Chapter four : Seth

Nyla Seraphine, the only daughter of Alexander Seraphine and Valencia Seraphine—a family widely known and respected for their successful careers.

Nyla had always been a brilliant troublemaker at her previous school. She studied there from kindergarten until the very end—where things fell apart. She was suspended after an aggressive altercation with a classmate.

Thats what Miss Lissy mentioned, with a raised brow and a thin smile-like she'd been expecting something like that from Nyla all along.

She doesn’t seem like a silent bird either. She’s a—

My vibrating phone pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice unsure.

Silence lingered on the other end before a familiar voice finally came through.

"Oh... Appa," I breathed.

I sat up straighter, heart beginning to pound.

"How are you doing?" His rough voice ran through me like a cold shiver.

"Fine," I replied, swallowing the tension in my throat.

Then came the question.

"When are you visiting me?"

Perfect. The one thing I didn’t have an answer for.

"I won’t be free anytime soon," I said, trying to sound composed. "The academic year is short, and things are packed. I can’t make a trip right now."

"And....the company is on track. Are you still not interested in being part of it?"

"Appa, how many times do I have to say it?" My voice dropped lower. "You know I’m not interested."

No response. Just silence.

I cleared my throat, trying not to let my emotions show, but my eyes were already filling with tears.

Even though I am twenty eight, the fear I carried for my father was still deep—too deep.

A thousand thoughts flooded in. He wasn’t saying anything, but somehow, my mind heard all the things he could’ve said. It projected memories and moments in flashes—like static cutting through silence.

I hung up and kept the phone on the table, fingers shivering and knuckles whitening. Tears kept escaping my eyes.

" Boys are not supposed to cry...Wipe your tears quickly... Come on, you look ugly...", My mother's honey-like voice rang in my ears and involuntarily my palms rose to wipe my damp, pink cheeks.

I cried more, unable to control my emotions—chest rising and falling faster. Images of my monstrous father, holding a black belt with his red eyes fixed on my teary ones, flashed before me. Apologizing, even though I did nothing.

Oh God… just a fucking call. And it triggered my whole body.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move—just let that weight sink in a second more. Like my body needed to feel every ounce of it before it passed. My lungs burned, but I didn’t dare exhale. I sat there, still as stone, heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted out.

It wasn’t just fear. It was something older. Something that had grown roots inside me long ago and never left.

I clenched my fists into the fabric of my pants, grounding myself in something—anything—that wasn't him. The silence in the room was so loud, it felt like it could split open the air.

My chest ached with all the things I wanted to scream but couldn’t. Things like I’m not that kid anymore—even though some part of me still was.

I blinked once. Twice. Let the tears fall without wiping them. Just sat in it.

I’ll have to go through it.That’s life, isn’t it?

Maybe because I have to that's what the fate is. I have to live through it.

Go through it.

Maybe all of it.

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