Chapter 1
ALINA’S POV
“Why are you doing this?” Pain coursed through my body as I desperately tried to crawl away from Seraphina.
She was supposed to be my sister. Sure, I was adopted, but she had always showered me with love. Yet now, her eyes were
were ablaze with hatred and disgust as she glared down at me.
“Are you really that daft, or do you genuinely not get it?” She sneered, her voice oozing with contempt as I looked up at her, my pain mingling with confusion.
I had always done what she wanted. I had let her take credit for my jewelry designs for years. So why was she turning on me now?
“Please, just tell me what I..I did wrong. I promise I’ll do better.” My words were a weak plea, cracking as hot tears streamed down my
cheeks.
“Ughhh!” Seraphina kicked my outstretched hand away as if it repulsed her. “This is what I can’t stand about you!” She spat, her nostrils flaring. “You act all sweet and innocent with that porcelain face and those big, doe–like grey eyes, making everyone fall for you.” Her fists clenched, her whole body shaking with rage. “I hate you so much!”
“Why?” I croaked, may voice barely above a whisper. My head throbbed painfully from where the cold, unforgiving wall of the abandoned warehouse.
one of her goons had slammed it against
“Why? Why?” She suddenly screamed, her voice raw with fury. “Because you stole my life!” She spat the words like venom.
“What?” I gasped, my breath hitching in a mix of pain and confusion.
“You stole eighteen years of my life!” She hissed. “I was stuck in an orphanage while you were living the life that was meant for me! I’m supposed to be engaged to Lucian, not your” Bitterness coated her every word, hands balled into fists beside her.
My stomach twisted violently. What was she talking about! It wasn’t my fault she had gone missing as a child, and when Mom and Dad found her six years ago, they had treated her with nothing but love.
And Lucian? What did he have to do with any of this? I didn’t even like him.
“Lucian?” My brow furrowing in confusion. “You know I don’t like him. If you wanted him, you should have just said so. I’m sure Mom and Dad would cancel our engagement and set you up with him-
“Stop calling them Mom and Dad!” She yelled, cutting me off. Her eyes were ablaze with raw anger. “They’re my parents, not yours!” She was breathing heavily, her rage palpable, before she continued. “Besides, do you really think Mom didn’t try to break off your engagement? Lucian was as stubborn as a mule, he wouldn’t marry anyone but you!”
But
I don’t love him,” My voice was a whisper, desperation creeping into my voice as my heart raced. “It’s Adrian I love!” I searched her face, hoping, praying, that she would see that I never intended to take anything from her.
“Oh God, how dumb can you be?” She laughed maniacally, the sound sending chills down my spine, “Adrian doesn’t love you, you idiot, he loves me.”
Her words sliced through me like a knife, shattering my heart into a million pieces.
“That’s not true.” I protested, shaking my head vigorously, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my skull.
“Oh, but it is.” She smirked, her face twisted with cruel satisfaction. “All these years, he’s just been using you. You were just too stupid to
“No!” I cried out, my voice trembling-
“You should have listened to Lucian, you know.” Her designer heels clicked ominously against the cold concrete floor as she approached me. The sound echoed eerily in the empty warehouse. “He’s been trying to protect you from us, but all you did was humiliate, insult, and betray him.”
Suddenly, she grabbed my chin, her fingers digging into my skin as she forced me to look her in the eye.
“You don’t deserve him!” She spat, shoving my head aside with revulsion.
“You’re lying.” My voice
ice was barely above a whisper. I didn’t want to believe her. I couldn’t believe her.
1/4
6.25 AM
Chapter 1
She scoffed, “Am I?” Tilting her head mockingly, she continued “What reason do I have to lie to you when you’re dying anyway
My heart raced like a drum in my chest as I searched her face for any hint of a lie. But there was nothing. The cold, hard truth stared back at me from her eyes. Every word she uttered was genuine.
But.. why!
“You know that little friend of yours, Talia?” She continued, in a bored almost nonchalant tone, as if she were discussing the weather. “She figured out what we were up to, and well.. we had to silence her.”
I gasped, my breath bitching in my throat as my eyes widened in pure horror. “What?f*
Talia was dead? My fiery, red–haired best friend?
“You pushed her away and neglected her,” Seraphina shook her head with mock pity. “And even in the end, she wasn’t lying. She was trying to save you
She let out a bitter laugh, as if the thought of Talia’s unwavering loyalty made her sick.
“You know what her last words to me were? Right before I plunged a knife into her chest?” A wicked smile spread across her lips. She didn’t wait for me to answer, “She begged me–not to hurt you.”
Seraphina’s voice turned sharp, her eyes flashing with a mix of anger and something that felt like resentment. “I really don’t get why these people stay loyal to you when all you’ve ever done is treat them like shit”
I felt my entire body go numb.
“You killed Talia?” I whispered, my heart clenching painfully in my chest.
Tears blurred my vision as the reality sank in. I had thought she left the country. She told me she was going to be with her parents since I wasn’t going to listen to her. The last thing I had said to her was for her to stay away from me and my business. I had told her never to show her face to me again.
I had no idea she was dead.
How could I have been so stupid?
I had been so focused on giving my loyalty to those who didn’t deserve it while pushing away the only people who truly cared for me.
As I struggled to process everything she was saying. Adrian walked in.
Seeing him sparked a flicker of hope in my chest, fragile yet burning with desperation.
“Adrian.” I called out, a small smile trying to break through the pain etched on my face. But what he did next shattered me completely.
Adrian didn’t even glance my way. He walked straight to Seraphina, pulled her to his chest by the waist and kissed her smack on the lips.
My breath hitched in my throat.
“No…
“Is it done!” Seraphina asked, beaming up at him as if I didn’t exist, as if my whole world wasn’t crumbling around me.
How did I never notice that these two were having sex behind my back?
“Yes. “His response was smooth. “The moment he got the news that Alina was taken, the lovesick fool jumped into his car, speeding here like a maniac, completely unaware that the brakes of his car had been tampered with. It was a full–speed collision. He died instantly.”
He held up bis phone, showing something to Seraphina.
Please let that not be Lucian? I hoped to God that it wasn’t Lucian
“Ooooh, that must have hurt.” She said, peering at the screen before bursting into laughter. Then, as if suddenly remembering I was still there, she turned to me with a nonchalant shrug.
“Oh well. The last person on your side is dead.”
“That’s not true,” I whispered, feeling my last shred of hope splinter into nothing. “Lucian can’t be dead.” 1 shook my head in denial.
2/4
1:27 AM
Chapter 1
Lucian was a strong and stubborn man, he couldn’t just die easily.
Seraphina turned the phone toward me, and my stomach dropped.
There on the screen was Lucian, his face bloodied and lifeless, as they zipped him into a body bag
“No!” I screamed, overwhelmed with agony.
I had spent my whole life hating him, pushing him away, and yet… he died trying to save me
He had done everything for me, even signing over his entire empire to prove his love. And what did I do?
I handed it over to Adrian.
Adrian, who now stood beside Seraphina, looking at me with cold, indifferent eyes. Like I was a stranger. Like he had never known me at
all.
“Why are you doing this, Adrian?” I cried, my voice breaking. “I gave you everything!” Desperation clawed at my chest. “Why save me from drowning if you hated me this much?!” I screamed, summoning the last of my strength
A cruel laugh escaped his lips, “You think I saved you? Lucian was the one who saved you that day, not me.”
My breath hitched-
“He was such a coward, Adrian said with a smirk. “Didn’t even stick around for you to wake up, so I had to swoop in.”
I stared at him, feeling my world tilt as memories from that day, six years ago, flooded back.
Lucian.
It was Lucian who had pulled me out of the water when Seraphina and her friends thought it would be funny to push me into the pool, knowing fully well that I couldn’t swim.
I remembered catching a glimpse of a retreating back, but when I woke up, it was Adrian sitting by my bedside. I had always thought it was him all along.
But it had been Lucian.
A sob caught in my throat, my chest tightening.
“It was Lucian,” I whispered, my voice empty. “It’s always been Lucian,
Memories crashed over me, memories 1 had been too blind and stubborn to acknowledge.
Whenever I found myself in trouble, Lucian was always there. Even when I pushed him away, yelled at him, and cursed him.
I had made a terrible mistake.
Lost in my swirling state of regret and despair, a sharp, acrid scent suddenly hit my nose..
Gasoline.
I looked up in alarm.
Adrian stood a few feet away, pouring gasoline onto the floor, the liquid pooling in thick, dark puddles around me.
My blood ran cold.
“No please don’t.” I pleaded, trying to move, trying to stand, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I felt so weak. I was already losing blood from the stab wound in my stomach, my vision blurring at the edges.
“You’ve taken everything from me.” I said weakly, my voice barely a whisper as I turned to Seraphina. “Aren’t you satisfied!”
She met my gaze with a wicked grin.
“No.”
My breath caught in my throat.
6:27 AM
Chapter I
“I’ll only be satisfied when you no longer exist in this world.” She said, flicking a lighter on.
The tiny flame danced in her hand, bright and hungry, merciless.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she tossed it in front of me.
Flames erupted instantly, roaring to life as they spread around me, eagerly licking at the gasoline–soaked floor.
I screamed as the fire reached my leg.
g, searing my pale skin,
“Please, help me!” I cried out, my voice breaking as I struggled to breathe through the thick smoke that filled my lungs, scratching at my throat like a thousand fiery needles.
But they didn’t come to my aid.
Instead, they just laughed, cold, heartless, and completely indifferent.
As the flames wrapped around me, I watched them turn away, strolling out of the warehouse hand in hand, not even sparing me a backward glance
I found myself praying to anything and everything I could think of.
I prayed for a miracle, even though deep down, I knew it was futile.
I wished, oh, how I wished I had made different choices.
I wished I had treated the people who truly cared for me with more kindness.
And as the darkness finally enveloped me, I wished upon the stars for a chance to go back and set things right.
Then-
Everything went dark.
