Chapter 4 Chapter 4

SERA

From the impatient look on their faces, I immediately know that this is meant to be a quick one.

Being so close to Camille triggers something hot and fiery inside my chest, but I keep my expression calm and impassive.

I do not wait for them to offer me a seat around the table as I pull a chair back. They exchange stunned glances before glaring at me once again.

Octavia leans forward, pushing forward a neatly folded file towards me.

I take one look at the heading of the document and scoff silently.

My heart doesn't skip. I had been expecting this approach.

A silent, lacklustre dismissal in black and white. An agreement that will tear away the only part of me that's left after eight dreadful years.

God, the Aristons really think they can bend the world to their will with a piece of paper.

I look at her right in the eyes, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear and I quietly ask, “Where is Cassian?”

“He will not be joining us,” Octavia replies, her tone flat and clenched.

I feel a sudden discomfort in my chest and the hairs at the back of my neck hackles.

I still wonder what they'd been talking about before I had walked in.

Could they have had something to do with what happened to me?

I clear my throat softly, adjusting my posture to appear more erect, “And does Cassian know about this meeting?”

“Of course, and he fully consents to it,” she snaps and points at the document, “we don't have all day. Go over that, sign the document and we can be done with this.”

Camille sighs and stares at me impatiently, “Mother, we have to be on time. The yacht will be waiting.” She stresses.

Her voice alone is enough to cause an eruption in my blood, but I put my head down, and read through the document.

A divorce.

Classic.

I shouldn't feel this hurt. My heart isn't supposed to feel so heavy and throb so painfully. The vanity of it all becomes clear to me and it leaves a gaping hole in my chest where hope had once occupied.

“You are trouble,” Octavia scolds, her voice as vicious as a whiplash. “Since you have returned, legally, you're still married to my grandson. The court recognises you as his wife.”

Camille scoffs and Octavia’s hand gently pats her shoulder.

“To save everyone the drama, including our precious Elara, we are offering you a million dollars, Sera. Take it, give up custody of the child and we will never have to see your wretched face again.”

My head snaps back slightly at the bite in her tone, she could have as well just spat on my face.

The world around me swirls. The bitterness in my heart grows deep roots, fueling my rage once more.

My lips quiver, not out of fright, but pure spite and anger.

How dare they?!

They think my child is worth any monetary value? They think a million dollars can make up for eight lost and yearning years of my life?

My expression remains stone-cold and my voice is as cool as a cucumber despite the raging storm inside my head.

I open the file, flipping through the pages of the document.

My heart clenches slightly when I see Cassian's signature at the end of it.

I bite my lower lip bitterly.

He doesn't even have the decency to do this to my face. That shows how badly he wants to get rid of me.

“I am sure a million dollars will be a real game changer for someone in your…situation.” Camille snarls.

I pick up the pen gently, my fingers shaky. I place its tip right below my name and they both exchange a quick smile.

I hide mine.

I slowly draw a line across the document, then another and another in a zigzag motion, from the bottom to the top.

At first, they are stunned and quiet, then comes the uproar I have been expecting.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?!” Camille bellows, springing to her feet.

Octavia’s face turns purple. Her eyes sink into her skull as though her entire face absorbs the shock. She slowly rises to her feet, but I do not stop. I keep scribbling the lines until it looks like complete jargon.

“You are crazy! Will you stop that!” She snaps, “you disgraceful woman!”

Camille rushes across the desk and yanks the paper out of my grip, nearly ripping it in half. I look up with a smile and sigh,

“You ruined it. I was almost done with my signature.”

“You are insane.”

I slam my palms on the desk, my anger flaring into a conflagration in my chest, “I am insane? For wanting my child?” I scream at her, “You can give me all the money in the world but I will never leave my child! Do you hear me?!”

Camille shakes her head, her anger dissipating into a pitiful look. “When, Sera? When will you realize that you’re a thing of the past, huh? The child has no idea who you are—she couldn’t possibly care less! How can you call a child yours when everyone else knows the truth? You were nothing but a baby machine to the Ariston family and that was all by accident anyway.”

She tosses the paper aside, drawing closer to me, “Go out there and tell everyone that you are her mother.  You think anyone would believe you? Do you really think my daughter would see you and want to associate with pathetic scum like you?”

My fists clench as she takes out her phone. I try to suppress my anger, but her words only fuel it. She shows me a picture of her and Elara. My heart sinks drastically when I see the joy on their faces.

My own daughter thinks someone else is her mother and she is perfectly okay with it.

“That was us this morning. I am sure you can see it, the perfect mother and daughter. You want to step in and ruin her life?” she scoffs, “you can never have the bond Elara and I share, so take the money and fuck off, you ungrateful bitch!”

The truth in her words sting my chest more than her insults. She is right, Elara might never grow to see me as her mother and that….that’s the worst thing I can ever imagine.

I smack her phone out of her hand in a fit of rage and it goes crashing against the wall.

“To hell with you and your generosity! All of you!”

She gasps at her phone, “You ungrateful—how dare you?!”

Her hand flashes in the air, landing a stinging slap across my cheek.

Without thinking twice and barely even feeling the pain, I retaliate immediately and the sting vibrates through my palm.

Octavia screams in shock. The door opens at that moment. Cassian walks in, his eyes stunned and darting right past me.

I turn around to find Camille sprawled on the floor, Octavia kneeling beside her and glaring at me with fury.

“How dare you hit a pregnant woman, you imbecile.”