Scarlett’s POVI force my brain to not think about how likely it would be that Sebastian was the one who dug up my old art box out of reminiscence, kept it close to where he sleeps, and cared for it.Saving my baby is the most important thing right now. A weapon is just a last resort. I really wish I didn’t have to use it. I have no intention of fighting anyone with a several-pounder in my belly.Calling for help would be ideal. But how? How, without my phone?My eyes land on the window -- the security system. Any window or door damaged in the house, would instantly trigger an alarm. The emergency phone number registered is mine, so if I don’t ignore it or shut down the alarm, the security company would come over and check.But breaking the window means exposing my existence.I need to trigger the alarm as soon as possible, but once it’s triggered, whoever is in the house will all come for me. How long could I survive against them? But I would have zero chances if they found me first.
Sebastian’s POVI can’t chase Scar’s sorrowful look out of my head.The more I try to hear her and feel her, the more I realize how impossible it is to make amends. I thought I guarded my bottom line as a husband when I was with Ava, but I failed to see that every minute when I was away, was eating away the affection, the trust, the happiness of my wife.She loved me when we were married, but that sparkle extinguished in her eyes, then it was the light of happiness when she sees me, then the trust in her eyes was replaced with disappointment.The disappointment I saw when I left her today.She was just starting to smile at me again.I dare not to even imagine how much courage it took her to break the news about our baby to me. At that moment, I didn’t see the happiness of having the fruit of our marriage growing inside her. I didn’t see the excitement of a woman experiencing being a mom for the first time. I saw only fear in her eyes.FEAR. I saw fear, in my wife’s eyes, when she told
Sebastian’s POV“What happened?” I ask Jack Fuller. Something triggered Ava. She only saw Scar and I earlier today, and she was fine leaving in her newfound brother’s arms.“She was calling you before we found her in her room, blood-soaked,” Jack Fuller nails his resentment-filled eyes at me, “So you tell me, what happened to my daughter?! She LOVED you!”His voice lost shape when he burst out the word love, and it was the first moment I realized that--She didn’t love me. She never did. She WANTED me.She demanded my time, my love, my indulgence, and she would be happy only when she got something she wanted from me. She never cared about what I wanted, not like Scar did.“I’ll go see her,” I open the door to her ward, not wanting to waste time on Jack Fuller.The ward is completely dark and quiet. Ava is curling up under the cover, facing us with her back. Hard to tell whether she is asleep, or just upset and refusing to talk.“She just fell asleep, waiting for you,” Jack Fuller bloc
Jack Fuller’s POVAva didn’t cut her wrist. She just wanted an excuse to see Sebastian.We found out about that after we got her to the hospital. I can’t believe our daughter, the little innocent girl that we have been protected so carefully with all we have, would one day play us with a joke of her life. But what options do we have when all your little girl wants is a talk with the man she loved with her life?Do I have any other choice but to play along? I don’t. Just like twenty years ago.I don’t know why she is so obsessed with Sebastian Knight, but I mean, what can a father do? He is rich, has a pretty face, and top of all, he really cares about her, a lot. That much I can see. Besides, I’m not exactly against his help to the family business either.But he has no longer been into her recently. Scarlett finally did it. She stole his heart. Everyone could see that. Everyone but Ava.And she is not okay with that.It’s my fault. I failed to make Ava and Scarlett real sisters. My gu
Sebastian’s POVScarlett was hurt.The security system company found her after the alarm was triggered. But there was no sign of intrusion -- even the alarm was triggered because a lamp was thrown through the window, from inside. Apparently, Scar cut her wrist and fell off the stairs.She was taken to the hospital when Miller got there, the same hospital Ava was in no less. All he saw was the pool of blood by the stairs. I couldn’t bear hearing his report over the phone, but I dared not to miss anything either.The walk from Ava’s ward to the emergency building was the longest hell I had to go through, and I would rather die a thousand times just to turn back time.“Where is she?!” I demand Miller the moment I get there, only to notice that he isn’t the only one waiting by the emergency room.Lilith Grey, Aurora Dawson. All made it before I did. Even...Damian Vanderbilt.The girls hus together, trying to comfort each other. The man sits there on the bench with a sullen look, spouting
Sebastian’s POVScott left alone.Vanderbilt covers his face, ignoring me completely as he waits in desperation. So do Scar’s two friends. I would have stayed anyway if that could help, but I know where I’m needed more--I have to go and see Ava.If a whole blood bank wasn’t enough, then one man’s donation would hardly be. I have always worried about Ava’s condition, but we had Scar to count on whenever Ava needed blood, so I have never thought that the healthy, strong woman would one day lie in the emergency room, waiting for the rare blood to save her life.And the only one who can help, is her sister who we just had a falling out with.I knew it would be hard to get Ava to help, but I didn’t know it would be this hard.“What are you even doing here?!” Jack Fuller guards the door, grunting at me. He has been barking at me for five minutes. He is not keeping his voice low, and we both know that Ava heard all of it in there.He is showing me her attitude: she doesn’t want to see me.“
Scarlett’s POVMy belly is empty. The first thing I feel when my mind wakes up, is the horrifying emptiness.Not just my belly. My whole body is emptied by the long, dark dream that trapped me.Sebastian was in it. So was Ava, Jack Fuller, Anna Fuller, Damian Vanderbilt... They tangled into the shadow that wrapped me up so tightly that I couldn’t breath. But I couldn’t die in my dream, so I could only suffocate over and over, like buried alive in my coffin, watching my life passing by in front of my eyes. Literally. In my dream I wasn’t Scarlett, I was a specter watching the little Scarlett suffering through all the lies, the harm, the pain, and blood, all the way till the kid lured her into the dark woods, passing that, and then the crashed car.It wasn’t a dream. It was all real. It was my memory. I couldn’t remember anything from the car crash, but I did witness it. And in this deep dream, I saw my own memory. I keep my eyes closed, trying to savor the dream that’s fading fast. Eff
Scarlett's POV“Is it true?” I ask Sebastian.He avoids my question: “I will look into this, I promise!”In that second all sound fade away. I can’t hear anything and I don’t see any one. No one but the man who I loved for over a decade. The man who saved me once, who said that he loved me and wanted another chance with me. The man who was telling me how excited he was about the baby he gave me.“Are you going to be the witness for her alibi?” I ask him, my voice shaking. Anger and disbelief turned my voice into a restrained whisper, “She, MURDERED, our child! And you are telling me you are taking HER side? Really? Sebastian Knight?!”“I’m not taking her side--”“It, was, her!” I burst out, glaring into his eyes, “The alarm system didn’t go off when she barged into our house; she didn’t steal anything valuable and she went straight to me! And do you know why she could do all this? Because you fucking let her! Did you really not know that I was pregnant? Were you trying to get close to
Prepared for this question, Scar answers unnecessarily fast: “I couldn’t risk anyone helping Ava to get MY Mom’s necklace. That’s why.”Her answer dims the pleasant light in Sebastian’s eyes.“I know…” Sebastian nods slowly, hiding the disappointment in his eyes, “But you didn’t have to come help because of that, did you?”Scar snorts coldly: “I’m doing this for Granny, not you.”“Granny kicked me out of the company for what happened five years ago,” Sebastian lets out a light laugh, “I’m pretty sure she would be the last one who would want you to help me right now.”Scar raises her eyebrows. She didn’t think Granny would be so cruel to Sebastian, but then again, there weren’t too many who could rip Sebastian’s title easily.“What did you tell her?” Scar frowns.Scar blamed Sebastian only because he trusted the wrong person. Legally, or any other aspect speaking, he wasn’t the killer five years ago. He just protected the killer was all. But Ava was never convicted, and Scar didn’t thi
“You want to meet early?” Scar glances at her phone to make sure the caller is indeed Damian, “Sure thing, but how early can dinner be?”She’s a bit surprised that Damian would move their dinner plan forward, but considering how he has been making effort to build a connection, she persuaded herself.“Authur, could you--?”“Yes, Miss Green,” Authur answers swiftly, “After you deliver the card, I will drive you right over.”Scar: “…”This time she’s really not trying to dodge that bullet! Didn’t he hear that it was Damian Vanderbilt who--… Whatever.Standing in front of Sebastian’s new building, Scar is still grumbling Silco’s name, along with his evil loyal driver, Author. Sebastian’s new building is not the same as before – the modern design of Z-house as its own symbol. This time it’s just a normal building, low-key to the extreme, considering its owner’s usual luxurious style.A sour wave washes Scar’s heart.Kind and gentle, Sebastian was never low-key. He was the shining prince of
“Why do I have to do it myself?!” Scar huffs, glaring at Silco.Sitting on the sofa casually with his legs crossed, Silco glances at Scar from above the papers he’s reading, amused. A moment ago the girl was crying in his arms, and now she’s like a kitten with her tail stomped on.“I can send Arthur over!” Scar pouts.“If you can command him,” Silco answers almost gently, but the laughter in his voice is not hidden at all.Scar rolls her eyes.“I’ll just--I--” Scar blurts, fidgeting around, “You already gave up on Sebastian’s company, so why are you making the one last step so hard for me?!”“Sorry, I didn’t think delivering a card to a fancy office building with a driver at your service all the time would be a horrifying chore,” Silco answers, still with that annoying smile.“You KNOW that’s not what I’m talking about!” Scar snaps angrily. If she had been grateful to this man with her full heart a moment ago, she is now annoyed 120%, “You can send anyone but me!”“I’m spending two bi
All the way home Scar feels like something stuffed in her chest. Over and over again she tells herself that she doesn’t care about Johnny Vanderbilt, but it doesn’t seem to work.A car seemed to have followed her for a while, but it was gone at the last turn.She lives in a house in the upper part of the town now, a community better and safer than the Fuller’s villa. Silco rented her this place, along with the guards. When she arrives, Silco is not yet home.Scar throws herself into the sofa, frustrated about Johnny Vanderbilt, and herself. Not only did she have to take all the garbage about him from Jack Fuller, but she also had to see with her own eyes that the man was not interested in making up with her. Not that she cares, but still, it doesn’t feel good.She is getting mixed information about that man.In Damian’s eyes he was a loving husband, a strict father who spoils his own daughter. But Emma left him for cheating, Anna was convinced that he was still into her, and from what
With Ava and Jack Fuller hovering at the front door, Scar doesn’t even step out of the elevator, but just remains inside for the underground parking lot. She is so drowned in Damian’s words that she barely makes it out before the door closes on her—“You are a lot like Mom,”That’s what he said. Even now Scar’s heart is pumping fast at that. Is she? She doesn’t even remember being held in that woman’s arms. She doesn’t remember the home she briefly stayed in. She doesn’t even remember the car accident which should have left some impression even in her childish mind.But she grew up into a woman a lot like her angel-like mother?What did she blurt? She was so daunted in the face that she murmured: “I have always imagined her to be like one of those…”Elegant ladies. Those who would sit in a café at 3pm, watching out the window with 20-dollar-coffee in hand.“Like a lady, huh?” Damian grins, seeing through her easily, “Nahhhh. Far from it. Mom is cool, almost hippy like. She would drive
I got Mom’s necklace. Even when completing the process in the office after the auction, it still feels surreal. Anna Fuller’s appearance was unexpected, but what was the real surprise was how easily Johhny Vanderbilt gave up on the necklace in the end when I called my price.I can’t take the necklace away, not till the bank processes the deal. But I got all the papers the Fuller’s provided for its authenticity. Finally, the first step of my revenge, is grasped in my palm. The plan is to get the papers and send them to prison –Silco would freeze the card after I win the necklace, giving me exactly three days to prove the Fuller’s guilty on faking the files. I want Mom’s necklace, but I don’t plan on making that bloodsucking family billionaires by buying something originally mine from them.It’s them who have to pay.“So…” I turn to Damian, feeling a bit awkward. I have been really mean to him ever since I met him, and yet he came to my help today without hesitation. I’d be lying if I
The love-and-hatred show is still on as Scar and Damian quarrel. Johnny Vanderbilt would raise his plate instantly after the host announces Anna’s call or even faster, and Anna would pout, bite her lips, and glare over before she raises again. Her face is like a painting plate, changing color in seconds as if every one of his calls is like a bomb blowing up on her face.The phone call comes in at that moment--Anna’s phone rings, breaking the silence in the room, loud and clear. She glances at it with an indifferent face, not picking it up. But her hand hesitates to raise her plate again.“Who could be calling her?” Scar murmurs to Damian. All of Anna’s family is down there by her side. Her parents died years ago. So who could be so important to her that a phone call from him could hesitate her decision?Seeing all these, Johnny Vanderbilt suddenly raises his plate again, this time announcing himself: “Two billion.”Anna’s tears break out as her hand drapes powerlessly -- it’s not the
Tears flow down Anna Fuller’s cheeks, the plate raised halfway in her hand is shaking hard because she was not expecting Johnny Vanderbilt to be so cruel to her—He knew she was going for the necklace, and he did not only bid for it, but actually gave her a price that told her to keep away from it.One billion. What a cold number.Jack Fuller didn’t want her to come. In fact, Jack Fuller didn’t tell her about the auction of the necklace. But she knew. She knows everything about Johnny Vanderbilt, the man who was supposed to be on the sacred altar with her. How could Jack Fuller expect her to not come?Ava is beyond excitement at Johnny Vanderbilt’s bid – to Ava, it’s just a number unnecessarily high for an item they stole with a reserve price low as 30 million. But whatever. Maybe the riches just like to brag about how much money they have. The more the better – for her.The item is listed under her name, and she takes the bigger part of the final price.Scar raises her plate in a has
Scar didn’t think it would go this smoothly.She prepared several other reasons and actually rehersed in her head on her speech to persuade Damian, who known to be an ironwrist in the courtroom, shouldn’t be persuaded easily. But maybe just eager to maintain the peace with his long lost sister, Damian jumped on board without so much as a nudge.All parties are set, and now between Scar and the necklace, remains only “the last minute”.Everyone knows “once, twice, sold,” but few know that after the host announces the upset price, bidders have 60 seconds before the item is announced unsold. This time is called “the last minute” because it’s the most crucial battle between bidders—to decide, fake, trick, or hide their strategies over an item.You don’t want to show your cards too early too clearly. Some would wait for the last few seconds to call, and others use this time to feel out the bottom price from other bidders. Once the first call is announced, it’s a bloody war.Ava wants an un