The guards stepped forward, grabbing Adrian by the arms. He struggled, shouting as they dragged him toward the door. “You’ll regret this, old man! Do you hear me?!”
But the door slammed behind him before he could finish.
Outside, the storm raged on. Adrian stood under the gray sky, soaked, trembling with fury and grief.
Vivienne was gone. Elias was gone.
And all that remained inside him was a festering mix of rage and regret — the kind that would eat him alive until he found her.
“She’ll pay,” he muttered under his breath, his hands curling into fists. “I swear, she’ll pay.”
The slap landed harder than Seraphine expected. For a moment she only heard the sharp sound and felt the sting flaming across her cheek.
“How dare you slap me!” she snapped, stumbling back. “You’re not my father—who are you to—”
“Yes,” Mr. Howard said. “I am not your blood father. I am your stepfather. But I raised you. I gave you everything. Is this how you repay me?”
Seraphine’s eyes flashed. “Everything? You gave me a name and a house, and you kept the truth from me. You gave me nothing that matters.” Her voice trembled with a mixture of rage and hurt.
Howard’s mouth tightened. He moved closer and the second slap came quicker, sharper. Seraphine clutched her cheek, blinking, trying to steady herself.
“How dare you do that to my daughter,” he growled, looking past Seraphine at the framed photograph of Vivienne on the wall.
Seraphine spat back, words tumbling out like a thrown stone. “Do you even care about your daughter? You never did. You left her alone. You treated me better because I fit the life you wanted. You made her the scapegoat.”
Howard’s face faltered for a second, then hardened into anger. “That was my mistake,” he said tightly. “I thought she caused trouble. I judged wrong. But you—” He pressed his thumb into the envelope he had kept on the desk, as if the paper had weight enough to prove his point. “You ruined everything.”
“Ruined everything?” Seraphine scoffed. “She took what’s mine—my child, my place. If anyone ruined something, it’s her stealing what’s rightfully ours.”
“From now on,” Howard said, voice flat and final, “you will not receive a single cent from me. Not one penny. You will have no claim on my estate. Not a thing.”
Seraphine’s face blanched. She straightened, chest trembling. “I’ll tell my mother about this…” she hissed. “You’ll see. She will make you change your mind.”