Seraphina's POV
"What are you implying!?" Asher gritted his teeth.
"What am I implying?" I scoffed without thinking. "You… you barged in here with your fa… fake concern, and… and when you saw that I was fine, you didn't…" I paused, trying to hold myself together. "You didn't even try to find out what actually happened! You just decided I had to be the cul… culprit!"
God knows what had gotten into me—how did I even dare say all that to hot-headed Asher?
"Do I even need to ask!?" Asher snapped, eyes blazing. "You have always created trouble wherever you went—and now you have the audacity to question me after what you did to Jim?"
I didn't want to say another word to him. He wasn't making any sense.
In his eyes, he was always right. Melissa was always the victim. And me? I was just the vicious villain who ruined everything.
"If you're done, then follow me to the police station. I don't want anyone staining the Lancaster name," he declared, grabbing my blood-stained hand and stepping forward.
Hah. What an irony.
The very person who destroyed the Lancaster family in my past life was now worried I might ruin its reputation?
Fine. If he wanted to take me, he could. But before that, I had to make one thing clear.
"Brother," I called out.
"Don't call me that," Asher snapped coldly, turning around.
"Sure," I said without a fight. "Then tell me—what exactly do you want me to do at the police station?"
"If you are a criminal, you will face punishment. If you are a victim, I will see to that," he said firmly and turned to leave with me.
His words made my chest tighten.
The same man who once nearly killed someone for laying a hand on me… was now dragging me to the police because I stabbed the man who tried to harass me?
"Go ahead then," I said, my voice steady. There was no reason to be soft with them—not when they were the ones who left me no choice.
"I am already a mental patient; what more could the law possibly do to me?"
Asher froze.
"How could you form so many words like that? Were you acting all this time?"
That was his first question.
Should I even be hurt anymore after this?
I didn't bother to reply. Instead, I yanked my hand away and walked out of the room without looking back.
Fine. If this was how it was going to be, then so be it. I was ready to face whatever came next, because after seeing the way Asher spoke to me—so coldly, so dismissively, as if I were nothing—it became clear I could no longer let my emotions rule me.
But deep down, no matter how much I tried to act unaffected, I still wanted that Asher back—the one who used to care, the one who made me feel like I mattered.
I wanted the version of him who once shaved his head when I started losing my hair, just to make me feel less alone.
And if enduring his cruelty was the only way to find even a trace of that man again, then I'd endure it. I would stand tall through the pain. But this time, I wouldn't let him push me into the shadows and pretend I didn't exist.
Not again.
I had just stepped out of the room when a maid approached me, holding a set of clothes and a towel in her hands.
"Miss, where are you going?" she asked in a panicked tone. "You were supposed to be resting in your room."
"Who the hell are you?" Asher snapped before I could even open my mouth. His voice was sharp with annoyance. "I'm taking her home with me," he added, motioning for me to follow.
But just then, Lucien appeared.
His presence cut through the hallway like a blade. He glanced at the maid briefly with an unreadable expression.
"You're dismissed," Lucien said, cool and clear. "You are not needed here."
The maid hesitated for a breath, then hurried off without a word.
"Care to explain why you are here, Mr. Lan?" Lucien asked coldly, his gaze shifting to me. "And you… Why are you out here? You should be cleaning yourself up."
"Y-Yes," I stammered, my voice barely audible. "But… I need to go… with Mr. Lan," I added in a whisper.
"What for?" Lucien asked, though his question was clearly aimed at Asher. His tone remained cold. "And I am still waiting for your answer."
"Isn't it obvious?" Asher rolled his eyes, unbothered. "I am here to take her back to the Lancaster mansion—where she belongs." He glanced briefly at me before adding, "So it would be better if Mr. De Rossi stayed out of our family matters."
Lucien's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped a shade colder.
"Is that so?" he said. "Because from where I stood, it looked like you were trying to drag her back to a place she clearly doesn't want to go. And yet you say that's where she belongs?"
"Sir," I interrupted their conversation in a low tone. "Isn't that what you wanted to do?"
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