Late autumn, at dusk.
The boundless twilight spilled from the clouds, staining Hallowmount Cemetery the color of blood.
Seraphina Quinn knelt before her ex-husband's gravestone, the joss paper still burning.
A QR code was thrust in front of her.
"Miss Quinn, the fees for your ex-husband's burial plot are six months overdue. If you fail to pay, we'll be forced to... dispose of the urn. We hope you understand."
Her ex-husband's death had been sudden, and it had coincided with the Quinn Family's catastrophic downfall. Seraphina had bought this plot on an installment plan.
Now, she was six months behind on payments.
But she truly had no money left.
The Quinn Family's mountain of debt was already suffocating her. She simply couldn't afford the 5,000-yuan monthly payment for the plot.
But she couldn't just let Damian Fairchild be without a grave, could she? It was tragic enough that his body was never recovered after the plane crash. If he didn't even have a cenotaph…
The thought of Damian Fairchild sent a sharp pain through Seraphina's heart.
"Steward Jordan, please, could you give me a little more time? At the end of the month, I…"
"Miss Quinn, I'll give you ten days! If the fees aren't settled in ten days, we're applying to have the plot legally auctioned! You've dragged this out for half a year. Aren't you afraid your ex-husband won't be able to rest in peace and will come back to haunt you? Don't bring that bad luck on yourself. Just pay up!"
"The Quinn Family may be bankrupt, but even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. This plot is two hundred thousand. We let you pay in installments, and you're still overdue! Are you trying to get it for free?"
Steward Jordan's face was a mask of contempt.
'I'll definitely do it.' 'I promise.' 'Absolutely.' He was sick of hearing those empty phrases! In the end, there was never any money.
He really regretted selling to her. Their cemetery was nestled by mountains and water, with excellent feng shui.
In the past few years, several clients who had buried their relatives here had struck it rich, causing plot prices to skyrocket. A decent spot could now sell for a million. He had taken a massive loss!
"Ten days! Just ten! Not a single day more!"
Steward Jordan delivered his ultimatum and stormed off.
Seraphina let out a noticeable sigh of relief.
'In a little while, I'll get 3,000 yuan from my part-time job. Then I can make a minimum payment and buy myself another month…'
Seraphina quickly picked up her phone, wanting to confirm when she would be paid.
Just as she unlocked it, a call came in from her aunt.
Seraphina answered reluctantly.
"Seraphina, dear, remember to come early for dinner tonight. And dress nicely. Mr. Sharp may be a bit old, but he's still picky. You've been married before and you've had an abortion. That already puts you at a disadvantage. If you don't dress up, Mr. Sharp won't even give you a second look."
"I know, Aunt." Seraphina had no desire to hear any of this.
On the other end, Quincy Sterling prattled on.
"Seraphina, dear, I'm doing this for your own good! The Quinn Family collapsed long ago, and you've got all those debts, left all alone in this world. How are you supposed to survive without someone to rely on? You'd better find a rich man while you're still young. Besides, Mr. Sharp is well-connected in both politics and business. If you can win his favor, he could get your little uncle out with just a word, couldn't he?"
"Hurry up, don't keep Mr. Sharp waiting!"
"Yes, I know." Seraphina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but the veins bulged on the hand gripping her phone.
'My uncle was clearly framed by those people. They're just trying to force my hand, to seize the last of the Quinn Family's assets and squeeze every last drop of value out of me. Pathetically, I have nowhere to turn for help. My only choice is to let my aunt arrange these blind dates with old men, grasping at one last chance.'
Seraphina wretchedly hung up the phone.
A news alert popped up on her phone: The Fairchild Consortium's Crown Prince returns with his fiancée to take over domestic operations.
She was in no mood for high-society gossip and dismissed the notification.
She swiped so fast she almost missed the WeChat notification from her best friend.
"Seraphina, did you see the news?"
"Is it possible Damian Fairchild never died? The Crown Prince of the Fairchild Consortium that our station interviewed today looks so much like him! His face, his build... he's at least a ninety percent match!"
'How is that possible?'
'A man who's been dead for five years? A man the international community gave up searching for? How could he come back to life?'
Seraphina gave a bitter laugh. "Buckley, what kind of joke is this? I've never heard of anyone surviving a plane crash like that!"
"But, Seraphina, they really do look alike! I'll send you a video!"
A moment later, after a few buffering spins, a video of a bustling crowd arrived.
Seraphina tapped to play it.
In an instant, she froze.
'He looks so much like him!'
The man in the video was in a sharp suit, surrounded by bodyguards. Though he was only visible in profile, she could still make out the contours of his face. Except for the beauty mark missing from the corner of his right eye, his brows, nose, and thin lips were nearly identical to Damian Fairchild's.
But she quickly dismissed the thought.
This man's aura was completely different from Damian's.
Especially those phoenix eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses—they were distant, cold, and aggressive. He practically had "stay away" written all over him.
The Damian she remembered from their student days was like a warm spring sun, his eyes always filled with a gentle, unending affection.
'It can't be him.'
'It's impossible that it's him!'
Seraphina shook her head in denial.
Her Damian was a ray of sunshine.
He would wake up early to make her cute bento boxes.
When she was on her period, he would make her brown sugar and ginger tea.
On his days off, he would take her on his bicycle, riding through all the streets and alleys of the city.
He was so good. How could he possibly be this cold, powerful heir from the world of finance?
He was the kind of person who wished he could split a single dollar in two.
He'd stay at the school library late into the night just to save on electricity.
To buy her a birthday present, he'd skipped eating an extra egg for breakfast and worked a part-time job for three whole months, rain or shine!
'No, it can't be!'
Seraphina took an involuntary step back and closed the video.
"Seraphina? Seraphina? Why aren't you answering me!"
"Are you okay?"
Seeing Seraphina hadn't replied for a while, her best friend, Zella Buckley, sent more messages and tried a voice call.
Seraphina declined it.
"I'm fine, Buckley. It's not him. He was an orphan. He couldn't even afford to rent a basement apartment. How could he possibly be the Crown Prince of the Fairchild Group? He's been dead for five years..." She typed out the words, one by one.
'If he were alive, he would have come looking for me, right?'
'…Wouldn't he?'
Seraphina wasn't so sure anymore.
After all, he had been so desperate back then.
On that night of torrential rain, he had begged her not to go, his eyes bloodshot, his body soaked, looking so utterly wretched.
"Seraphina, don't leave, okay?"
"Seraphina, believe me. Being poor is only temporary. Just give me some time, and I swear I can give you everything you want."
But the Seraphina of back then had only met his desperate pleas with a cold smile.
"Damian Fairchild, we're not from the same world. Let it go."
"Our marriage wasn't witnessed by family, and it's not legally recognized here. It doesn't count."
"Besides, I've fallen in love with someone else."
"I don't love you anymore. Do you understand?"
"Seraphina…"
"I'm begging you, stay… I can't live without you…"
Seraphina's thoughts snapped back to the present. She glanced at the faint scar on her wrist, slowly deleted the message she had been about to send, and typed out a new one: "Buckley, it's not him. I have to get on my bike. Talk later."
'How could a man who's been dead for five years suddenly come back?'
'Her Damian, if he knew how much she had suffered all these years, would have rushed back to her side without a second thought.'
'This man is definitely not him!'
'Absolutely not!'