Prologue, Part 2: Becoming Seraphina Voss

Two days later, the stranger returned.

By then, Angelica had begun to understand that her recovery would take longer than they had initially made it seem. The doctors had explained the treatment plan in more detail, and Angelica already thought that no matter what they did, it would not erase how deeply the fire had burned her or how it had marred her soul.

Even after the initial wounds healed, reconstructive surgery would take months, possibly longer. Her appearance might change gradually as the doctors worked to repair the damage, and there would be no guarantee that everything could be restored.

Angelica had listened without asking many questions. Her face mattered less to her than the people she had lost.

Still, she couldn’t deny the truth that had waited for her outside the hospital. She had no home to return to; she didn’t have any family waiting for her. The world thought she was dead. How does a dead person attempt to live again?

When the stranger entered her room that afternoon, she noticed that he had come with a folder. He placed it on the bed beside her.

“What’s that?”

“An opportunity.”

Angelica looked at him, confusion evident on her face.

“I’m in a hospital with third-degree burns. I can’t imagine what kind of opportunity could have arisen in my situation.”

“You’re more bleak than usual, Angelica.”

She gave a humorless laugh.

“My family is dead.”

“I truly am sorry about that, Angelica.”

“Then forgive me if I’m not particularly interested in opportunities.”

“The whole world knows what happened to your family,” he said. “What it doesn’t know is that you’re still alive.”

Angelica’s expression hardened.

“And what exactly do you want me to do with that information?”

“Survive, Angelica.”

“I’ve been doing that.”

“No,” he replied. “You’re barely living as it is.”

She stared at him, a tad bit offended by his bluntness.

He opened the folder he had brought with him.

“There is a family willing to take you in.”

Angelica blinked. “Take me in?”

“The Voss family.”

She recognized the name. Anyone who had any affiliation with the rich knew the name. They were a really old family, with a fortune that stretched back generations. They were old money and usually kept to themselves and their circle. But what would a family like that want with her?

“Why?”

“They’ve been looking for someone to claim as their daughter.”

She frowned.

“Claim?”

“They have no heir they wish to raise as their own. They’ve been searching discreetly for the right person for some time. Someone who could become part of their family, inherit their name, and eventually take her place in their world.”

“And they chose me?”

“They haven’t chosen you yet. They’ve agreed to consider you.”

Even though this was an opportunity to start a new life, she was skeptical.

“How did you find them?”

“I know people.”

“That isn’t the answer you think it is.”

“It’s the one you’re getting for now.”

Angelica narrowed her eyes. He was infuriatingly calm for her liking.

“And why are you involved?”

“Because they trusted me to find someone suitable. Someone who needed a family as much as they needed a daughter.”

She looked at the folder again.

“You’ve been looking for an orphan to give to a wealthy family?”

“No. I’ve been looking for someone whose circumstances might allow her to accept an offer most people would question.”

“And you think that person is me?”

“I think you’ve lost the life you had. The Voss family can offer you another one.”

She looked away. The possibility of another life sounded absurd to her.

How could anyone replace the people she had lost? How could a different house, a different surname, or a fortune large enough to buy half the city make up for the emptiness waiting for her outside that hospital room?

They couldn’t.

“What do they want in return?” she asked.

“Nothing beyond a genuine relationship. They want a daughter, not an employee or a business arrangement. They want someone they can love and trust, and someone who is willing to become part of their family.”

Angelica studied him, searching for the hidden condition.

“Nothing comes free of charge.”

“Not everything is a transaction.”

“Spoken like someone who has never had to pay for anything.”

For the first time, something resembling amusement crossed his face.

“You’d be surprised.”

She didn’t smile.

“Suppose I agree. What happens next?”

“They’ll meet you when your doctors say you’re ready. Until then, they’ll cover your treatment and provide whatever support you need. You’ll have access to the best specialists we can arrange. Your recovery will take time, and no one will pressure you into surgery before you’re ready.”

“And after?”

“After, you decide what kind of life you want.”

She looked at the bandages covering her hands.

“And what about my name?”

The stranger stared at her.

“That depends on whether you’re ready to leave Angelica Vale behind.”

She lifted her eyes to his. She loved her name. It carried memories of a family she would never see again, but it also carried the memory of a woman who had believed she could trust the man she loved. It was a trail and a connection.

The plans she had been formulating in the solitude of her hospital room did not need a trail or connection.

“If I accept,” she said slowly, “I won’t be able to return to my old life.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“And nobody will know who I am?”

“Not unless you choose to tell them.”

She glanced at the folder.

“What would my name be?”

“Seraphina Voss.”

She repeated it silently.

Seraphina.

Voss.

She turned the name over in her mind, trying to picture herself in it. The thought of beginning again was almost laughable. Her face was damaged, her body was weak, and her memories of the fire came in fragments that left her trembling whenever she tried to piece them together.

Yet there was something strangely fitting about it. The fire had taken the life she knew. Perhaps what emerged from it didn’t have to be the same woman.

“Seraphina,” she murmured.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s just a name.”

“It’s a beginning.”

Angelica looked at him.

“You seem to think that I should accept.”

“I think you deserve the chance to decide what you do with your life—a fresh slate.”

Her life was over. But she wanted one more thing before she could finally give up.

One thing she could hold on to when everything else had been taken from her.

Cassian Devereaux.

His face flashed through her mind, followed by the anger that accompanied it. His betrayal, his lack of defense for her when his family had decided she was not worthy of their ranks, his cold divorce from her.

She didn’t know every detail of what had happened that night. But she remembered enough to know that she could no longer live with the thought of letting Cassian or his father walk away unmarked when she had scars to last a lifetime.

“What happens after the surgery?” she asked.

“The doctors will work with you over the coming months. When your wounds have healed enough, they’ll begin the reconstructive procedures. Your appearance will change as the treatment progresses. It won’t be quick, and it won’t be easy.”

“And when it’s finished?”

“You’ll be Seraphina Voss. An heiress with a family, a future, and every opportunity your new life can offer.”

Angelica lowered her gaze to the folder.

In front of her was a new family, a new name, and a new face in time.

She was staring at a future that had nothing to do with the woman she had been.

“I’ll do it.”

The stranger nodded, as though he had expected that answer.

“You’re making the right choice.”

“But I have one condition.”

His gaze narrowed.

“Which is?”

“Cassian Devereaux.”

The name tasted like ash on her tongue, but she persevered, needing to get the words out.

“I want revenge on my ex-husband.”

He watched her carefully.

“I want him to lose the things he values most. I want him to know what it feels like to watch his life fall apart while he stands there powerless to stop it.”

“That’s a rather lengthy condition.”

She leaned back against the pillows, fighting the pain that came with the movement.

“I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care what I have to become. If I’m going to leave my old life behind, then I want something in return.”

“And that something is?”

“Justice. Revenge. They go hand in hand.”

The stranger regarded her for several seconds, and she held his gaze, refusing to back down from her decision.

He pursed his lips, considering her offer. Then he extended his hand.

“I’ll help you become Seraphina Voss. The rest will be up to you.”

Angelica looked at his outstretched hand. For the first time since waking, she felt something other than grief, fear, or pain. She felt like she finally had a purpose.

She took his hand.

“Then we have a deal.”

The months that followed were not easy.

There were painful procedures, difficult recoveries, and days when she looked in the mirror and struggled to recognize the woman staring back at her. The doctors worked carefully, rebuilding damaged tissue and treating the scars left by the fire. Some changes, she was told, would be gradual; others would require additional surgeries.

Her patience grew as she was transformed, biding her time to become someone new.

The Voss family agreed to keep their arrangement private, just as they had kept their search for a daughter hidden from the public. They would provide the care, protection, and resources she needed, while the stranger would handle the delicate work of ensuring that Angelica’s old identity remained buried. They were also aware of her condition for becoming their daughter. She was a stand-in, and they were her tools.

By the time Seraphina Voss re-entered society, the world would have no reason to connect her to the woman who had died in a mansion fire.

And Cassian Devereaux would have no reason to suspect that the woman standing across a boardroom from him one day would be the same woman he had once called his wife.

He would see a stranger. He would see a woman he couldn’t easily charm, control, or understand.

And if everything went according to plan, she would ruin him ten times worse than he had ruined her.

The world had buried Angelica Vale.

Now it would meet Seraphina Voss.

And Cassian Devereaux would wish she had died that night.