Author’s POV
Asher really wanted to say what he had in his min... But then his gaze fell on Seraphina. She stood frozen, her hands trembling and her head shaking slightly. Don’t, her eyes pleaded. Don’t fight here. Don’t lose yourself for .
Asher swallowed his anger, clenching his jaw tight. He closed his eyes for a mont, dragging in a deep breath, forcing the fire in his chest to settle. When he opened them again, his gaze flicked to lissa, who was trembling where she stood, her face looked pale despite the smile she tried to put for the people.
"Did you even ask the girls before announcing this?" Asher’s asked in a calm and steady tone as he didn’t want to scare Sera. "I’m sure Sera doesn’t want what you’re trying to force on her."
Old Madam turned her head toward him as she glared at him harshly. Then she turned back to Seraphina, her stick thudding once against the floor once again. "Do you think I don’t know?" Her voice rose with fury. "She has been following Sean all this ti... She even said she wanted to marry him after turning eighteen! What has changed now? Do you want to believe that?"
Asher clenched his jaw as he glanced at Seraphina, who looked small under the weight of so many eyes and was trying to hide herself in sha. He wanted to sigh and wanted to curse the old woman for dragging the past into this mont, but he held himself together.
"That was before, Grandma," he said tightly. "Maybe you haven’t noticed, but things aren’t the sa anymore. Sera doesn’t follow that brat now. Look at her... she hasn’t spared him a glance tonight. Can’t you see it?"
Old Madam gazed at Seraphina, trying to read her face, but no matter how long she stared, she couldn’t tell if the girl was holding back out of shyness... or if she was about to sacrifice herself for lissa again.
"Enough!" The old woman coughed, her voice stern but weak. "Do not question my words and—"
"Grandma..." Seraphina’s voice interrupted, it sounded soft but shaking. Her lips trembled as if she was scared to even breathe in front of her. "Don’t you really want to ask ? I an... isn’t it my decision in the end?"
Even though her lips trembled but she sounded firm.
The room went quiet.
Old Madam’s chest tightened. Her hand lifted almost on its own, cupping Seraphina’s cheek, thumb brushing her skin as if she was afraid the girl would slip away from her. "Dear, tell then. What is it that you want? If you want to marry Sean, then..."
But Seraphina’s fingers wrapped around her hand, stopping her in the middle of the sentence.
"This is what I wanted to tell you after the birthday party," she whispered, eyes turning toward the crowd before returning to her grandmother. "But since you brought it up... I’ll say it now. I am the heiress of the Lancaster family... and I don’t think Sean is fit to be the son-in-law of our house."
A sharp inhale rippled through the hall.
"What the fuck—" soone blurted, unable to hold it in.
"Did she just say Sean is unworthy?"
"No way... wasn’t she basically treated like a nobody last year?"
"I swear I saw her serving drinks at the corner during the banquet... last year."
People started to talk in disbelief, yet filled with thrilled at the chaos that had just been unleashed. Sean’s face went pale, then flushed red, his fists clenching at his sides. lissa’s expression twisted, but she bit her tongue, too stunned to speak as she had not expected for Seraphina to speak up like that!
Sean, though he was calm all this ti in the chaos but he couldn’t take the insult that Seraphina had threw toward him. "You—" His voice was sharp with humiliation. He pointed at Seraphina as if she’d just spat in his face. "Who the hell do you think you are to say that to ?"
His father’s face turned ashen as he stood rooted at his place, and her mothers face darkening, but Sean kept talking without caring for anyone. "Unfit? ? You have been following like a dirty skank for years and now you dare to say that to what I didn’t gave you any attention! How pathetic!"
"Sean!" Old Madam’s voice rang out as it echoed through the hall "Watch your tongue!"
The crowd went still. Even lissa froze, her lips parting as if she wanted to to speak but shse didn’t say anything.
Seraphina didn’t flinch under Sean’s glare. Her hand slid away from Old Madam’s and she faced him directly, her tone calm but firm and icy "Yes. That’s exactly what I said. You’re not worthy."
lissa couldn’t hold back anymore. She walked forth. "Grandma! You have seen yourself! Sera loves Sean! I know she is doing this for ! Please do not bla her and don’t listen to her." She said and then murmured for the people to hear it clearly. "Or perhaps she is jealous?"
"Jealous?" Seraphina’s lips curved up in a cold smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "What exactly do I have to be jealous of, lissa? Should I be jealous for him? Or be like you who is clinging to a man who’d throw you aside the mont he gets bored?"
lissa’s face burned crimson. "You—!"
Sean stepped closer, fury bubbling inside him, but before he could get another word out, Old Madam’s cane struck the floor with a sharp crack.
"Enough!" she thundered. Her gaze swept the hall as her gaze was fierce and unyielding. "Seraphina is my granddaughter. The Lancaster heiress. Anyone who doubts her... doubts ."
The hall fell silent, no one dared breathe.
Seraphina lowered her eyes as she was trying to hide the coldness in them. She didn’t want anyone to see her like that.
"Why are you silenting them, Grandma?" This ti Alistair ca forth!
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