Hot, so hot.
Seraphina slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry.
She looked around at her surroundings: rows of clothes, pieces of jewelry…
It looked like a lounge.
Wasn't she dead? How did she get here?
The next instant, a strange, tingling sensation surged in her chest, burning her cheeks and making her fingertips tremble.
Her body felt incredibly weak, utterly powerless.
Seraphina's heart exploded with a "boom."
That familiar reaction—it was an aphrodisiac.
How could she not remember?
At nineteen, she was drugged at a banquet. Realizing something was wrong, she left immediately.
Unexpectedly, she ran into Zephyrus, her college classmate.
He took her inside to rest, while simultaneously ordering someone to fetch a doctor.
However, they were discovered shortly after entering the house.
Nothing happened between them, but she was the only one left naked from the waist up, and her reputation was ruined.
She had no choice but to marry Zephyrus.
On her wedding day, Zephyrus also married Lilith, subjecting her to humiliation and torment from that moment on.
Later, he forced her to become his prey, allowing Lilith to hunt her down. Unable to bear the humiliation, Seraphina pulled an arrow and plunged it into her own heart…
Seraphina regained her senses, finding the heat within her body growing increasingly intense.
She let out a soft groan, unable to bear it any longer, and bit the corner of her tongue, trembling.
Ouch, it hurts.
However, she clearly felt the dizziness and burning sensation lessen somewhat, and her mind could barely function.
In this life, she could never meet Zephyrus again.
Find someone else…
A figure flashed through her mind
The man had handsome features, but his eyes were dark and deep, always carrying a suffocating pressure when he looked at someone.
He was the family's adopted son, her older brother—Alaric.
Her parents died when she was four. From as far back as she could remember, he was the one who held the family together.
He was strict to the point of being harsh. If she was even slightly impolite, he would give her a cold glare, and she would be so frightened that she wouldn't dare to move.
She never dared to provoke him.
For ten years, she steadfastly kept her distance from him.
At seventeen, he led his declining family to become a publicly listed company, gaining status and influence.
It was he who, after her death, slaughtered Zephyrus's entire clan to avenge her.
Thinking of this, Seraphina felt a lump in her throat, an urge to cry rising within her.
A breeze stirred, its coolness brushing against her sweat-dampened hair.
Seraphina opened her eyes to find the door to the room before her ajar.
In her past life, she had entered this room, ultimately falling into Zephyrus's hands, her reputation utterly ruined.
In this life…
Seraphina abruptly turned, walking in the opposite direction without looking back.
The drug's effects kicked in again; a wave of dizziness washed over her, blurring her vision.
Seraphina bit her lower lip, walking step by step toward Alaric's presidential suite.
That was the only person she could trust, the only one who wouldn't harm her.
——
Seraphina stood before the dark wooden door, her heart pounding.
She reached out her hand. "Thump, thump." Two short, sharp thuds seemed to echo in her chest, each one a dull, painful thud.
The door opened.
It was that same handsome, aloof face, deep-set features, a cold, refined air.
Even just standing there, he commanded respect.
Seraphina looked up, meeting his deep, dark eyes, and her own eyes instantly welled with tears.
It was him! It really was him! She had finally seen him again!
The heat coursing through her body, combined with the pent-up resentment and pain in her heart, made her unable to hold back any longer. She threw herself into his arms.
"Brother..."
She called his name, her voice trembling and thick with emotion, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam.
At home, Alaric, though strict with her, had never wronged her…
But after marrying Zephyrus, she suffered every hardship she had never endured in her life.
She cried, staring intently at Alaric.
She missed him so much, so very much.
Caught off guard, Alaric was suddenly pulled into her arms.
He looked down at her.
She was naturally beautiful, her skin smooth and fair, with a subtle pinkish hue; now, her eyes were red at the corners, and the tip of her nose was also red.
Her eyelashes were wet and clinging together, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her lips were a strikingly vibrant color.
Looking up at him, she resembled a fallen begonia, swaying precariously, utterly pitiful.
Alaric's heart skipped a beat, as if something had gripped it tightly.
His hand paused in mid-air, not falling, but merely tightening slightly.
"What's wrong?" his voice was low and calm.
"Seraphina, tell me."
Those few words, though brief, struck Shen Mingshu like a hammer blow.
She cried even harder.
Waaah, how could he be so good?
The tears wouldn't stop; all the grievances and bitterness hidden deep within her heart poured out in that instant.
She had heard those words before in her past life.
On their wedding day, Alaric stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at her with a tenderness in his eyes she had never seen before.
His voice was hoarse then, and he asked her the same question.
But at the time, she still harbored fantasies about Zephyrus and didn't tell him the truth.
Only later did she realize that if she had told him that time, perhaps many things wouldn't have happened.
Seraphina sobbed uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face and onto Jiang Xun's clothes.
In her past life, she had gone to the hunting grounds with Zephyrus and Lilith, never expecting that upon arriving at the enclosure, Zephyrus would force her to act as a beast, to be hunted by Lilith.
Her face turned deathly pale, and almost instinctively she grabbed Zephyrus's sleeve.
But the next instant, Zephyrus lashed her with his whip, urging her to run into the jungle.
She knew that if she entered the jungle, even if she wasn't shot, she would be eaten by wild beasts.
Since there was only one outcome, she was at least a princess of her tribe.
She gritted her teeth, pulled out an arrow, and plunged it into her heart.
After her death, her ghost wandered the earth for seven days.
The day after her death, Alaric led his people into the Zephyrus household, killing them all.
Three days later, he seized all of the Zephyrus people's property.
Alaric returned home alone, to the room where she had once lived.
He sat there, his suit stained with dried blood, his hair disheveled, terribly thin.
He sat there quietly, staring blankly for a long, long time.
When his subordinates found him, it was the day after his death, his hand tightly clutching a bow hair clip—it was hers.
Seraphina suddenly opened her eyes, her thoughts pulled back from her past life.
She looked at Alaric before her, the image of him passing away on the sofa in his bedroom still flashing through her mind.
Without thinking, she grabbed his hand.
Right here, his hair clip was in his hand!
Where was it? She began to search his pockets.
Alaric froze, completely unprepared for her actions!
Then, he involuntarily swallowed, letting out a low groan.
A faint blush crept onto his earlobes.
The blush traveled down his slender cheeks to his temples.
A barely perceptible hint of panic appeared on his already cool and reserved face.