Seraphina's POV
I had to think about my future. I couldn't trust anyone—not after everything I'd been through. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes again. Not this time.
"We're here."
Lucien's cold voice broke through my thoughts, pulling me back to the present.
"Thank you," I said, keeping my tone polite as I stepped out of the car.
"I'm warning you!" Lucien's voice rang out behind me, frustration creeping in. "Why are you walking straight into a trap?"
I didn't turn around. Why should I care?Maybe things would've been different if we'd met under better circumstances. But we hadn't. And that left me where I was now.
"It's been a long time since anyone cared this much," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. "Maybe if they had... maybe things would've turned out differently." I swallowed the bitterness that clung to the words, but I kept walking, one step ahead of him.
Looking back would only make me hesitate. It might make me run. And I wasn't going to do that—not when I could already see what was coming.
The Lancasters had no idea what they were up against. They were being played by someone cruel enough to tear them apart from the inside. And no matter how much they'd wronged me, they were still my blood. I wasn't about to stand by and watch them fall into a trap.
I could feel Lucien behind me, but I didn't turn. I couldn't afford to.
I stepped inside the mansion with the same cold resolve that had driven me this far. Melissa and the others were already waiting, looking like they were just waiting to tear me apart.
"You're finally here?" Melissa sneered, her voice sharp enough to cut through the tension hanging in the air. "You've got some nerve coming back after what you did to my cousin!"
I almost laughed at her audacity. This was my home. Of course, I was coming back. Who the hell was going to stop me?
I kept my gaze flat and said, "Why wouldn't I come back? It's not like I'm some fake 'young miss' trying to act like she owns everything she sees."
Her eyes flared, and her lips curled into a venomous smile. "How dare you talk to me like that?"
Before I could respond, my so-called mother's voice cut through the room like a whip. Mrs. Lan. The woman who'd never once taken my side. The woman who had blamed me for everything—even when Melissa was the one who'd run away and caused all of this pain. But that didn't matter now. I didn't care about her.
"Why wouldn't I?" I answered, the words leaving my mouth as cold as ice. "Last I checked, I only had three brothers."
The words hung in the air like poison, and I watched as Melissa's face turned pale. Not because she cared about family, but because she needed the attention. Her next move was predictable.
"How dare you!" she hissed, rushing to Asher's side like a viper. She wrapped her fingers around his arm, her grip tight as she dragged him into her little drama. "Brother, look at her! She's saying I'm not family!"
There it was—the game she always played. Pulling Asher in. Twisting things just enough to make me look like the villain.
It used to hurt when he'd look at me with disdain, but not today. Not now.
"Glad you finally figured it out," I said, letting my words sink in. "You're not family. Just a pity project the Lancasters mistook for one of their own."
Asher's eyes locked with mine, and for a moment, there was something there. A flicker. A crack in his usually stoic expression. Anger? Confusion? I didn't care enough to guess.
Melissa leaned into him, pressing her chest to his like she was trying to absorb him. To own him.
"Brother," she whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "Are you really going to let her say that?"
Still, nothing from Asher. His jaw clenched, his fingers twitching slightly, but he didn't pull away. He didn't defend me. And I knew right then—he never would.
The silence that followed was thick with tension. It used to crush me, waiting for Asher to say something, anything. But today, it didn't matter. I didn't need his approval. Not anymore.
I met his gaze, the weight of my words sharp and unflinching. "You don't have to answer, Asher. Silence suits you."
Turning away, I stepped deeper into the mansion—into the place they all wanted me to disappear from. The place I once thought I could belong to.
I wasn't leaving until I had what I came for. This wasn't about revenge. Not entirely. It was about taking back what was mine. It was about them seeing me—really seeing me—as the true Young Miss of the Lancaster family. Whether they liked it or not.
I'd carve my place out of this suffocating house, make them recognize me. Or I'd make them regret it.
"Stop right there!"
The voice was unmistakable. Mrs. Lancaster. Of course, she was following me.
"Asher, what are you doing?" Her voice was sharp, as though my every step was an offense to her.
Asher's frown deepened. "Why are you walking that way?" His voice had an edge of confusion. A bit of irritation, maybe, but also something else I couldn't place.
"Brother, let her go wherever she wants!" Melissa snapped before I could speak, rushing to stand in front of him. Her eyes flickered with a panic I could see through in an instant. "She's a criminal! A noble person like you shouldn't even talk to her!"
Her outrage was just another performance. She didn't want them to know where I was headed. But I wasn't hiding it. I wasn't running.
I turned to face them one last time.
"Why do you care?" My voice cut through the air, sharp and unrelenting. "If you didn't care for me all this time, don't act like you do now."