But Adrian was always the reckless one, the one who moved before thinking. A week later, he came to me grinning, saying he’d taken a job as her bodyguard. A bodyguard. Adrian didn’t need money—his family was well-off. I thought it was ridiculous. I mocked him for it too.
“You’re going to play watchdog just to get close to her?” I had laughed. “Come on, that’s so old school.”
I rolled my eyes at him, thinking it was another one of his reckless whims that would fade after a week. But it didn’t. Everywhere Seraphina went, Adrian followed—not just as a bodyguard, but as if he’d made it his mission to guard her heart too. He memorized her favorite coffee, the way she liked her books stacked, even the songs that made her smile. I watched from the sidelines, unsettled, irritated.
And maybe, if I’m honest, jealous. Because while I laughed at his foolishness, deep down I knew Adrian was winning something I hadn’t even dared to reach for.
He didn’t care. He was already falling. And soon enough, they became inseparable.
I told myself to let it go. That if she made him happy, fine. But there was something about Seraphina—something that unsettled me. The way she laughed, the way her eyes softened when she cared, the way she moved as though she belonged to no one yet could belong to everyone. And I wasn’t blind to the pull she had on me.
I flirted sometimes, casually, half to tease Adrian, half to test her reaction. A smile here, a compliment there. I thought it was harmless. But Adrian noticed. He always noticed.
One night, he grabbed me by the collar, shoving me back. His eyes burned with rage I had never seen before. “Don’t you dare look at her like that again. Don’t you dare, Dominic.”
“It’s just a joke,” I said, though deep down I knew it wasn’t.
“It’s not funny.” His fist tightened. “She’s mine. Not yours. Don’t forget that.”
That night, we fought—words sharper than any punches. And though we called it a misunderstanding later, I knew something between us had cracked. The bond we once had was no longer the same. And perhaps that was why, slowly, we drifted apart.
Then came the accident. I was the one drunk, driving, colliding with his car. He was declared brain dead for what happened. He didn’t survive… and I paid everyone to hide the fact that I was the one driving.