Chapter 24: The Last Warning

Chapter 24: The Last Warning Melissa’s POV "Fuck!" I shouted, my frustration spilling over like a storm. I had every part of the plan set. All I wanted was for that bitch to leave my house and never come back near my family again. Seraphina was supposed to be nothing, just a weak, helpless girl who couldn’t do anything on her own. But now? Suddenly, she’s acting like she’s strong. Talking back like she was the boss around here. And what shocked me the most was her fighting Jim—Jim! How is that even possible? I couldn’t understand what had changed. Where had I gone wrong? No matter what, I wasn’t going to let her return. I’d make her life so miserable, so painful, that she would wish she could just disappear forever. And for that, I had already reached out to Ralph. He needed someone, whether for his clients or his own twisted desires, and Seraphina was perfect for it. No one would care about her there. No one would notice if she disappeared. She’d be completely alone and forgotten. I waited, biting my nails for their call if everything was going well. When my cell phone rang. It was Ralph. "Hi, is everything going well?" I asked the moment I received the call. "She is beautiful," Ralph responded. His words made me smile a little. It felt good to hear that. "How long will you keep her?" I asked. I hoped he would keep her for a long time—or even get rid of her. I didn’t care. After talking to him for a while, I hung up the call after asking Ralph to send me some pictures of Seraphina suffering under their watch. It was already past midnight, and still—nothing from them. What the hell were they doing? I didn’t just hand them a girl... I gave them money to deal with Seraphina properly. So why weren’t they calling me? Why hadn’t I heard anything? I was still trying to figure out what to do next when I suddenly heard a loud, thundering voice. It was my brother. Asher. He was shouting my name from somewhere inside the house. My heart jumped. What now? Why was he yelling like that? I quickly stood up, trying to stay calm, even though my hands had started shaking. "Brother Asher?" I called out, pretending I didn’t hear the rage in his voice. "Why are you shouting like this? Is something wrong?" But before I could take another step, he pushed open the door so hard it slammed against the wall. His eyes were wild, and his face was twisted in fury. I had never seen him like this. "What did you do?" he growled, stepping closer. I took a step back, heart pounding. "W-What are you talking about?" "Don’t play dumb with me, Melissa," he snapped. "Where is Seraphina?" The name hit me like a slap. He knew. Or was he just looking for her and didn’t know anything? I needed to be careful, otherwise I might spill everything without even knowing. "I—I don’t know," I lied, trying to keep my voice steady. "Why would I know where she is?" But Asher wasn’t buying it. His eyes burned right through me. "I swear," he said, voice low and dangerous, "if anything happens to her... I’ll make you pay." Asher’s POV My rage was boiling over, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep it together. Everything was slipping out of control. In the end, the only thing I could think to do was call Adrian, my older brother. But even that didn’t help much. He couldn’t fix this. He didn’t understand how hard it was dealing with everything. And how could I even begin to tell him the truth? It was our own sister , Melissa, who had done this. That she had gone so far, so low, trying to destroy Seraphina’s life. If I hadn’t stepped in, she could’ve ruined everything. And maybe she still had. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to see her face again. But I couldn’t hold it in anymore. So I started the engine and drove back. I needed answers. I needed to look her in the eye and ask why. Why did she do all these things? But when I saw Melissa, she wasn’t how I expected. She was shaking all over, her body trembling like a leaf. Tears were spilling down her cheeks as if she’d completely lost control. I froze. I didn’t know what to say or how to move forward from here. But one thing was clear—Ralph wasn’t lying. There was something I didn’t know, and Melissa was definitely hiding it from me. Still, now wasn’t the right time to confront her head-on. If I pushed too hard, she might get suspicious. She’d cover her tracks, and I wouldn’t be able to find the truth that easily. So I held back—for now. But this wasn’t over and I would get to the bottom of this incident! "Brother..." Melissa’s voice trembled as she called out. "Can... can you tell me what happened to Sera?" I didn’t answer right away. I just stood there, staring at her. My mind had been raging with anger the whole night, but now, for some reason, I felt calm and cold. I felt I needed to listen to her and to see what she’d say when she thought I didn’t know everything. "I don’t know exactly what happened," I said after taking a deep breath. "It looks like she went missing. I thought Jim had something to do with it, so I went to him." "Wh... What!?" Her eyes went wide, lips slightly parted in shock. "Jim? What did he do?" "I’m not aware of that," I responded. "But I know that Jim is involved." "How could he do this?" Melissa rubbed her palms together. "How could he be so cruel?" "Just stay away from him. I don’t want you to get involved with him," I said. This was my last warning to her.