Chapter 134: Chapter 134 – Heartless
Seraphine had never really understood what people ant when they talked about dating, like it was so kind of shared language everyone else spoke fluently while she stood on the outside, watching, trying to piece together rules that never made sense to her.
All her life, her world had revolved around one man, her attention fixed so completely on him that she never once stopped to consider the feelings of anyone else, never once cared about the hearts quietly breaking in the background, even when the one she loved gave her nothing in return.
Now that it was over in a way that left no room for illusion, sothing inside her had shut down, locked itself away behind walls she had no intention of lowering anyti soon.
Still, she wasn’t blind to what it felt like to love alone, to pour everything into soone who would never give the sa back, and that understanding stirred a quiet, reluctant sympathy in her chest when she looked at Augustine.
But sympathy wasn’t enough, and she knew it never would be.
If anything, her own experience had taught her that dragging out sothing one-sided only made the eventual collapse worse, that it was kinder to end things before they even had the chance to grow into sothing fragile and false, which would only shatter under the weight of reality later on.
A faint, nervous smile curled her lips as she gently slipped her hand out of his, the warmth of his touch lingering for just a second longer than she wanted it to. She reached for her napkin, dabbing the corner of her lips more as a way to steady herself than anything else.
"August," she said softly, her tone careful but unyielding, "my answer hasn’t changed, and I need you to believe
when I say it’s not about you. I just don’t want to go down that road again."
Her words were calm, respectful, wrapped in a softness that didn’t take away from their finality, and she watched the change in his expression as sothing dimd behind his eyes, like a light slowly being turned off.
"What is it about Alpha Ravyn?" he asked, his voice tightening despite his effort to keep it steady, frustration bleeding through in ways he couldn’t fully hide. "I could understand if it was Alpha Voren, at least that would make sense, but Ravyn?"
He let out a breath, shaking his head slightly as if even saying the na left a bad taste in his mouth.
"You gave him a chance when he didn’t deserve it," he continued, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that made it hard to look away. "I’ve loved you for years, Sera, longer than you probably even realized, so why can’t you just give
the sa chance to prove it to you?"
She smiled again, but this ti it felt different, thinner, like sothing held together out of habit rather than feeling.
"If there’s anything my life should’ve taught you by now," she said quietly, her eyes steady on his, "it’s that loving soone doesn’t guarantee they’ll ever love you back."
There was no cruelty in her voice, just honesty, the kind that didn’t soften itself to spare feelings.
"What happens if I say yes?" she went on, her tone turning more serious, grounded. "What if we switch places, and I end up being to you what Ravyn was to , soone who can’t return what you’re giving?"
She paused for a mont, letting that sink in before continuing, her expression tightening just slightly.
"I respect his choice," she admitted, her voice dipping lower, "but the reason I’m standing against him now has nothing to do with that. It’s about what he did to my child."
The words landed harder than anything else she had said that night, and she saw the imdiate change in Augustine, the confusion, the tension, the way his brows pulled together as he tried to make sense of sothing that clearly didn’t match the image he had.
"What do you an, what he did to your child?" he asked, his voice edged with disbelief. "I don’t understand, because from everything I’ve seen, he cares about Bryan more than anything."
"That’s exactly the problem," she replied, her tone steady even as sothing deeper flickered beneath it. "He switched my child and made
raise Bryan as my own."
She didn’t rush the next part, didn’t soften it, didn’t try to make it easier to hear.
"He gave Corvine the order to kill my daughter," she said, her gaze unwavering, "but I’m only telling you this because I trust you as a friend. Corvine didn’t go through with it, he let her live, but no one knows where she is now."
The silence that followed felt heavier than anything that had co before it.
Augustine’s expression broke in a way that was impossible to hide, the weight of her words hitting him all at once, leaving him staring at her like he was seeing her pain for the first ti, like he finally understood just how deep it went.
"I’m so sorry," he said quietly, the earlier frustration gone completely, replaced by sothing softer. "I had no idea you went through sothing like that."
He hesitated for a mont before adding, his voice gentler now, "I’ll wait for you, Sera. However long it takes, I’ll wait until you’re ready."
Emotion flickered across her face, quick but unmistakable, and she shook her head slightly, cutting that thought off before it could settle into sothing real.
"Don’t," she said, her voice low but firm, carrying a certainty that left no room for misunderstanding. "Don’t wait for , because I know who I am. When I want sothing, I go after it, and..."
She exhaled softly, her gaze softening just a fraction even as her words stayed unyielding.
"I’m sorry, August, but I don’t see you that way."
The truth hung between them, sharp and unavoidable, and even though it hurt, he could see it clearly in her eyes, that she ant every word, that there was no hidden doubt, no hesitation he could work his way through.
Before he could gather himself enough to respond, she spoke again, this ti diverting the entire direction of the conversation in a way he hadn’t expected.
"For everything you’ve done for ," she said, her tone turning more formal, "I don’t want you to miss out on an opportunity I’ve been offering others."
There was a pause, brief but noticeable, as if she was giving him ti to adjust before she dropped the next piece.
"I’m starting my own company," she continued, her gaze steady, "and I’m giving you a special chance to invest in it."
That was the mont everything clicked into place for him, the mont the illusion he hadn’t even realized he was holding onto cracked completely.
This wasn’t a romantic dinner, not in the way he had hoped, or convinced himself it might be.
It was business.
The realization settled in slowly but hit hard, leaving a bitter edge behind as his expression cooled, the warmth that had been there earlier fading into sothing distant, and guarded.
"Are you always like this?" he asked, his voice quieter now but edged with sothing sharper. "This... heartless?"
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