Chapter 1 : The Reflection

Seraphina POV

I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in my dressing room, staring at myself as I was draped in an emerald dress, my hair was swept up in a sleek, tight bun that pulled at my scalp, and my face was painted to perfection by my makeup artists. It was so slick enough to cover the dark-eyed bruise on my left eye and the purple coloured bruise at my right jawline from three days ago.

I looked every bit the supermodel that everyone admired, every bit the kind of woman every woman has wanted to become and the kind of woman every man wanted to have.

Seraphina, the most beautiful supermodel in America. The one whose long legs made heads turn, the one whose eyes made everyone crave for her touch, the one whose smell was enough to make anyone cower, she married the most perfect man in the world who spoiled her rotten. How can one woman have it all? A perfect marriage, perfect life, perfect in-laws...she must have been such a good person in her past life.

That was the story everyone knew but that was not who I was. All the headlines ready to praise me, ready to cower at me, they didn't know the whole story.

"You look breathtaking, Seraphina," a voice purred from the doorway and I didn't have to turn around to know it was my husband's; Maximillian. Only his presence alone made the air in the room turn cold and there was sudden tightness in my stomach, my entire being suddenly switching into the 'guard mode' hoping I don't get on his nerves before I walked out the door.

He stood behind me, his reflection in the mirror towering above mine, showing off his perfect handsome face, his navy blue tailored suit shining to signal the powerful aura he exuded. He was indeed the most powerful man on world. His hands slid over my shoulders, leaning down to place a peck on my collar, nibbling softly and my skin seemed to crawl until I ended up wincing at the same time.

He removed his mouth and there was a blooming hickey sitting over there beautifully on my white skin. "There you go, this compliments your look better." He said clasping his hands over my waistline. "You look more beautiful with my hickey on you." He whispered leaning closely.

I smiled trying so hard to quell the numbness that skidded over my stomach.

"The gala tonight is important." He whispered into my ear, "The investors want to see the face of the Thorne Industries. They want to see my beautiful loyal wife. Do you understand what that means for us?’’

I nodded. He was sounding soft but he didn't mean soft, he was sounding a warning, one wrong move and I would have myself to blame if he went berserk afterwards.

Panic settled into my stomach. The type that indicates behave or you will get more than burnt tonight, Maximillian won't waste a minute getting in our way if I ruin tonight for him.

"I understand Max," I said and he smiled brightly to show his perfect set of teeth.

"Good." He said before his grip on me tightened on my shoulders, his fingers digging into my soft skin just enough to cause pain, "And try to look happy, you have everything any woman could ever dream of. Don't make me remind you of how lucky you are."

He kissed my cheek and walked out while I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, my hands shaking. I reached for my silk clutch on the vanity, but my eyes caught the small faded tattoo on the side of my ribcage peeking out from the side of my designer gown. It was a tiny bird, half-hidden by a scar from a C-section I had undergone six years ago.

I made my way downstairs, my 5-inch heels clicking against the marble floors as I moved, I hadn't even reached the grand foyer when I heard Cassandra's voice;

"Late again," she snapped, not looking up from her phone. She was my sister-in-law and the youngest in the family, she was dressed in a gown that she had wrestled over with me simply because my model body fitted the dress more than it suited her. "As a supermodel, don't you think you should always know how to keep a  schedule instead of letting all of us wait on you every time?”  She said before she could even hide her jealousy, her eyes skirting over my dress.

"I’m sorry, Cassandra," I said automatically.

"You are always sorry." My mother-in-law,  Mrs Thorne  chipped in immediately as she walked out of the dining room, she looked at me with pure disgust, "You didn't see anything else to wear except that."

Lucius, my middle brother-in-law, smirked. I hadn't noticed him until then. He was standing by the doorway, his eyes traveling over me. "She wants to show off the tattoo on her ribcage. We see that."

"When she hasn't even told anyone how she got that scar she kept covering with a tattoo." Cyrus, the eldest brother and also my brother-in-law, came in from nowhere draped in a black suit, "Did she tell you?" He asked directing the question to Maximillian who didn't even bother looking away from his phone for a minute from where he sat with his legs crossed on the leather couch.

"The kind of life she must've heard got her that scar." Cassandra said with disgust, "The poor slum girls engage in anything that's worth money, so I heard."

"It would be so much better if I understood why Maximillian married her,” Cyrus said for more than the hundredth time since I was married to his brother, his eyes raking over me.

"He called it love." Mrs Thorne chipped in and everyone sighed in disappointment while my heart sank even lower.

"Do you...you want me to change the dress?" I asked, as if that seemed to solve the issue of the bickering.

"Why?" Lucius chipped in, "You absolutely look dead gorgeous in it. Don't mind what they're saying, I personally like you dressed like this."

Max finally looked up, "Luce, I've told you to stop ogling at my wife, haven't I?" He said finally getting interested in my presence.

"When is the bodyguard getting here? We don't want to be late for that gala." Max said as soon as he looked away from me, his eyes fixated on his expensive billion-dollar watch.

"New bodyguard?" Cyrus asked while Max nodded his head. "What about Calus?"

"The old one is a bit clumsy, poking his nose everywhere he's not supposed to,”  Max said, his eyes on me like I'm the reason he took extreme measures towards me.

My breath sank. So, Calus has been fired? And a new bodyguard has been appointed. Calux was the bodyguard I always liked and we got along secretly.

Three days ago, he had helped me clean a wound, and Max had been furious. He had accused me of cheating, which explained the bruised eye and jaw my makeup artist had worked so hard to hide.

"I think he's here." I heard Cassandra say before a heavy-bodied man, broad, muscular, intimidating, filling up the room before he could even announce himself but my breath seemed to catch when I saw his face. Killian??