"Seraphina was about to open the door when it suddenly swung open. She gasped when she saw Lucca standing on the other side.
"Lucca," I uttered, staring at him.
"Let's talk," he said.
Was he going to talk about what I had witnessed last night? Did he think I was afraid of him? Because honestly, I wasn't scared at all. I knew Dominic was worried too. He was probably already thinking of how to explain everything to me without frightening me.
"Are we going to talk here?" I asked. It wasn't an ideal place since it was a bedroom. I didn't want anyone to think that Lucca and I were doing something behind closed doors.
"Let's have some tea in the garden," he said.
I nodded, got out of bed, and followed him. Lucca asked one of the maids to prepare some afternoon snacks. That's when I realized it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. That meant I had slept so deeply that I had completely missed lunch.
As we walked, my stomach growled, making Lucca glance at me.
"You skipped lunch. Are you avoiding me?" Lucca asked after hearing my stomach growl.
"No. I was sleeping," I answered.
We arrived at the garden and sat down. A few minutes later, the maid returned carrying a tray. There was a glass of cold orange juice for me and a cup of green tea for Lucca. She had also prepared some healthy sandwiches.
I immediately grabbed a sandwich because I was starving.
"You can have mine too. If you're still hungry, I can ask the maid to bring more," Lucca said.
He sounded unusually kind today. Or was I just imagining it? Maybe he was trying to make up for what happened last night.
But was I even angry with him? Definitely not. I had been shocked, yes, but scared of him? Not at all. I had only been avoiding him because I knew it would be awkward for both of us.
"I'm fine with this," I said while chewing the sandwich.
Lucca sighed before taking a sip of his green tea. I quietly watched him.
Then he caught me staring.
His eyes were different from before. They looked almost pleading. His face wasn't as expressionless as usual either. I couldn't quite tell what he was feeling, but it definitely wasn't indifference.
"Did I scare you?" Lucca suddenly asked.
I stopped chewing and looked at him.
So this was it. We were finally going to talk about what had happened last night.
"No," I answered honestly.
Lucca looked at me in confusion, as if he thought I was lying just to spare his feelings.
"Do I have a reason to be scared?" I asked.
Disbelief spread across Lucca's face. It was obvious he hadn't expected that answer.
"If you're not scared, then why have you been avoiding me?" he asked.
"I thought talking about it would be awkward. But now that we're talking about it, it doesn't seem like a big deal," I replied.
"Not a big deal?" Lucca repeated, his voice rising.
Did I say something wrong? Was I supposed to tell him I was terrified?
"Yeah." I took another sip of my orange juice.
Lucca stared at me, completely bewildered. The disbelief on his face was impossible to miss.
"I couldn't sleep all night because I thought I had scared you... only to find out it wasn't a big deal to you?"
"Why? Was I supposed to scream and run away just because I discovered your secret? That's what happens in TV dramas. This is real life, Lucca."
Lucca's POV
Seraphina's answers shocked me even more, especially when she said it wasn't a big deal to her. I had spent the entire night overthinking what I should do to make it up to her and how I should explain everything. But watching her now, calmly eating her food, made it obvious that she wasn't scared of me at all.
I had expected Seraphina to confront me and demand answers about my secret. Instead, she sat across from me, completely unbothered, focused on finishing her sandwiches.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked.
Then her eyes shifted to the sandwich on my plate, the one I hadn't even touched. She glanced back at me, clearly eyeing it.
"You don't want to eat your sandwich?" she asked.
A while ago, she had refused my offer to give it to her, and now she was asking for it instead.
"You can have it," I said.
"Thanks," she replied before taking the sandwich from my plate. She happily started munching on it again.
"I still can't believe you're not scared of me at all. I really thought you wouldn't talk to me anymore... or that you'd refuse the job I recently offered you."
"I guess I should be scared, right?" she said with a shrug. "Who in their right mind wouldn't be scared after witnessing something like that? Well... maybe I'm not in my right mind because it didn't scare me at all. It made me curious, but you don't have to explain everything if you don't want to."
"I have super strength," I admitted.
"I know," she replied casually.
I almost laughed but managed to hold it in. Her reactions were unbelievably calm.
"And now you know Damon and I were never friends," I added.
"Yeah. He used me to lure you there. He expected me to be scared after witnessing what you did."
So she knew Damon had planned everything all along. She realized we had both been caught in his trap.
"Now do you believe me when I say you shouldn't trust Damon? He's an enemy."
"Do you kill people?" she suddenly asked, catching me completely off guard. I hadn't expected that question, especially in this setting.
"Don't answer if you're not comfortable," she quickly added. "I just heard Damon call you a murderer."
"I don't kill innocent people," I answered.
But the moment those words left my mouth, I remembered the first time I had considered killing Seraphina just to get the ring.
She nodded.
"As long as you don't kill innocent people, it's not a big deal to me."
At that moment, I realized I had completely underestimated Seraphina. Everything I had assumed about her was wrong. She was nothing like I had imagined.
"I read a lot of books," she said. "Thrillers are my favorite genre. They keep me hooked and make me so curious that I end up finishing the whole book in one sitting."
She finished the sandwich I had given her and drank the rest of her orange juice.
"Do Dominic and Damian have super strength too?" she asked, looking at me seriously now, almost like an investigator.
What was the point of hiding it? She would find out sooner or later.
"Yes. But I'm stronger than both of them."
"So... you're not human?" she asked.
"I am human."
Why did she think I wasn't?
"Then where did your power come from?"
"When I was born, my master discovered that I possessed a rare kind of super strength. Only Dominic, Damian, and I have it."
"Do your parents know about it?" she asked again. Despite all her questions, I continued answering each one.
"They don't."
"Why?"
"They were too busy to pay attention to me. I just left it that way."
All my life, I had never answered questions that weren't important, especially questions about my personal life. Yet here I was, answering every question Seraphina asked. As much as I wanted to tell her to stop asking, I couldn't. And I knew exactly why.
Seraphina then stood up, saying she wanted to go back to her room.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to avoid you. Just don't tell Mira about it because it might shock her," Seraphina said before excusing herself.
I simply nodded and remained in the garden for the rest of the afternoon.
I still wasn't in the right state of mind. My thoughts kept drifting back to Seraphina. If anyone else had found out about my secret, they would have panicked and probably avoided me. But Seraphina? She was the complete opposite. Instead of being frightened, she was simply curious about the truth behind my strength.
I had been sitting there for several minutes when Dominic walked into the garden. Since Damian had gone shopping with Mira, the two of us were alone. Dominic didn't want to ruin their date, so he stayed behind.
"What's bothering you? Are you still worried?" Dominic asked.
"No," I answered simply.
"The king of overthinking is saying 'no'? I know you didn't sleep at all last night. But now it looks like everything's fine," Dominic said.
"Because, to Seraphina, it was nothing," I replied.
"Nothing? What do you mean? Did you talk to her?" Dominic asked eagerly.
"Yes. Just before you came. We talked."
"What did she say? Was she scared? Did you tell her about our strength too?" Dominic really was a curious cat. He wouldn't let me go until I answered all of his questions.
"She doesn't seem afraid of me at all. If anything, she's more curious about the source of our strength."
"You told her?" Dominic asked, sounding both surprised and excited.
"Yeah. We talked earlier, and to her, it wasn't a big deal. She even knows that I've killed people. And do you know what she said?" I paused before continuing. "'As long as you don't kill innocent people.'"
"Wow... I didn't expect Seraphina to react like that. I would've completely understood if she had been scared. But hearing that it didn't bother her at all makes me curious about how her mind works."
"You're closer to her, aren't you? Why don't you ask her yourself?" I suggested.
"If she wants to talk to me," Dominic replied.
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to clear my thoughts.
"Let's talk about this another time. I need to go back to my room and pack for tomorrow's flight."
"Oh, shoot! I almost forgot today is the last day of our vacation. No wonder Mira wanted to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend," Dominic said.
I wasn't really interested in listening to stories about Mira and Damian. It's their life and I'm out of it.
Seraphina's POV
I remained calm throughout my conversation with Lucca. I felt like I was so calm that it bothered him even more. I could tell from his expression that he was confused by my reaction. He had expected me to be terrified, yet I didn't react the way he thought I would. I stayed composed and told him that I wasn't scared at all.
The killings? Well, of course they scared me a little. I had never met someone who had killed people before. But I didn't let him see that. Discovering his strength wasn't exactly frightening. It was more shocking than anything else. However, hearing Lucca admit that he had killed people was a different story.
I returned to my room and sat on the bed.
Once we got back to the city, Lucca would become my boss. I'd be working with him every day and possibly even late into the night, depending on the workload he gave me.
Can I really work for someone who has killed people?
He had said that he didn't kill innocent people, only those who deserved it. Of course, he probably had his reasons, but I didn't want to know them right now. My mind was already full. I didn't want to uncover any more secrets about Lucca, Dominic, or Damian.
What worried me the most was Mira.
She must never find out about them, especially about her boyfriend.
What would Mira do if she discovered the truth?
I sighed and looked out the window. The sun was already setting, yet my thoughts made it feel as though the day had just begun.
My train of thought was interrupted when my phone rang.
I picked it up from the bedside table to see who was calling.
The moment I saw the caller's name, I simply stared at the screen until the call ended.
Why didn't I answer?
It was Damon.
I frowned when he called again.
What was he trying to do this time? Was he planning to provoke me again and make me discover things I wasn't supposed to know?
For the second time, I ignored the call.
A few seconds later, a text message arrived.
Ignoring my calls? I miss you, babe. I have so many things to tell you.
I rolled my eyes after reading it.
He was acting as if he hadn't done anything wrong last night. If I hadn't met him in the parking lot, none of this would have happened.
When Damon called for the third time, I finally answered.
"Hello," I said, unable to hide the annoyance in my voice.
"Hi, babe," Damon greeted me as though I were his girlfriend.
"Why are you calling me?" I asked, my tone still cold. I wanted him to know that I had no interest in talking to him.
"You sound annoyed. Shouldn't you be grateful that I helped you discover your boyfriend's little secret?" Damon asked before laughing.
"You planned all of this. You provoked him so I'd discover his secret."
"Shouldn't you be thanking me for that?" he asked.
"Why would I? I never asked you to do it," I replied, no longer hiding my anger.
"Babe, I only did it for your own good. If I hadn't done it, how much longer do you think they would've kept it from you?"
For a moment, I couldn't deny that Damon had a point. If he hadn't provoked Lucca, they probably would have continued hiding the truth from me.
"I want to see you," Damon said in a gentle voice.
"What for? I can't sneak out at night to meet someone while my boyfriend is here," I answered, once again using Lucca as my pretend boyfriend.
He chuckled.
"I thought you broke up with him after finding out he isn't an ordinary person."
At that moment, Damon's real intention became clear.
He hadn't called because he missed me.
He was calling to find out whether Lucca and I had broken up.
"I didn't break up with him just because of what I discovered last night. He explained everything, and I understood," I said.
"Hah! You're impossible, Seraphina. How—"
I didn't let him finish.
"Weren't you ordinary either?"
My question was met with silence.
"Your silence tells me I'm right," I concluded.
A second later, Damon burst into laughter.
"Seraphina... I'm starting to like you even more," Damon exclaimed.
"Stop saying that, Damon. And please stop calling me too. If Lucca finds out, he'll definitely be furious with you."
"Why is it always Lucca?" His sweet voice instantly turned into that of a madman.
I flinched slightly at the sudden change. One moment he sounded like an angel, and the next, his voice was filled with anger.
"Damon," I said, trying to calm him before he said something he would regret. I wanted to end the call right then and there, but I had a feeling it would only make him even angrier.
"So you prefer a man who's not ordinary? You like Lucca even more after discovering his strength? I have the same abilities as he does. So why not choose me?" Damon scoffed. "At least I'm approachable. I'll never be like Lucca, whose bad mood seems to last every single day."
I almost laughed at his remark, but I held it in.
This wasn't the right time to laugh.
Besides, he wasn't really joking. He was simply stating what he believed to be true.
"Lucca is Lucca... and I like him for who he is," I replied. The moment I said those words, I froze. Had I just admitted that I liked Lucca?
As soon as the words left my mouth, I remembered how annoyed I had been by his cold and rude attitude when we first met.
But despite that, he had helped me countless times.
He wasn't someone who expressed his feelings with words. Instead, he helped quietly, especially during the moments when I was at my lowest and needed someone the most.
I realized that I was slowly beginning to like him.
I had watched him change little by little. Although he was still blunt and sarcastic, he no longer wore that emotionless expression all the time. I could now see genuine emotions on his face.
He had become more caring and considerate toward me, just like what happened in Sagada.
I didn't know what he would be like once he officially became my boss, but I decided I'd worry about that when I finally started working at his company.
"I have to go now, Damon. And please stop messing with me," I said before ending the call.
Damon's POV
After Seraphina ended the call, I immediately hurled my phone across the room.
I didn't care whether it broke or not.
My blood was boiling.
Everything had gone against my expectations.
I had been certain that Seraphina would break up with Lucca after discovering his secret. Instead, she wasn't even afraid of him.
She talked about Lucca as though he were her entire world.
Grinding my teeth, I walked over to the table, dropped onto the sofa, and poured myself a glass of wine. I emptied it in a single gulp, hoping it would calm the anger burning inside me.
But it didn't.
I'm not giving up yet.
I still have one last card to play.
I'll continue using Seraphina until she falls into my trap. But before that happens, I need to destroy whatever is growing between her and Lucca.
I reached into my pocket, took out my other phone, and dialed the number of the one person who could ruin their relationship.
"Hey, Hillary. How have you been?" I asked with a smile. "When are you coming to the Philippines? I think Lucca misses you a lot."
I leaned back against the sofa, my smile growing even wider.
"You should come before someone else steals him away."
A slow, satisfied smile spread across my lips.
"Let's see if your feelings for Lucca are as strong as you think they are, Seraphina."