Chapter 2
Back in my room with the babies, the family doctor confirmed they were both fine. Only then could I finally breathe again.
But I couldn’t stop staring at them, memorizing every tiny detail.
In my previous life, no matter how much I begged and screamed, Luca had still thrown them to the wild animals in his private menagerie. My tiny children–it only took the tigers two bites to tear them apart.
Their helpless cries had been echoing in my head since the moment I was reborn.
At least now Sophie’s son had the heir position. She wouldn’t kill herself, and my babies would live.
Jade was furious as she cleaned up my bloodstained clothes.
“Mr. Devereux is such a piece of shit. No time to get you a doctor, but plenty of time to rush to Eleanor and get that bitch’s bastard officially recognized.”
I cut her off. “She’s going to be his second wife now. Watch your mouth.”
Before I’d even finished treating my wounds, someone came with a summons. Eleanor wanted to see me.
When she saw how badly I was hurt, even the Iron Lady herself looked genuinely disturbed.
“Seraphina, you’ve been through hell. But are you absolutely sure about this? You’re willing to give up everything your family built here over generations just to walk away?”
I dropped to my knees. “Please. I’m begging you.”
Eleanor sighed as she pulled out a special folder with her personal seal. “I arranged your marriage to keep Luca in line, I’ll
admit that.”
“But he used to have integrity. I thought he’d treat you right. Now that you two are at each other’s throats, I’ll give you what you want.” She handed me a small pill. “Take this when you’re ready to leave. It’ll put you in a death–like state for about twelve hours. When you wake up, you’ll have a new identity and a fresh start. Consider it my apology for this whole mess.”
Normally, walking away from the Devereux family meant disappearing forever or ending up dead. Getting to fake my death and start over was more mercy than anyone could expect.
I was leaving Eleanor’s office with the sealed folder when I ran into Luca and Sophie.
Sophie saw Eleanor’s distinctive folder in my hands and immediately threw herself to the ground, sobbing.
“Seraphina, please! I know I shouldn’t have taken your son’s heir position. If you want to destroy someone, destroy me! Don’t hurt my baby!”
Eleanor had a reputation for handling threats to her family with extreme prejudice. She’d once had her late husband’s mistress dragged to an underground organ trafficking ring and the bastard daughter sold to a high–end brothel.
The memory hit Luca like a freight train, His face went ice cold as he kicked me to the ground.
“You vindictive bitch! Just finished swearing you were sorry, and now you’re getting Eleanor to eliminate Sophie’s kid.”
All my freshly bandaged wounds split open.
ENDING THE LAST RETRAYAL LOOD. Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
Chapter 2
Ignoring my obvious agony, Luca grabbed me by the hair and started dragging me back toward Eleanor’s office.
“You’re going to tell her to call this off, or I swear to God I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
I left a trail of blood on the marble floor, the pain making everything go black around the edges. I could barely whisper my
protests.
“Luca, no… that’s not what this is…”
But Sophie cut me off, her face a mask of terror. “Please, Luca, let her go!”
“When Eleanor wanted Seraphina to marry you, she had my entire family destroyed just to clear the way. My father lost everything, my mother had a breakdown.”
“She’s probably going to have me tortured to death now.”
Seeing Sophie’s tears, Luca’s rage exploded. He slammed me against the wall hard enough to crack the marble.
“You evil fucking bitch! And I actually gave a damn about you once.”
I coughed up blood. “No, that’s not-”
But Luca wasn’t even looking at me anymore. He pulled Sophie into his arms, whispering comfort.
“Sophie, why didn’t you ever tell me this before?”
Sophie trembled against him. “I was scared you’d be torn between us. Seraphina’s family are your second–largest shareholders, and they’re connected to Eleanor’s side of the family.”
Luca’s laugh was bitter and sharp. “Torn? She’s not worth that kind of consideration.”
He snatched Eleanor’s folder from the ground and ripped it open, documents scattering.
“Seraphina, if you don’t get Eleanor to cancel whatever hit she’s put out, I’ll destroy everything your family ever built!”
“How dare you try to get her to-”
The divorce papers and asset division documents spilled out as he spoke. Luca’s face went white as he read.
“Divorce papers? You went to Eleanor… to get a divorce?!”
I pushed the scattered documents toward him with shaking hands.
“This is the divorce decree and the asset separation agreement. I just want out, Luca. I want you to be happy with Sophie.”
Luca’s expression turned completely unreadable–definitely not happy, more like he’d been sucker–punched.
But I was in too much pain to figure out what the hell was going through his head. Everything went black, and I passed out cold.
11:43
ENDING THE LAST BETRAYAL LOOP: Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
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Chapter 3
Chapter 3
