From my hiding spot outside the shop, I watched Stephen drift into his thoughts. Seraphina leaned toward him and offered a spoonful of mint ice cream with a playful smile.
“You’re so quiet all of a sudden,” she said softly. “What’s on your mind?”
He blinked as if waking from a dream, then gestured toward the narrow alley beside the old elm tree outside.
“Do you remember what happened there?” he asked.
My fingers curled as a chill ran through me. He had always been reckless when he was younger — too fast, too fearless, convinced luck would always be on his side. One afternoon, he was sprinting down that alley when a car skidded wildly around the corner. Tires screamed against the pavement. He froze, terror locking his body in place. Without thinking, I threw myself forward and shoved him aside. The crash scraped my arms until they burned, the echo of metal slamming metal ringing in my ears.
I stayed with him until the ambulance arrived, gripping his hand, whispering to keep him awake. But that same afternoon, my grandmother collapsed at home. I had to leave the hospital to care for her.
When I came back later, hoping to see him again, I stopped short outside his room. Seraphina’s voice drifted out from inside.
“I’m the one who saved you,” she said sweetly. “If I hadn’t pushed you, you wouldn’t be here today.”
Stephen thanked her, his eyes full of gratitude.
My legs went weak. I didn’t have the strength to step in, to fight for the truth. I walked away, hollow and shaking.
From that moment on, the memory belonged to Seraphina. And I — the girl who had thrown herself in front of danger — vanished from his story.
---
I returned home as if nothing had happened.
Over the following week, I buried myself in work. I transferred all my personal assets to establish a charity foundation, personally organized the staff, attended every event, and stood before cameras pretending I was fine. My body, however, was giving up. One afternoon I collapsed right in the office.
Stephen rushed to my side, wanting to send me straight to the hospital, but I stopped him. The doctor brushed it off, saying it was expected in my condition and that I’d recover once the surgery was done.
He clasped my hand like I might shatter at any moment.
“I haven’t been around enough lately,” he said. “After your operation, I’ll drop everything. I’ll be with you all the time. I promise I’ll be early for the foundation ceremony tomorrow.”
I studied him — the unfamiliar strands of hair brushing his collar, the crisp white shirt, every detail suddenly foreign. I nodded. Deep down, I already knew it didn’t matter anymore.
The next day, I forced my aching body into my gown for what felt like the last time. I stood on the stage with the ribbon poised while applause thundered around me.
Then a scream cut through the noise.
The crowd split apart. A pregnant woman was sitting on the floor, hands gripping her stomach. She raised her head.
Seraphina.
My scalp prickled. She had hidden for five years, avoided me like a ghost. Now she was kneeling in the open, blood trickling from her forehead.
“I’m sorry, Amelia,” she cried. “I never meant to disappear. They threatened to kill me if I testified. I’ve lived with guilt every day since. If Mr. Holt hadn’t protected me, I don’t even know if I’d still be alive after what happened to your parents. I’m not asking you to forgive me… I just want the chance to make things right.”
Cameras flashed wildly. Reporters shoved microphones toward Stephen.
“She claims you sheltered her. What do you have to say, Mr. Holt? Are those your children?”
His expression hardened. He ignored them, ordered his guards to clear the hall. Soon, only Seraphina and I were left.
He instinctively leaned toward her, as if to lift her up — then hesitated and withdrew his hand. When he turned to me, reproach cut through his eyes.
“Addy, why did you let her kneel like that?”
I looked at Seraphina calmly.
“You’ve been in hiding for five years. Why come out now?”
She trembled. “I heard about your foundation. Everyone started looking for me. I’m exhausted, barely surviving. Please, Amelia… spare the babies. They don’t even have a father. I’ll make up for everything — I’ll be your servant, your slave, anything.”
I swallowed, staring at her swollen belly, at the children that had rewritten my entire life. Lies, betrayal, my broken marriage — it all rested in that moment.
Later, slumped against the leather seat in the back of the car, I tried to steady my breathing. My chest burned, my limbs throbbed, but I couldn’t fall apart yet.
Stephen’s words replayed in my head.
“Addy, I investigated everything. It wasn’t her fault. She was young, taken advantage of. She’s suffered for five years. Let go of your hatred and move forward.”
Move forward? How could I, when she had destroyed my family, slept with my husband, ruined the foundation I poured myself into, and now demanded mercy?
I straightened, forced my back rigid, and left the banquet hall alone.
Only when the car door shut did I crumble. Tears slid silently down my face as I pictured Stephen bending over Seraphina, wiping her blood away as though I had never been there.
My phone rang.
“You fake saint,” a shrill voice screamed. “Your filthy money won’t save you. Your parents deserved to die! Making a pregnant woman kneel? You’ll pay for this. Everyone knows what a bully you were. You should’ve died too!”
I hung up — but the attacks kept coming. Messages flooded in until the driver passed me my phone. The headlines were everywhere: Amelia Malonzo humiliates pregnant woman. Malonzo parents exposed as frauds. Former classmates reveal Amelia’s cruelty.
My fingers went numb as I tried to type a response. The comment disappeared the moment I sent it.
The driver spoke urgently.
“Madam, more than ten cars are tailing us. No license plates. The men are carrying iron rods.”
I twisted around. In the rearview mirror, masked figures were closing in, weapons raised.
Heart racing, I dialed Stephen, watching them draw nearer with every second.
