Chapter 4

That very night, I moved away with my mother. We changed our phone numbers, and I found a job working as a waiter at a small cafe.

There were not many customers that afternoon. I was behind the counter, polishing cups.

The wind chime at the door suddenly rang. Out of habit, I looked up and said, "Welcome."

The moment I saw who it was, the cup slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor.

Jasmine stood at the entrance with Lionel behind her.

She was dressed in an expensive custom suit, while I wore a cheap work uniform stained with coffee.

Between us stretched an invisible gulf, impossible to cross.

Her gaze swept over the name tag on my chest, and she put on a mocking smirk.

"Sebastian, I thought you might have amounted to something. It turns out that after leaving me, all you can do is serve drinks in a place like this."

Lionel held her arm, looking at me with a heartbroken expression.

"Sebastian, why are you working here? It must be so exhausting. Jasmine, maybe you could help him out and find him an easier job?"

"He doesn't need it."

Jasmine cut him off coldly, though her eyes never left me.

"Isn't he supposed to be so proud? I'd like to see how much that pride of his is really worth."

I clenched my fists as my nails dug deep into my palms.

The cafe owner hurried over when he heard the noise. The moment he saw Jasmine, he bent forward obsequiously.

"Miss Lowe! What an honor to have you here. Please, have a seat!"

Jasmine did not even glance at him. Instead, her eyes fixed on a small ceramic cat figurine on the shelf behind me.

I had made that little cat myself during my spare time. It looked exactly like the one Jasmine and I had once made for her years ago.

Her pupils shrank suddenly, and her breathing grew heavy.

She pointed at the cat. Her voice trembled with suppressed fury. "Whose is that?"

My heart sank.

The owner's face went pale. He immediately pointed at me, eager to distance himself. "Miss Lowe, it belongs to Sebastian. It has nothing to do with our shop…"

She stepped forward and grabbed the ceramic cat.

Before I could stop her, she hurled it to the ground without hesitation.

The little cat that carried the last memory of Jasmine's and my time together shattered into countless pieces, never to be put back together again.

Jasmine's chest rose and fell violently. She picked up a sharp shard of porcelain from the floor and walked toward me.

Instinctively, I backed away until my back hit the wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.

"Sebastian, why do you always have to remind me?!"

Her warm breath brushed my face, yet it carried the chills of Hell.

"That face of yours reminds me every single moment that my brother Jayden is dead, while his murderer is still alive!"

"Murderer…"

I repeated the word under my breath. My heart was numb with pain.

"So tell me, how should I punish you?"

She suddenly looked up and gave a cold command to the two bodyguards behind her.

"Hold him down."

The bodyguards stepped forward and seized my shoulders, pinning me in place so I could not move.

My eyes widened in terror as I watched her place the shard of porcelain into one of their hands.

"Use this and carve the words 'murderer' onto his arm."

"No!" I screamed hoarsely.

The cafe owner and the staff huddled in the corner, trembling, too terrified to step forward.

Even Lionel's face had gone pale. It seemed like he did not know Jasmine would go this far.

The bodyguard raised his hand expressionlessly. The sharp white porcelain gleamed under the lights.

I watched as it crept closer and closer to my arm.