"We’ll see how long you can keep playing innocent, Seraphina," Melissa pronounced quietly, eyes gleaming with tears. "Not everyone forgets the past just because you walk in with a few bruises and a sad little story. They are still my brothers... I just want them to treat us the same!"
Seraphina squinted at Melissa as her expression hardened. She had expected such venomous words from her, but not this level of shamelessness.
Then again, this was Melissa, calculating, self-centered, and never forgot to wear that fake mask to look like a white flower.
However, Sera was not the same either! She had no fear like before.
These past few months, she’d stayed quiet and careful, always taking a few steps behind and being calculative.
Unlike Melissa, Sera didn’t have such dangerous people around her who could help her and do her dirty work, not that she would ever get involved with that kind of people.
And ever since the abduction, when she nearly got filmed... which was her worst nightmare, she’d been playing it safe. She’d played safe around Melissa and was afraid of provoking her, lest she fall in another trap.
She was fully aware of how malicious Melissa could be.
So, she avoided confronting Melissa head-on, said nothing, and didn’t make any move.
But now... the time was different. She wasn’t alone.
She glanced sideways briefly at Alistair, who was still standing beside her like a wall that no one could break through.
His presence wasn’t just comforting for. It made her steady and gave her the courage she thought she’d lost.
Asher might be on her side, too... but trust didn’t grow overnight. Especially not with the kind of scars she carried. She couldn’t rely on him fully yet. And even if she wanted, she had to test him first, before she could trust Asher with her secrets.
She didn’t have any doubts about him. She had blind faith in him.
With Alistair beside her, she didn’t have to hold back anymore.
She could face Melissa.
Seraphina took a slow step forward, her gaze fixed on Melissa with sharpness. There was no hesitation in her eyes anymore.
"You really haven’t changed," she said quietly, but her voice carried weight. "You are still trying to twist your words and try to make everything for you... Do you think after what you have done to me, I’d ever consider you my family?"
Melissa’s smile faded, just slightly.
"You think I didn’t know what you were doing? You’ve been planning and plotting against me! Trying to take me down, and doing everything to break my soul, let alone my body!"
Sera’s jaw tightened. "I’ve been through enough that nothing scares me anymore!"
Melissa’s smile faltered a little, but she soon handled herself. She took a small step back, her eyes darting between Alistair and Asher, trying to see if Sera’s words had done any damage!
"What... what are you talking about?" she stammered. Her voice was carefully laced with confusion, but there was a deliberate tremble in it.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Seraphina wasn’t supposed to talk. She was that scaredy cat, who wouldn’t dare open her mouth, and now... She was talking back to her!
Melissa had been so careful, twisting things behind the scenes while keeping her hands clean. And Seraphina... She was just a pawn, a toy that she enjoyed toying with. She wanted to break her, and just as Seraphina said, she wanted to break her soul to the point of no return.
Now Seraphina was staring straight in the eye, speaking clearly and fearlessly. And Melissa hated it!
And what she hated more was the way her brothers were listening, which made Seraphina stand taller.
Melissa’s hands curled into fists by her side, nails digging into her palms.
She couldn’t understand it. She had kept quiet, thinking Seraphina didn’t know who was behind it all and had no brains to connect the dots. While she still saw Melissa as the "good" sister.
But then why was she suddenly speaking like that?
’Don’t tell me...’ Melissa’s stomach twisted. Don’t tell me that... She knew everything and was acting dumb all this time?
’Don’t tell me this little brat is actually trying to take me down in front of my brothers... the same brothers I grew up with!’
Her heart pounded with rage.
Melissa’s voice rose, laced with drama as she took a sharp breath and stared at her brothers.
"How could you just... exclude me from the family?" she cried, completely ignoring everything Seraphina had just said, denying everything.
Her words weren’t directed at Seraphina... They were for her brothers.
Melissa was trying to play victim and hide everything that Seraphina had just said.
Seraphina exhaled slowly. Her shoulders sagged slightly as fatigue hit her again. She was already drained after dealing with Lucien and everything she’d confessed tonight... and now this.
She hadn’t wished to act in Melissa’s act, nor did she have the energy for Melissa’s games.
But if Melissa wanted a stage, Seraphina would give her one.
She straightened her back and took a small step forward, brushing her hair off her face with quiet confidence.
"If you’re going to act like the victim," she said flatly, "at least try a new script! Stop playing the same old thing, I’m tired!"
Melissa’s tears spilled out of her eyes as she wiped them, looking at Asher from the side.
Asher stepped forward, sensing the moment spiraling. "Sera, why don’t we go inside and talk this through?"
But Seraphina didn’t let him finish.
"I didn’t exclude you from the family," she stated, loud enough to stop Melissa’s returning smile.
Sera’s eyes fell on Asher and never left his face. "You never included me." Googlᴇ search ⓝovelFire.net
The words hit like a punch to Asher’s chest.
She took a breath, then continued in a slow voice.
"And now that I’ve seen everything for what it really is... I can finally say it... that..."