Seraphina’s P.O.VA golden hue bathed the dimly lit room as the shadow of the flickering candlelight was cast on the wall while I dropped the freshly plucked roses into the vase. “Roasted vegetables, grilled Turkey, and the lobster risotto that you made. I can’t wait to dig into it. Thank you so much for helping me to set up my dinner date with Mason” A small smile played on my lips as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror across the other room. I was dressed in a lacy red lingerie that barely skimmed above my thighs, with a sheer peignoir draped over it. My black obsidian hair cascading down my back in soft waves.I was sexy enough—Enough to rekindle the dying love between Mason and me since he was ready to give us another chance. Lucia, my identical twin sister chuckled over the phone. “You need to learn the art of seduction, Seraphina. Do you need help with anything, if you do, should I come downstairs?”A smile spread across my face, glancing at the wall clock that ticked slo
Seraphina’s P.O.VPain twisted in my heart, my legs turning jelly as I almost stumbled backward. Tears rushed into my eyes, blurring my vision while I clenched my fist, anger slowly seeping through my veins.Jason was Mason and Lucia’s real son and these two have been playing me for years? A tear tracked down my face, then another and another till my shoulders sagged and sobs racked through my body. How could my twin sister who had the same face as mine, how could she do this to me? Mason as well… The memory of her playing peacemaker between Mason and me set off alarms in my mind. They must have thought I was a fool—there’s no other way they would’ve dared to betray me like this.My heart shattered into pieces, their laughter intensifying the fury that surged within me so much that my fingers squeezed into folds and in the next minute, I kicked the door open. Mason and Lucia jolted apart, the door slamming open as Lucia’s eyes widened in shock and Mason began to scamper around.
Seraphina“You have been sentenced to twenty years imprisonment” My heart dropped to my toes, bitter laughter slowly escaping my lips as tears slowly filled up my eyes. Twenty years imprisonment for a murder that I didn’t commit. But that evidence was damning! When Sophia died, I was in the garden, watering the plants but somehow, new footage was released of me entering the house secretly. According to the investigation, it turned out that Sophia didn’t commit suicide as claimed. She was forced into consuming poison and the suicide letter was my handwriting. The housekeeper who was also in the vacation house told lies about how she witnessed me forcing Sophia to consume poison and she was scared to speak. All of this didn’t just make sense and it all proved that the one behind all of this was no one other than Lucia, my twin sister. Clenching my fist, I turned to look at her while she was in Mason’s arms, crying. “I can’t believe that she did that” She choked out between sobs. T
Seraphina’s P.O.VRowan Whitmore— The black sheep of the Whitmore Family. My hands flew to my mouth as I ducked my head. He couldn’t have seen me, right? Why would he even be here? To taunt me? No, he might have forgotten about me by now. Knowing how cruel he could be, maybe he was just here to pick up a friend who was also getting released.So he wasn’t here for me. I took a deep breath, mustering the courage to walk past him while reassuring myself that all I needed to do was find Chloe and leave New York City. When I walked past him, my heart kept beating hard in my chest and…I froze, dread settling at the pit of my stomach, my fingers curling into fists when his voice echoed down my ears. “Flamingo!”That bastard! How many times would I tell him to stop addressing me as Flamingo? Biting my lower lip in anger, I removed my sunglasses, turned towards Rowan, and lashed out at him. “My name is Seraphina. Stop calling me flamingo, Seraphina isn’t that hard to pronounce…” My ha
Seraphina Lucia froze completely, her lips wobbling, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. I pressed my hands against his, feeling the warmth of his skin against my own before darting my eyes back to her with a dangerous smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. “You seem shocked, is there a problem?” A mischievous smile graced my lips and at that moment, her hands flew over my mouth as she took a step back, then another until she almost lost balance. But before she could fall completely to the floor, Mason was quick to catch her. The shocked expression did not leave his face as he glanced back and forth at Lucia and me. At that moment, I leaned into Rowan’s embrace while Lucia swallowed, removing herself from Mason’s grasp, her eyes blinking continuously as she fixed her gaze on me. Every time that her lips parted to speak, no words came out—She looked lost. Mason finally broke the long silence between us, taking a step forward, not sparing me a single glance as he s
Rowan’s POVI leaned against the car, hands tucked in the pocket, staring at the butler who gave his report, and I was about to respond to him when all of a sudden, my heart turned cold in my chest as soon as I caught sight of a movement in the corner. The butler’s words faded in the background while I fixed my eyes on the woman who descended the low steps, swinging her purse in her hands. Seraphina. The more my gaze lingered on her face, the more my heart pounded hard against my chest. She was stunning.The way her ponytail bounced lightly. She was effortlessly grateful. At that moment, my mind drifted back to everything that Mason had put her through, and most importantly, he had broken the promise that he made to me.Something that I will never forgive him for. Before I left New York City, I made him make a promise to me since he was getting married to Seraphina—A promise that he would never hurt her or even make her cry—but that bastard broke that promise!For every tear, pain
Lucia’s POVSeraphina’s sob broke through the silence as almost everyone scampered towards Grandpa. Dad had hung his head low in despair, leaving the room with Mum while my uncle Richard, began calling all the other cousins to inform them about Grandpa’s death. While the whole commotion happened, I heaved a sigh of relief—Not because I cared that after Grandpa went through so much pain, he finally found rest. I heaved a sigh of relief because I was happy that he was now dead. Finally! A smile threatened to creep through my face but suppressed it as the memories from where he had pointed to me flooded through my mind. When he was still in a vegetative state, I had said so many horrible things to him and even confessed thousands of things because I was sure that he was never going to wake up. Now, imagine my fear when I received the call that he had regained consciousness. Excitement bubbled deep within me because not only did his death delight me, but his death was going to open m
Seraphina’s POVOne thing I would never understand was my family’s hastiness to share my late grandpa’s inheritance. His funeral was only a few days ago, and if it hadn’t been for Rowan, I wouldn’t have come at all. He helped me see that, even with my family keeping their distance, my grandfather would have wanted me here.I heaved an exasperated sigh, adjusting my sunglasses while trying to hold back my tears on seeing the cheerful mood that my family was in. The more I stared at every one of them, the more unease rose to choke me. It was more like they never cared about my late grandfather. My fingers trembled as I fisted my dress and my eyes kept scanning everyone around. Lucia stood around the dining table with Mason, feeding him dessert while my cousins, Ava and Kira kept predicting what share of the inheritance would be allocated to them. Ava squealed in excitement. “What if Grandpa gives me his vacation house?”“And he gives me the yacht” Kira screamed before she threw a gl
Rowan’s P.O.VI glanced at the wristwatch around my wrist.“7:30 a.m” My words trailed, glancing up at Seraphina’s window that was shut. A scoff left my mouth at that moment because last night, she had sent a text telling me she wanted to have a word with me as early as six am. I had pressed her to share whatever it was she needed to tell me, but she insisted on meeting by 6 a.m. She had promised to be here on time, yet here I was, waiting alone—how ironic that she wasn’t here now.I tossed my head to the back as a groan left my mouth. “Should I call her or bang on her door?” I muttered to myself, deciding against the idea and slowly, an idea of a better way to wake her up popped into my head. A mischievous smile curved on my lips, darting my eyes off her window while walking towards the shed, and pulling out the lawn mower. It wasn’t like there were any overgrown grasses since the gardeners had taken care of it already. This was about irritating Seraphina so much that she woke up.
Mason’s P.O.VMy fingers slipped down my pocket, watching the scene unfold before me as Romeo fell on one knee, opening the bag before he stood up and flashed her a smile that she returned. I was at a loss for words to say and my mind being befuddled at that moment was an understatement. At that moment, my mind reeled, replaying the conversation that we had concerning this particular ex of hers. The way she had cried in my embrace when she told me he was dead. The way she had grieved for days only for him to turn out to be here…Was it all a lie or what the heck was going on here?How could her ex whom she told me was dead be here right now?My fingers squeezed into folds by my side and despite all the voices in my head that screamed for me to confront Lucia, I remained rooted to the same spot with a storm of fury surging inside of me. More anger coursed through me when he took her hands and kissed the back of it, and seeing the reaction on her face as she tucked a strand behind her
Mason’s P.O.VSeething with rage, my jaw clenched, gripping the steering wheel so hard that I could feel my veins almost popping out. My plan had failed and as if that wasn’t enough, I had gotten into a greater problem. “Damn!” I slammed my fist against the dashboard, my chest heaving up and down as my mind replayed the conversation that had happened between Seraphina and me. That wasn’t the way things were supposed to turn out!I had underestimated her and thought that she was still that gullible fool who would come crawling back to me the moment I had beckoned. She had changed— hardened, sharpened, and far more dangerous than I had imagined. If that recording of me asking her to have an affair with me manages to get to the public, the situation of my company would worsen and the last thing I wanted was a scandal right now. Considering the way things were already crumbling before my eyes, I couldn’t afford to cause more harm to my company and also damage my family’s reputation.
Seraphina’s P.O.VI leaned in my swivel chair, watching the pretentious display of gifts from my cousins—Ava, Kira, and Karina. The same Ava, who wouldn't waste a single chance to throw snide remarks at me, smiled so brightly that her eyes sparkled. “Ms. Seraphina, I know that you must have heard lies about us causing a scene in your prestigious company, but all of that is a lie and misconception. Right, girls?”Kira and Karina bobbed their heads hurriedly. “Yes ma’am”Despite the frown on my face, an amused smile curled at the corner of my mouth as I twirled a sleek black pen between my fingers. “What is going on here? What is with all the formalities”Ava cleared her throat, taking the bouquet of roses from Karina. “Don't say that ma’am, we are your cousins, and we love you and to show our love for you, we brought these beautiful gifts that reflect your beauty”I raised a brow. “Why are you doing all of this?”The three girls exchanged fleeting glances with one another before they
Mason “Rowan…” I muttered through gritted teeth, raising my head while fixing my gaze on the screen where news about the sudden decline in my company’s stock was being reported. My eyes reddened as anger seeped through my veins, my heart pounding in my chest and despite the horror that was being reported on the screen, the only name that my mind kept screaming was Rowan!The investors pulling out of the company and the shareholders pulling out their shares—All of this showed Rowan’s finger and influence in it. He was on a mission to wreck me just because of a murderer. Rowan had painted me as the image of a toxic ex-husband according to the public. He had rallied disgruntled journalists—those he knew had been dismissed—and orchestrated a campaign against me. They published vicious stories, accusing me of being obsessed with destroying Seraphina, claiming I had manipulated them into inciting public outrage against her.The public, who had once directed their outrage at Seraphina,
SeraphinaI took my seat at the head of the round table, the voices in the boardroom fading in the background as my mind reeled from all the events that had happened with Rowan. Leo had disrespected me and because of that, Rowan had beaten him up and as if that wasn't enough for him, he would have killed Leo if it weren't for my quick intervention. The way his eyes darkened and that creepy smile on his face, when he trained the gun in Leo’s direction, sent shivers down my spine. Rowan may show that he cares for me at times and goes out of his way for me, but deep down, I knew I meant little to him. There were clear boundaries to how far he would go for me.Apart from all of that, confusion swirled in my mind because one thing I knew was that he couldn't have almost killed Leo because of me. So all of this meant that Leo and Rowan might have had some serious rift that made Rowan snap out in the end. I had always known that Rowan had a dark edge to him, but I had never expected that
RowanThe door to the hospital VIP room slid open with a soft whoosh as the nurse raised her head, fear creeping through her eyes as she ducked her head immediately. My eyes darted over to a motionless Leo who lay on the bed with bandaged arms and legs. Did my father honestly think that I wasn't going to find him? He was scared that I was going to go after Leo and he couldn't be any more right because his fears were coming to pass. “Does the wound still ache?” The nurse asked Leo who was still oblivious to the fact that I was standing at the door and ready to unleash his favorite nightmare on him. Leo’s voice croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. “I can still feel this dull ache, but it is better than before” The nurse smiled. “Don't worry, it is only a matter of time before you heal properly”I watched as she adjusted the flow of the IV drip and in the next minute, she was out. I clutched the bouquet of black dahlia, walking towards him with a smile tugging at the corner of
Rowan’s P.O.V I stretched out a helping hand to Seraphina, guiding her down the helicopter as her hands slipped through mine. “Whew! I can't believe you came here with me after so much pestering” She chuckled while I threw a glance at her. “I have no idea why you would want to have anything to do with my family after that” I sucked between my teeth as the memories of that horrible dinner and the words that bastard said to Seraphina coursed through my mind. Since that night, I found it difficult to get rid of those memories. I wasn’t at peace. The way he spoke rudely to her. The lack of remorse even after he got punished by me fueled the rage inside of me. I needed to quench the thirst inside of me and the only way to quench it was to make Leo fall on his knees. I wanted to see that fear in his eyes. Not only that, but I wanted him to realize that he was at my mercy and Seraphina wasn't someone he should disrespect. All of a sudden, Seraphina took me aback, slipping her arms thr
Rowan’s P.O.VA storm brewed deep within me because HOW DARE HE?Anyone who tried to disrespect Flamingo had always been on the receiving end. If I could deal badly with those who wagged their tongues at her, then what made Leo think that he could get away with this?My pulse quickened, my heart pounding so hard against my chest that I could feel it drumming in my ears. I pushed my dad aside, walking towards Liam whose palm was already smeared with the blood that streaked down his face. “B-Blood… Blood… Blood” His lips wobbled as he screamed out in panic. “Mum, blood! Rowan is…”Before he could complete his words, I gripped him by the collar of his shirt and crashed my clenched fist on that stupid face of his. “You called my wife a slut?”A dangerous smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. “Why are you that pissed, though? Isn't she a slut and a…”Another wave of anger coursed through me as that word echoed down my ears. Slut. He dared to call her a slut again! He fucking dared! Wi