“Miss Seraphina just had a hangnail, and Mr. Valerius had her sent here for priority care overnight!” “I even heard him say something like, ‘Let’s set the wedding for next week, my sweet Seraphina,‘ and ‘You just rest, I’ll handle all the messy business.‘ He’s so dashing!”
I snapped my eyes open, as if struck by a physical blow to the chest. Nine lifetimes of rebirth, everything I had sacrificed for Alista- ir in his eyes, it was all just “messy business.”
Late at night, Alistair pushed open the door and tossed a document onto my bed. “Sign it. You’ll voluntarily transfer to a maximum- security prison abroad. Break yourself of these depraved methods, then return.”
“I told you, I won’t bother you again”
Linexpectedly, these words sent him into a furious rage. “Stop playing mind games!*
“I told you, I won’t bother you again.”
Unexpectedly, these words sent him into a furious rage. “Stop playing mind games!”
I looked up at him. His eyes held only disgust. “Sign it and get out of my sight. Don’t dirty Seraphina’s eyes.” For a moment, fragme- nted memories of past tenderness flashed through my mind–his anxious concern in the first lifetime when I was pregnant with our child. I signed my name. The System’s notification chimed in my head:
[Departure countdown: 10 days.]
Ten days. I only needed to endure ten more days.
Ten days. Ten days of life in a maximum–security prison had left me unrecognizable. Today, two prison guards led me, bruised and battered, my prison uniform torn, into a glass–walled interrogation room. The moment I saw Alistair’s silhouette, pure terror cons- umed my body. I struggled wildly, my knees hitting the ground, my forehead slamming repeatedly against the floor. Blood streamed down my face, but I couldn’t stop.
“I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!”
J
“Please, spare me! I’ll never use potions again!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alistair’s pupils constrict. His fingers clenched involuntarily. This was the first time he had ever seen me beg so abjectly. For nine lifetimes, I had chosen to love him, even unto death. Seraphina stood behind him, covering her mouth, recoiling. “Alistair, she… is she mad?”
I yanked down my prison trousers, my laughter a hollow, chilling sound. “The dog must be punished… must be punished…”
Alistair’s expression shifted. He lunged forward, grabbing me and roughly pulling me to my feet. He clumsily pulled up my trousers, his voice betraying a faint tremble. “You!” The touch was so familiar. These hands had once gently caressed my face. But in an instant, he regained his cold composure, flinging my hand away as if discarding a filthy rag. “Disgusting. Truly a wanton harlot to her core.”
I laughed inwardly, a bitter, painful sound. For him, my soul had been shattered into a thousand pieces. Yet, he saw me as a monst- er, a degenerate. He wrapped an arm around Seraphina’s waist, a sneer on his lips. “Today, you will witness with your own eyes, Seraphina and
