Chapter 3The Day I Stopped Being Mad

I couldn’t endure the humiliation.

The day after I discovered their affair, I screenshotted some dubious financial correspondence and sent them to our core client group. It was quickly dismissed, but it caused a momentary panic.

The next day, I dumped all of Rhys’s belongings out of the villa while Sera watched.

“Get out.”

Rhys clung to Sera’s sleeve, tears in his eyes.

Sera merely gave me a cold look and made a phone call. Less than thirty minutes later, every card in my name was frozen.

On the third day, I approached her company's most important investor, hinting that her turbulent private life might compromise her fund’s reputation.

That evening, Sera returned home smelling of expensive scotch.

She dragged me into the study and forced me to sit in front of the computer. On the screen was the signed confirmation that the investor had increased their investment.

“Adrian Cole, is that all you’ve got?”

Sera was right. When it came to manipulating capital and people, her student had surpassed the master long ago.

In a fit of rage, I gathered materials on some of her ethically questionable project maneuvers and filed an anonymous but detailed complaint with the relevant regulatory bodies. While I was at it, I went to the non-profit where Rhys was due to be promoted and gave his supervisor an ‘objective’ account of his character.

The result? The private family foundation I managed was hit with an immediate audit, and I was given a travel ban.

When I stormed into her office to confront her, she was feeding Rhys a piece of cake.

“Stop this, Adrian.”

She wiped a smear of frosting from Rhys’s mouth.

“If you touch Rhys again, I can’t guarantee you’ll walk away from the trouble I’m about to drop on you.”

In that moment, I felt a deep, crushing helplessness. I finally understood that in the high-stakes game of capital and power, the current Seraphina was leagues beyond me.

“Cole?”

A voice of feigned surprise yanked me back to the present.

Rhys Bennett was standing beside the table. He was wearing an expensive, on-trend designer suit—polished, handsome, and clearly protected by an armor of money.

“It really is you, Cole! I almost didn’t recognize you. I thought you were someone’s hired housekeeper.”

I watched his performance in silence.

“What are you doing these days? I heard you’re running a food stand?”

He wore a mask of pity, but his eyes held clear schadenfreude. “You were the god of our finance world, Cole. How could you fall this far…”

Sera frowned. “Rhys!”

“Oh, I was just expressing concern,” he said, shaking her arm with a little-boy whine. “We’re old friends, aren’t we? What’s wrong with catching up?”

I offered a chilling, mirthless smile. “The old friend who nearly had you indicted?”

The temperature in the diner instantly plummeted.

Five years ago, while Sera and I were locked in this exhaustive cycle of mutual torment, another devastating blow landed.

My father, always healthy and active, had a sudden, fatal heart attack after being implicated in a failed investment project, leaving behind massive debt.

I rushed back, grief-stricken, to find Sera tightly holding a trembling Rhys.

She was comforting him. “Don’t be scared. It’s okay. Investments are risky; this isn’t your fault…”

I learned that the project that had dragged my father into ruin—the one he’d poured his life savings into—was based on information Rhys had ‘casually’ passed along to him. Rhys had used my trust to gain my father's ear, persuading him to take the plunge.

My father was dead, crushed by debt, while Rhys stood there, playing the role of the innocent bystander.

I collapsed, weeping, grabbing Rhys’s shoulders and shaking him.

“Why! My father trusted you!”

Sera forcefully pried my hands away, pulling Rhys behind her.

“Adrian! Calm down! Rhys is a victim too! He just shared information out of good faith—your father made the final decision!”

The tragedy was officially ruled as my father's death by suicide due to financial distress.

Rhys came to the funeral and wept with convincing sincerity.

“I’m sorry, Cole. I truly had no idea…”

I slapped him hard across the face, then lunged to grab him again.

“My father was so good to you! Why did you ruin him!”

Sera violently shoved me back. I stumbled, knocking over my father’s framed picture. The glass shattered across the floor.

“Have you lost it, Adrian! Can’t you tell right from wrong anymore? Rhys was cheated too!”

I felt cold, my heart turned to ash. “And my father? Did he deserve to die like that?”

“Why does real sincerity always get trampled?”

Sera, to prevent me from hurting Rhys, called the police. I was detained on charges of disturbing the peace and assault.

The next time I saw her was in the holding cell. She brought the divorce agreement.

“Adrian, sign this, and everything ends here.”

My heart was dead wood. I scanned the agreement.

“...You want me to assume all of my father’s debt? And forfeit all our joint assets?”

Sera showed me photos of loan sharks vandalizing our villa, splashing paint on the walls, and sending death threats.

“Your father’s failed investment—Rhys nearly had a breakdown from the guilt.”

“This money will serve as compensation for his emotional distress, and… atonement for your father.”

“When you get out…”

She sighed, her voice laced with near-pity. “Find somewhere quiet, and live peacefully.”

My tears were long exhausted. I simply stared at her, numb.

In that instant, every memory of love, every vow, every act of support—it all twisted into the sharpest, most cynical betrayal, tearing my heart to shreds.

I signed as she wished, inheriting a mountain of debt and leaving with nothing but the clothes on my back.