Author's note: this is from Duke's point of view

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I was having a fantastic day in Serina's apartment.

We shared a meal on the rooftop terrace and spoke about everything and anything while catching up.

I was fascinated to hear what Serina did in the last few years.

She told me that she finished her college online and that Aldus is teaching her about business and chemistry so that she can help him at Notte Pharmaceuticals; not only in leadership but also in coming up with new products. In addition to that, she learned several languages and took dancing lessons, and she picked up painting as a hobby.

Serina is beyond amazing.

"Can you paint me?", I asked, and my curiosity was piqued when she squirmed uncomfortably. "What are you hiding?"

She got her phone and unlocked it before handing it to me.

"I kind of did…", she said, and my eyes widened at several photos of me. No, not photos. Those were photos of drawings and paintings, from simple sketches to detailed oil paintings.

It was the younger me, from high school. They were great. So much detail.

"You are very talented.", she smiled at my compliment, but I meant it.

"You painted me.", I stated the obvious. "Does this mean you were thinking about me?"

She snatched her phone back and huffed. "I don't know why I showed you these. Now you have material to tease me."

"I will not tease you, Serina. I am glad you were thinking about me because I was thinking about you all the time."

"You did?"

I knew that she was insecure, but if I opened up and told her everything, she would probably freak out. Sometimes, I was freaking out myself because my feelings toward Serina were a mix of infatuation and obsession. And they still are.

"How do you think I connected you are Seraphina?", I asked and waited to get her full attention before I continued. "I would turn after every girl who resembles you in any way, only to be disappointed that it's not you. About three years ago, London was buzzing about Aldus Mezzanotte introducing his daughter. It got to my ears that she is smart and beautiful, with long brown hair and gray eyes that captivated many. As much as the description was vague, something stirred in me. I don't know if it was intuition or my desperation to find you, but I couldn't sleep peacefully until I got my hands on a photo…"

I took my phone and showed her a photo from that event that was secretly taken by one of the attendees; it was a blurry photo of Serina dancing with Henry Blackwater.

Of course, I didn't say that I made a connection because in her 'dream' she told me her name is Seraphina, and that is why I put extra effort to get my hands on that photo and clear the last specs of my doubt.

"Since then, I was keeping track of news related to Aldus Mezzanotte and his talented daughter. I tried reaching out to you, but your father has impressive security, so I waited."

"How did you know that Mona can deliver me the invitation?"

I smiled guiltily before admitting, "She went with you to your old house."

"You were watching my house?"

Oh, God! Here it is! She figured out that I'm a stalker!

"I was desperate to get close to you. When your parents moved out, I wanted to buy that house and give it to you when we meet, but someone bought it before I could."

"My father did.", Serina said with a smile and my anxiety dwindled.

"That information confirmed how the woman from rumors is the same as the one on this photo, and the same one I was missing profusely..."

To my surprise, Serina didn't blame me for keeping tabs on her.

We moved to the balcony, and I liked it better because there were chaises. I didn't care much about the view because my attention was completely on Serina.

I sat on a chaise, and extended my hand, inviting Serina to join me.

When I saw her hesitating, I scooted to the edge and patted the space next to me. "There is plenty of room for both of us. Let me hold you because only like that I believe that this is not a dream and you are really here, in front of me."

To my delight, Serina smiled and accepted my invitation.

I pulled her to lean on me and I was ecstatic when she didn't resist.

We laid on the chaise with Serina's head on my shoulder and her hand resting on my chest, and it felt just right.

Her body next to mine felt incredible and I hoped that she could feel it too.

I decided to ask a question that was on my mind since I found out that she is Seraphina.

"Serina, how did you end up with Aldus Mezzanotte as your father?"

Serina let out a long exhale. "I'm surprised that you didn't ask me that first."

"There are so many things related to you I want to hear about, it's difficult to prioritize."

She hummed ambiguously and her smile faded as she started talking, "It was in the final weeks of my college. I went to Venice on a vacation. Ruby, Willow, and Adele were my roommates. We were not close during college, but I thought that they agreed to go with me as part of their final prank, or maybe they decided to treat me as equal, for once. In any case, it was my opportunity to see Venice and I didn't want to miss it. I thought that I can ignore whatever they were plotting. I was wrong, but I found out too late…"

I knew that those three set her up, but I was not sure how Aldus fits into that story, so I didn't interrupt and I waited for her to continue talking.

"They spiked my drink and hired a random guy to dance with me. I didn't understand what's going on until I saw them taking photos. I thought that would be it, you know… the guys has his hands on me, they take photos, and the prank is over, but then he dragged me to a side alley and things got serious. He got frisky and I fought back and the next thing I know, I was in Aldus's house. Aldus said that he found me in the alley. I suffered a heavy blow and was out for three days. I woke up without knowing who I was."

I stared blankly into space while her words sank in.

"Duke?"

I saw Serina looking at me with concern in her beautiful gray eyes. She suffered and I had no idea. I passively waited for her to come to me, thinking that she is enjoying as Miss Mezzanotte, yet she went through such a horrific experience of being drugged and assaulted and left to die in an alley.

To die!

"Did you find out who the guy was?", I managed to ask as rage rolled through me and I struggled to keep it contained.

"No. It seems that he hit me too hard, and I passed out. Aldus suspects that he freaked out and ran away in fear of being caught."

He hit her so hard that she passed out and he left her like that?

It takes a special kind of evil to raise a hand on a helpless woman. And this was MY woman!

If I ever get my hands on him, I will rip him into pieces for daring to put his hands on Serina!

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