Chapter 13
That night, as Seraphim watched the video, his entire body trembled violently until he collapsed, consumed by a fury so intense it rendered him unconscious. Callum, shaken by the spectacle, abruptly called off the banquet, and they returned home that very night–leaving humiliation in their wake.
The incident didn’t end there. Some onlookers had captured the scene, and soon the footage went viral online, drawing a flood of attention from netizens. Outrage simmered in the comments.
“Oh my god, she’s the daughter of the Oscar–winning actress, Isolde! Can you imagine how devastated Isolde would be if she knew. After her death, her daughter’s been treated like this?”
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“I used to think she was ruthless, that she even went so far as hiring someone to kill- but it was all lies. I feel terrible for believing the rumors.”
“I get why stepmothers and illegitimate daughters would act that way, but how could Thalia’s own father and brother treat her like this?”
“Mr. Wynn always claimed to have loved Isolde with all his heart. And yet, after her death, he and his son teamed up to torment her daughter? Disgusting.”
“Being betrayed and mistreated by the very people she must’ve loved most… I can’t even begin to imagine the pain Thalia must be enduring.”
Cassian and Callum saw every damning
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remark, each one striking them like needles to their hearts. But more potent than the pain was a gnawing fear. Thalia had gone missing. Ever since that disastrous night at Selene’s party, she had vanished.
Returning home, they found not a trace of her. Everything of hers–clothes, photographs, personal belongings–was gone as if she had never been there.
Cassian’s eyes fastened on one faint relic left behind: a wedding dress gathering dust in the far corner of her former room. His vision blurred with red, uncertainty and longing boiling over.
Callum, suffocating under the weight of regret and anger, suddenly lashed out. He swung his fist squarely at Cassian’s face, rage animating every blow. “This is on you! If you hadn’t gotten involved with Selene and
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let her dirty laundry come spilling out, Thalia never would’ve left!”
Cassian stumbled but retaliated almost immediately, seizing a dusty necklace from the table and hurling it with venom at Callum. “Me? You’ve got the gall to point fingers? You stayed quiet all this time. If you’d warned me sooner or stepped in, none of this would’ve escalated. Don’t you dare tell me this is my fault when you’re just as guilty!”
Callum clenched his jaw, but his chest tightened with guilt. The ache in his heart was almost unbearable, but his anger flared brighter, fueling his next blow. His punch landed squarely, knocking Cassian back. Incandescent with rage, Callum roared, “You think you have the right to lecture me? Weren’t you the one who let Selene humiliate Thalia over and over again? And now you
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dare speak of responsibility?”
Cassian, his face twisted in bitterness, hissed, “You think I cared about Selene? It was just a game–a distraction. Thalia has always been the one I loved. She always will be. When she comes back–when I find her -I’ll explain everything to her and make it right. I’ll marry her.”
“Marry her?” Callum sneered, his icy laugh cutting through the tension. His glare was sharp, slicing through whatever fragile threads of civility might have still existed between them. “In your dreams!”
Cassian’s fists tightened so hard his knuckles cracked like breaking glass. Overwhelmed by a tempest of fury, he lunged at Callum, landing punch after punch. “Shut up!” he bellowed.
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The two fought like wild animals, blind to the injuries they inflicted on one another. By the time the frenzy subsided, both were battered, bruised, and collapsed on the ground. Their brotherly bond now lay shattered alongside their breathless bodies.
For ten days, they rotted in hospital beds, their wounds a physical reminder of the chaos they had become. And yet, even after they were discharged, Thalia remained the only thing on their minds. Desperation consumed them both, and they spared no effort or expense in searching for her. But no matter how many resources they threw at the task, the trail led nowhere. Their failure drove them to the edge of madness.
At home, Mr. Wynn shut himself in his study, the weight of guilt and humiliation crushing him. The next day, he filed a lawsuit, dragging Selene and her accomplice,
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Rowena, to the police station. When the dust settled, Selene and Rowena were left pleading in desperation outside the gates of the Wynn estate.
Mr. Wynn emerged only briefly, his presence almost ghostly. He looked broken, haggard, a man who had aged decades overnight. His frantic eyes brimmed with regret as he muttered, “Go away… Just leave. Don’t you understand? This is all my fault. I failed Isolde. I failed Thalia. Every bit of love I gave was a lie–I don’t deserve forgiveness.”
And with those words, he disappeared back inside, drowning himself in alcohol, day after day, as though hoping to escape the enormity of his own mistakes.
Meanwhile, Cassian and Callum sought Selene–for reasons only they understood.
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She met them with a tear–streaked face, her red–rimmed eyes swollen from endless. crying. Clutching onto what scraps of dignity she had left, she begged pathetically, “Cassian… Callum… Can’t you let me see Dad? Please. I know what we did was wrong, what my mother and I… but we did it all for you. Because we love you.”
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