Chapter 3
Leo’s SnapChat messages kept coming.
“Liam! What did you do to Seraphina?!”
“She just rushed into the bar, face as white as a sheet, and dragged Julian out.”
“Wait, they’re back!”
“Whoa! Why is Julian wearing a male model’s outfit?!”
I curled my lips into a slight smile. “Send me some photos.”
Leo instantly replied with a nine-grid collage.
Seraphina sat at a booth, her face ashen.
Julian was huddled in a corner, his deep-V top exposing his entire chest, hair disheveled, the watch and suit crumpled in a ball in his arms.
“The Royal Bar’s policy was no leaving during peak hours. He has to stay in that outfit for two hours.”
Leo’s message carried the thrill of gossip.
“In just a short while, several groups have already come to harass Julian.”
“Seraphina’s face is practically black.”
“Julian truly doesn’t know his place, daring to provoke you. He won’t even know what hit him.”
When the peak hours ended, Leo sent the last photo.
The custom-made suit and watch were lying in the trash can by the entrance.
I forwarded the photo to my Ins story with a single caption:
“If it’s tainted, it belongs in the trash.”
The likes quickly soared past a hundred. Everyone knew that the suit and watch were the very ones Julian had flaunted on his Ins.
The message was crystal clear.
“Liam, Seraphina must be fuming today. Will she cause a scene when she gets home?”
I replied calmly, “No, she won’t. She’s in the wrong, so she won’t dare.”
When Seraphina came home late that night, her face was filled with anger.
“Liam Sullivan, where’s my wallet?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
I leaned back on the sofa, flipping through a financial magazine, without looking up.
Seraphina struggled to suppress her churning emotions.
“Liam, I admit I was wrong today.”
“But I’ve already done what you asked. Can you please give me back my things?”
I closed the magazine. “Explain.”
She stopped in front of the rug, her knuckles white from clenching. “Julian and I are just superior and subordinate. I brought him to the bar because he closed a big deal, it was a special reward.”
I scoffed coldly, put down my documents, and stood up.
“Seraphina Hayes, there are a thousand ways to reward someone. Why did you insist on making him wear my personal items?”
“You knew that suit was custom-made just last week.”
She stammered, “You never wore it. I thought you didn’t like it…”
“You’d rather give up a collaboration than go to a bar, yet you went just because he said a word?”
As I spoke, I stepped closer.
“I heard Julian messed up three collaborations last month. Does that kind of ‘skill’ deserve your special reward?”
Seraphina gripped the sofa arm, her knuckles white. After a long silence, she squeezed out through clenched teeth, “He smiles… a little like Caleb.”
Caleb, her foster brother’s name.
I pulled a leather wallet from the drawer and pushed it toward her, speaking softly. “Seraphina, I know you’re sentimental, but a stand-in will never truly be that person.”
“I hope you understand that projecting your regret for a deceased person onto someone else both demeans their memory and betrays me.”
Her fingers trembled as she took the wallet. Then, she suddenly lunged into my arms. “Liam, I’m so sorry. I truly made a mistake.”
“There’s really nothing inappropriate between Julian and me. I promise I’ll keep my distance from him from now on.”
“Nothing like this will ever happen again. Please don’t be angry anymore, okay? Husband!”
Her voice softened, laced with a playful plea, as she leaned into my embrace.
I sighed helplessly, ultimately choosing to concede.
“This is a warning. Remember it well. There won’t be a next time.”
She didn’t pull away, but instead held me tighter, her voice muffled against my shoulder.
“There won’t be a next time.”
I scooped her up by the waist and carried her straight to the bedroom.