Adrian—reckless, fearless, alive in every sense of the word. He had never made me doubt my worth. With him, love was certain. Honest. Fierce. If he were alive, he would never have abandoned me in a hospital bed. He would have fought the world for me.
And now his heart beat inside the man who destroyed me.
The irony was unbearable.
I waited all day, staring at the door, hoping Dominic would walk in. He never did.
By nightfall, something inside me finally broke.
Ignoring the pain tearing through my body, I forced myself out of bed, the IV tugging sharply at my arm. The hallway was dim, eerily quiet. That was when I heard it—his voice.
I froze in place.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to stay here?” Helena murmured softly. “What about Seraphina? You took so much of her blood for me.”
Dominic laughed under his breath. “She’ll survive. And even if she doesn’t—so what? She’s insignificant.” His voice hardened. “The baby’s gone anyway. She’ll never find out.”
The world tilted.
Baby. Gone. Never know.
He continued without mercy. “I never loved her. I pitied her.” His voice faltered briefly before turning sharp again. “Adrian died because of me. I was drunk. I hit his car. I killed him. His family gave me his heart out of sympathy, never knowing the truth. When you left me, I was shattered. So I used her. She was nothing more than a replacement. But now you’re back—and divorced—let’s finally get married.”
Helena gasped. “Dominic… yes. I would love to. I always regretted leaving you.”
My stomach churned violently. I pressed myself against the wall, barely holding myself upright.
Every truth he revealed ripped something out of me.
Dominic—the man I had loved for five years—was the reason Adrian was dead. All the nights I mourned, all the tears I shed, I never imagined the monster lay beside me. He had killed Adrian. Then he took his heart. Then he took my life, piece by piece.
The man who carried Adrian’s heart was the very one who destroyed him.
My breath came out in broken gasps. Grief tangled with rage until I couldn’t separate them anymore.
I staggered away blindly, desperate to escape. My gaze landed on a phone resting on a nearby desk. With shaking hands, I grabbed it.
There was only one number I had memorized. One final lifeline.
When the call connected, my voice cracked completely. “Brother… it’s me. Seraphina.”
There was silence. Then a sharp breath.