Scarlett’s POV
I put out the cigarette on the bin when her door opens.
Sebastian frowns at me, remaining by the door, half of a hallway from me. He hates me smoking. He would glare at me, scold me, or like this -- standing far away with disgust on his face.
It’s a gross habit, but a woman needs SOMETHING to let out the pain in her chest or she will burst. But then again, if his delicate Ava could afford such a habit, he would definitely join her instead.
“So?” He puts one hand in his pocket, glaring at me when he finally walks over. He does that when he is impatient. As in, all the time with me.
I gaze at his face, handsome and dominant, just like the day he found me in that forest. But at that time those eyes were clear like crystal, with sparkles like the Milky Way. Right now it’s pure darkness of hatred.
He snaps his finger to get my attention.
“Sorry...” I dart my eyes to the ground, pulling the divorce papers out. He reaches over, and in panic, I dodge.
Instantly, disgust fills his beautiful eyes, shouting at me--
[I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.]
“Just...I have one question before this,” I pretend to not see his hurtful look, keeping my eyes on his chest, “...Please.”
Would it change anything if I’m pregnant? I want to ask, I don’t know how.
Taking a deep breath, I look up, just to catch him rolling his eyes with a sigh: “I don’t have time for your games, Scar.”
I know I missed my chance for my question.
I raise the file only an inch, and he snaps it out of me, leaving a cut at the root of my thumb. I grip my fist, feeling the pain. It’s really nothing compared to the ones he left on my heart.
He doesn’t even notice, just turns to leave.
“I heard you,” I blurt with my heart drumming fast, “you...you said you were married.”
I watch him turning slowly, knowing I must look like a pitiful dog begging to be taken home.
But I have to ask.
I don’t know if at this point, which would hurt more. A shred of hope...or not even that. I’m just...asking for the baby’s sake.
Lying to myself, I wait.
He got my question in that out-of-nowhere blurt: “I didn’t want to give her false hope.”
He wasn’t rejecting her. He was just putting her feelings as priority to all, like always. No matter how much he wants her, he wouldn’t even allow her to bear a shred of pain, even if the pain from hope.
Bitterness explodes in my mouth, forming an ugly smile, I assume. Because his frowning deepens seeing my face.
“Would--” I ask but he is turning again. He stops, again, this time even more grumpy.
“Can you finish your nonsense all at once?!”
Would you miss me, even a bit, if I’m gone from your life...forever? I stare at the man that I loved for ten years, tears coming out faster than my words.
“Would you mail the papers to Aurora when you are done with it?” I almost bit my tongue twisting my question into a normal one.
“Why can’t you get it yourself?” Sebastian retorts, adding, “Your stuff...”
“I’ll get them out of your house today,” I nod. I already did. I don’t have much, really. An iPad, passport, and a few pieces of clothes. All the things he bought for me, they bare Ava’s mark and I don’t want them.
I barely filled my small suitcase, which he didn’t notice when he left the house today. I doubt he would notice anything missing tonight.
“What’s your plan after this?” Rarely, Sebastian asks.
“Do you really want to know?” I can’t help but ask. If yes, then maybe...maybe we can share a kid in our separate life?
“Why is it so hard to talk to you?” Sebastian leaves before his words can land.
Because you never cared to really talk to me. I watch him disappearing in her ward, finally allowing tears to pour out as they like.
I’m sorry, Sebastian. But I can’t tell you about the baby. It would only make life harder, for all three of us.
[Aurora, it’s done.] I text. Three words and I have to wipe my eyes twice to see.
Instantly she texted me back: [Your ride is downstairs, your Highness.]
I basically throw myself into her car, with the world twirling around me. Really glad that I don’t have to sit on the street and let every passerby catch a show.
Aurora hits the gas and takes us miles away from the hospital before she pulls over and comes out to the backseat. She doesn’t say anything and just lets me cry my lungs out on her shoulder.
Ten years. Ten years of this bitter-sweet love. Died, today. Just...such a lousy ending. I could have at least left with dignity.
“I didn’t think you could do it,” On our way to the airport, Aurora observes me several times before she mumbles half jokingly half seriously, “I wasn’t too surprised this morning when you told me to cancel, not as much as later when you got back on the plan. What happened this time?”
“Well...I’m pregnant.”
Scarlett’s POVAurora still took me to the airport. But she wouldn’t give me my ticket.Stuffed a cup of hot cocoa in my hands, she glares at me across McDonald’s tiny table like a fierce mom judging her truant kid.“I JUST found out today--” I start timidly and instantly she retorts--“Yeah, you said that!”It’s not like I planned any of this. I drop my eyes to my cocoa, can’t look at her. She’s mad, and I know why.She’s from a rich family. Beautiful, popular, two-meter-long legs, etc. But she wasn’t born rich. She watched her single mom work her ass off raising her, hating her irresponsible father her whole life, only to find out that he didn’t leave them, like what her mom told her. Her mom brought forward the breakup.She is seeing me doing exactly the same thing.“I won’t teach the baby to hate him...” I mumble, not dare look at the anger on her face. I know how much she has been through.“That’s not all!” Aurora shoots me a death stare, firing like a machine gun, “My mom lied t
Scarlett's POV“What was that?” Aurora blinks. My one-sentence phone call amazes her.I grip my phone, for the second time today, struggling with my plan. I just want to stop being hurt. Is it too much to ask? I close my eyes. A part of me wants to just grab the ticket and leave, letting the world burn behind me.But I can’t. If mom needs a blood transfusion, I need to be there. That’s what I’m in this family for. Their blood vessel.Please, lord, please tell me this phone call has nothing to do with my message to Sebastian.Between Mom really is injured, and Sebastian selling me out... I’m not sure which I hope is the situation.“I guess I’m not leaving today after all,” I let out a sigh, mumbling to Aurora, “I’m really sorry but...I need you to take me back.”“That’s great!” Aurora throws herself into me with genuine happiness in her voice, “That was him? What did he say? Is that always how you call each other?”With Mr. Fuller? Yes.My “dad”, never loved me. He had a deep flow of h
Sebastian’s POVI didn’t reply to Scar’s message. She would never leave. She just manipulates with threats like this.I might have spent too much time on Ava recently, and Scar is throwing a tantrum. She should understand that it’s a life on the line, even if that life belongs to the sister she hates.Not that I don’t understand Scar. I do. Being the healthy one, she is jealous of all the extra attention Ava is getting. That’s why she is the problem child. Always rebellious but proud, acting indifferent but begging for love. She is always looking for attention, with sour messages, tears, or a divorce.I didn’t think she would really give me a signed one. Think of the catastrophe if I dared to really go through with it.Surely enough, Scar came back.No longer with that half-empty suitcase either. I guess her show ends tonight.After all, today we got the best result on Ava’s blood platelet, almost reaching normal level. Today is the day Ava finally gets to live a normal life.“For a m
Scarlett's POVSitting on the cold floor, I realize I made my judgment too early.I thought my life used to be a living hell. How wrong was I. Though everyone treated me horribly, never did they lay a finger on me. After all, I was the precious blood vessel for the fragile Ava. They couldn’t afford to lose me.But not anymore.I palm my face, looking up slowly at the man I once called father, only to realize the coldness in his eyes: I’m still the blood vessel, just not “precious” anymore. I’m now a nice-to-have.After all, Ava is all but healed now.They won’t toss me away because I might still have value. What do they have to lose if I don’t get my chance of a normal life?For that slight “might”, I can’t have my freedom. I’m not allowed to leave the city and have my own life. They don’t care if my heart would be broken a million times every day here, seeing Sebastian with Ava. They don’t care that I might also need love, from somewhere, anywhere.And they can afford to physically hu
Sebastian’s POVThere are broken shards everywhere on the floor. I dare not put down Ava. Her blood platelet might have reached a normal level now, but no one dares to test if the monster that’s been haunting her is still lurking nearby.The last time Ava needed blood from Scar was because of a paper cut, literally. One that Scar caused no less.“...Please?” Scar mumbles when she walks over to me, not looking at me.“I can’t put her down, you know why.”Scar snorts coldly, finally looking up from under her messy hair. Jack must have slapped her really hard, to mess up her hair like that, as well as leaving a scarlet red palm print on her cheek.“Excuse me,” Scar says with a clear but cold tone that I’m not familiar with, “coming through.”I stopped Ava by the door.I frown, hating the sarcasm in Scar’s eyes. She knows why I misunderstood and she is mocking me for it. Every time I even just stood close to Ava she would come up and break us apart.“Where are you going?!” Jack yells behi
Sebastian’s POVI know how sensitive Ava is about her condition. To beg the sister she doesn’t like to save her life, over and over again. That’s why when Scar used that to force my hand, Ava started having real hatred in her eyes toward Scar.“Of course you can say that,” Scar spats at Ava viciously, “you can take the high road all you want, because your army will tie me to the table and drain my blood for you if they need to.”“Scarlett Fuller!” I warn her, and Ava raises her hand again. I dodge to the side so Ava can’t reach Scar, but Scar catches Ava’s arm at the same time. It all happens so fast, and Ava bursts into a painful shout. I have to push Scar away.Scar falls to the ground, her hand pressed on a sharp shard. I see.I didn’t even use too much force. I did push her, but the fall was mostly her way of making me feel bad. I want to put Ava down, but she wouldn’t care about the shards in the room and she would definitely hurt herself.“I’m sorry,” I can only apologize with w
Sebastian’s POVScar shakes her head slowly, throwing her disappointment into my face: “So, she DOES know.”Does she have trouble understanding English? That’s not what I meant!“Saying you want me gone, and yet you report me to your daddy,” Scar sneers at Ava with pure viciousness in her voice, “I guess between your loving Romeo and my blood, you still want the latter just a tiny bit more, huh?”I can understand why Ava would hate her. I want to seal those poisonous lips too at moments like this.“You took him from me!” Ava bursts into a hysterical cry, “You did! You took him! He was mine! We were meant to be together!”“Okay,” Scar is calm while smiling at Ava, too calm for me to recognize. The red palm prints on her cheek adds a touch of seductive fragileness to her, “If you beg your daddy to let me go, I will divorce him, today.”I roll my eyes with a huff.She is just playing Ava, but Ava would fall for it. I would have married Ava even if I couldn’t cure her.Ava cries harder.“
Sebastian's POVI felt that something was off with her, now I know.It’s her loving eyes. She has been looking at me with obvious love in those eyes even before we were old enough to understand what love is, and she never hides that.That love was still there even this morning, when she gave me the divorce papers. But now, that lively light is gone.I could barely recognize her without it.I feel like I lost something important. It’s not supposed to be this way.Her love has always been a bother to me. If she didn’t love me, she wouldn’t have blackmailed me, and I wouldn’t have hated her. I wouldn’t have been locked into a marriage I didn’t want, and I would have been with Ava!If she didn’t love me, none of this would have happened. She would save Ava just like the sister she should be, and I would have been with Ava, just like how I wanted since the first time I met her.But she did give her love to me. She gave it, and now she is taking it back. And I feel at a loss.It’s not fair.
Even at the top of her anger, all Scar wanted was to take back what she was owed and extend justice. Her eyes open slightly at his words, amazed at Scott’s careless tone.He lost his mom just like she did. He was unwanted by his original family, just like she was. But instead of tormenting himself, he chooses to torment everyone who owed him and maintains his life.“I wish I could be so free, just like you...” Scar murmurs, “How did you turn up well, losing your mom when you were a baby...?”When she became such a mess that she couldn’t hold on to anything good in her life?“I couldn’t do it, not without Mr. Vanderbilt.” Scott shakes his head.Mr. Vanderbilt...Scar lowers her eyelashes, hiding her secret within.Scott lands his gloomy look on Elijah Green, who is socializing with the guests not far from them, “If he didn’t take care of me all these years, the Greens would never have taken a low level orphan boy back, no matter the blood running through my veins.”Scar doesn’t recogni
Bored at the party, Scar leans against the window frame, her lips tainted with wine, her eyes nailed on Anna Fuller.All the guests who came for the Green lady are influencers in the city, if not flew in specially for this event. It’s a huge thing for the Green family, and their first chance to contact the prince of the Greens, meaning, the future of the Greens.“Someone looks happy,”Scar flinches when a voice snaps her out of her bored mind wandering, only to see Scott’s face.“Not as happy as you,” Scar snorts not without sarcasm, “…PRINCE Scott.”Scott’s smile is bright and sunny like any boy in the neighborhood.“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” Scott makes a bitter face, “I guess I…I wanted you to see me for me, not any title that was coming my way.”“In case I said yes to you for the heritage you were going to get?” Scar folds her arms, sneering, “That was a lousy assumption--”“No!” Scott lets out a surprise laugh, “I thought I would have a bigger chance to woo you! If withou
Ava hasn’t joined any movie in the past five years.She is signed under the Knight Empire, and no other company dares to cross the Knight Empire when it is obviously benching Ava. Or rather, Ava didn’t even dare to reach out for any job just so people wouldn’t realize that she had lost the favor of the Knight Empire. She can blackmail Sebastian, privately, but she can’t force the fans to stick with her.If there is anything more important to her than Sebastian, it’s her career.She had to went to the Iron Lady behind Jack Fuller’s back and returned the ownership of Z-House for this movie. Sebastian can’t just take it! Not like this!“You can’t!” Ava growls at Sebastian, “You can’t just replace me when the shooting is over! I did the job! They have been promoting the movie for months now! You--”“Yes, I can.” Sebastian says simply, still with that polite smile which has not a shred of warmth.“No!” Ava mumbles, her huge eyes filled with tears as if there is a pump behind there, “Granny
One or two guests dart over with awkward glances, but none are coming up to intervene in a mother-daughter chat.Scar’s blood runs cold, watching how Anna Fuller actually justifying what they did to her with not even the slightest shred of guilt or regret in her eyes.“You were never going to honor the deal,” Scar says, her voice empty and light.Anna Fuller lets out a cold snort: “You really are your mother’s daughter. Just like her, you response not to kindness, but only to power. I guess I should have been upfront with you from the start. I will tell you where Jack hid the car, not because we are guilty or afraid of anything, but because we are kind enough, to give you the closure you are looking for.”“What I want is your car, not your fucking lies,” Scar says, still with that calm voice, “You better pray that you knitted your lies well, because I will dig up the truth and send Jack Fuller to the prison.”It’s decreet, but Scar doesn’t miss the slight relief from Anna Fuller when
“Miss Fuller, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Scott bows at Scar with a distant, polite manner, but Scar could swear that he let out the smirk he was holding back when he bent his head.WTF? Scott was the “mysterious prince” the Greens were going to announce today?! He is the son of Elijah Green?! He saw that she was avoiding his father, and he helped her? Does Scott know about Silco? What does this even mean?The million surprises blow up Scar’s mind.“Haven’t seen you for a long time, Scott!” Ava gives him a bright smile, her eyes glittering with such pleasure.“We met just the other day in the Knight building,” Scott returns that smile with just the same excitement if not more, “You might not remember because you glanced at me but didn’t stop to talk when I greeted you. Didn’t recognize me, I presume?”&
Scar is seriously considering it now.She can’t sue them if they just witnessed a car accident, no matter how horrible it is to watch a mom die while taking her baby from her side. They could -- they would, Scar is sure -- claim that Emma begged them to save her baby. In fact, that was Jack Fuller’s first version of the “truth”, when Scar tried to find her own family.But if they were involved in the car accident? She might be able to sue them! Given that IF Scar can prove it, within the deadline of prosecution.How long is it for a hit and run? Scar is not sure.“Tell me what happened then,” Scar demands, but she wouldn’t budge even though the Green Lady is getting suspicious as her eagle eyes dart over at their whispering.“Don’t push it!” Anna Fuller warns.The Green Lady stares at Scar with suspicious eyes, and so is everyone who’s been waiting for Sophia Green’s announcement. No time to hesitate, but can she trust Anna Fuller again? The woman who has been a liar, the best liar in
Granny said that?Anna Fuller is obviously unaware of that, unlike Ava. But Ava, obviously, didn’t think Sebastian would mention that here. Scar shares Ava’s surprise actually--Does he know that he is treading on thin ice of Ava’s lie??But none is as surprised as the Green Lady—“Wait, didn’t you already got that promised wedding five years ago then? I went to your wedding!”Five years ago right after the legal files of his divorce with Scar was done, he married Ava with a grand wedding. The whole city celebrated their blessed day, forgetting about the former Mrs. Knight to the back of their mind to rot in prison.Scar purses her lips, having a hard time limiting her smile.So Ava not only painted herself as Sebastian’s woman in front of her, but actually in front of everyone? A loving mom taking her beloved daughter to visit a big power they wanted to suck up to at Christmas every year, happily painting a loving family picture with Scar out of it.What a perfect lie to blow up in A
The Green Lady turns around, pushing Anna Fuller’s arm away like a bulldog in the ring, and discreetly, Sebastian steps up with a bright grin, blocking Scar from her.“She refused to come today just because I invited you! I didn’t think she would actually do it but she did!” The Green Lady forgets about Scar already, “What a big deal could keep her from even talking to her so well-behaving grandson for years?!”Even Sebastian pauses for a second—Didn’t she do the same thing to her own daughter, too? She didn’t even come to Emma Vanderbilt’s funeral. Actually, no one in the family came, on her command apparently.Her words pause Scar’s anger for a second, too—For years? She thought Granny kicked Sebastian out as a show of attitude, partly to give him a chance to challenge himself without the Knight’s name paving his way. But she didn’t think Granny would actually not talk to him for years.Of all the people who ever cared for her, Scar feels guilty only to Granny.She has never seen
The event has nothing to do with Anna. Well, aside from the fact that she held it, as a way of sucking up to the Green lady.The Green Lady is here for the announcement of the return of the bastard – okay, to the public, the lost son – of Elijah Green. It wasn’t for Anna, and it certainly wasn’t for Scar. She went through all that trouble to keep Scar away from the Green family, and she is not failing now.The only loophole, the one thing she has been wondering about ever since she saw Scar is—How did Scar get the invitation?!To prevent her biggest nightmare from happening, Anna didn’t even invite the Dawsons. That daughter of them is one of Scar’s best friends. Adding to the list Adrian Dunn, who took Scar’s side for no reason out of nowhere. They have been giving the Fullers hell on the business tables. They will have to take a big part in the fall of Z-house, whose profit would have been more than double that of the Fuller family business in these past years.But Scar still got i