobbed for her child.
I hovered there, unable to step in, my heart beating so fast as the truth sank in. My rival, my enemy, had done this on my behalf. Why? My chest swelled with a mix of grief, disbelief, and something darker. Relief.
The hall emptied, leaving only my body, Lucien, and my ghost. Then he sat on the floor close to my body, calm, watching me.
I couldn't stop looking at him; his every breath and movement was terrifying. Yet there was a strange comfort in me knowing he was here. That someone has finally taken action on my behalf.
And though I was a ghost, powerless to step in physically, my mind raced with possibilities.
Did he feel for me the way I had imagined?
Did he always care?
Was this revenge for love or revenge for justice?
Then I thought to myself that the people who killed me were monsters, but this man? He was something far worse. He was judgment.