Chapter 3

A few days later, Seraphina called again. Her voice was no longer sweet. It was sharp, laced with irritation.

"Ethan, where is the money? My father has been calling me nonstop. The deal is about to fall through. Did you forget?"

"There were some complications with my accounts," Ethan lied smoothly. "International transfers are being flagged. It might take a few more days."

"A few more days?" she snapped. "We don't have a few more days! You promised. You need to fix this, Ethan. Now."

She was trying to control him, to press the same buttons that had always worked before. But the man she was talking to was no longer her puppet.

"I'm doing my best, Seraphina," he said, keeping his voice maddeningly calm.

He could hear her huff in frustration before she hung up. He knew this was just the beginning. Her pressure would only increase.

Later that afternoon, Ethan was reviewing the preliminary agreement from Olivia Chen's team when another call came in. It was a restricted number. He almost ignored it, but something made him answer. He remained silent.

He heard Seraphina's voice, but it was different. It was soft, intimate, and full of a longing he had never heard her use with him.

"Liam? Is that you? Did you get the watch I sent?"

A man's smooth, charismatic voice answered. "I got it, babe. It's nice. But it's not what I really want."

Liam Stone. The con artist who had supposedly ruined her family. The man she claimed to despise.

"I know, I know," Seraphina said, her voice breathy. "It's just taking longer than I thought. The idiot is being difficult about the money. But don't worry. I'll get it. And once I have his fortune, we can be together. For real this time. We'll have everything we ever wanted."

"You better, Sera," Liam's voice was playful, but with an undercurrent of menace. "I'm not a patient man."

Ethan's blood ran cold. She wasn't just using him for revenge; she was using him to fund a reunion with her criminal ex-boyfriend. The entire narrative she had built for him was a lie upon a lie.

He hung up the phone, his hands shaking slightly. He needed to see it for himself.

He knew where she would be. The "zen studio."

He drove there, not with the shock of his first visit, but with the cold detachment of a detective gathering evidence. He parked a distance away and approached on foot. This time, he didn't go to the door. He circled around to the back, where a large glass wall overlooked the woods.

And there they were.

Seraphina was wrapped around Liam Stone, her body pressed against his. They were standing in the very spot where her yoga mat usually lay. He was kissing her neck, his hands roaming her body, and she was arching into him, whispering in his ear. The scene was raw, passionate, and utterly sickening. They were desecrating the space Ethan had built for her, a place he had once considered sacred. The irony was a bitter pill.

He watched for a few moments, engraving the image into his memory. This was his final confirmation. There was no room for doubt, no shred of hope left to be extinguished.

He turned and walked away without a sound.

Back in his penthouse, he began the process of disentangling himself. He called his lawyer.

"I want you to draw up a complete separation of assets," Ethan instructed. "Everything that is solely in my name needs to be firewalled. Any joint accounts, I want them frozen immediately. And I want you to start compiling a dossier on the Blackwood Group's finances for the last five years, specifically any transfers originating from my accounts."

He then began packing a bag. He moved through his apartment, a place once filled with memories of Seraphina, and felt nothing. The photos of them smiling, the gifts she had given him-it was all just clutter now, props from a play he was no longer a part of.

As he was packing, Seraphina walked in. She must have come straight from the studio. She didn't see his suitcase.

"There you are," she said, her tone accusatory. "My father is furious. What is going on with you, Ethan?"

He turned to face her. "I told you. Complications."

She scoffed, walking over to him. "Complications? You built an empire from nothing. You don't have 'complications.' You just don't want to help. After everything my family has done for you, welcoming you in..."

"What have you done for me, Seraphina?" he asked, his voice quiet.

She looked taken aback. "What? I love you. I'm going to be your wife. Isn't that enough?"

He looked at her, at the beautiful face that had captivated him for years, and saw only the deceit behind it.

He was Ethan Miller. He wasn't just some lucky tech nerd. He was a man who could see patterns others missed, who could sense opportunity and risk with an almost supernatural instinct. It was the secret to his success, that "golden touch" Mr. Blackwood coveted. He had ignored that instinct for years, blinded by love.

He would not ignore it any longer.

"No, Seraphina," he said, his voice as cold as ice. "It's not."