Chapter 11
I made a special trip to see Eldric.
“If you’ve come to mock me, you can leave now,” he glared at me with hatred.
I had never seen Eldric so downtrodden–in just a few days, he’d fallen from golden boy to prisoner.
“Returning this to you.” I handed him a worn teddy bear.
Sewn up many times, it clearly showed how much its owner had treasured it.
Eldric
gave
it a cursory glance, scoffing coldly. “What’s this? Some new trick you and Kaelan cooked up?”
I sighed, “So you really did forget.”
Eldric held the toy up to his face, his expression shifting several times.
“You’re… that little girl who saved me when I was a child?”
When he was six, Eldric’s birth mother was still healthy.
During the hottest part of summer, the family of three went to the countryside to escape the heat.
The little boy, playing carelessly, slipped into the river while fishing.
I happened to be passing by and saw it happen. I shouted for help, bringing adults who pulled him out.
At that time, my parents were working hard, and I had been left at my grandmother’s house, bored out of my mind.
Eldric filled the void of a playmate.
When we played games, he was the father, and I was the mother.
The handsome little boy placed his favorite teddy bear in my palm and said with all seriousness.
“TV shows say you repay a life debt by marrying the person. Seraphina, I’ll marry you when I grow up.”
Years later when we met again, we had become step siblings with different parents.
He didn’t recognize me and hated me bitterly.
“It was you? How is that possible…”
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Chapter 11
As past memories intertwined, Eldric closed his eyes tightly, his mouth twitching slightly as if enduring
inner torment.
After a while, he opened his eyes, the corners tinged with red.
“Why… didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Guilt, I suppose. I always thought if tormenting me made you feel better, I could bear it.”
Compared to his belated regret, my smile was calm, unruffled.
“I told you I liked you, brother.”
Eldric seemed dazed for a moment. He remembered that night of my first sex, when the young girl cried in pain.
She had opened her heart, saying she liked him very much.
He had been so consumed by the satisfaction of his revenge that he hadn’t taken it to heart.
Eldric clutched his chest as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart, making it hard to breathe.
“Do you know why I married Kaelan? Not for status or wealth, but because he could protect me.”
My voice was soft. “Brother, I was afraid after being bullied by you and your girlfriend for so long.”
“I’m sorry, Seraphina. I’m so sorry.”
Eldric’s eyes were red. “…I was too presumptuous. I should have realized earlier.”
With Kaelan’s power and position, when he wanted to marry someone, there was no room for refusal.
I raised my hand to wipe away his tears. My sleeve slipped, inadvertently revealing criss–crossing scars
on my arm.
Eldric grabbed my wrist. “What’s this?”
“Nothing.”
I let out a small hiss of pain, conspicuously covering it up.
“People always say I have a lucky marriage, but actually, I just jumped from one fire into another.”
“That sick asshole,” Eldric cursed.
Having set the stage, I finally revealed the purpose of my visit.
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Chapter 11
“During this time when you and Kaelan were at odds, I know you collected evidence of his illegal activities over the years.”
“You want to bring him down? It’s useless–the Winters family’s roots run too deep…”
I looked at him, gentle yet determined. “Give it to me, Eldric. I have a way.”
Eldric sighed softly, leaning in to whisper something in my ear.
As I rose to leave, Eldric suddenly called after me.
“Seraphina, I owe you too much.”
I didn’t look back, nor did I pause my steps.
It didn’t matter.
After all, who would hold a grudge against a criminal spending the rest of his life in prison?
I smiled, genuinely and sincerely.
