Locked In The Billionaire’s Sanctuary

Seraphina POV“Excuse me?”I narrow my eyes at the three figures seated across me, my voice dropping an octave.“You heard me. Your sister is really sick and—”“Yeah, I heard that part. The next?” I interrupted him. “Repeat it.”“Stop acting this way, Seraphina. You heard your Dad. Your sister needs your help.” Mom snapped, and I faced her, my mouth opening for a word, but nothing came out.I blinked through the three of them, Dad looking at me with that same look I’ve seen all my life. “Valentina, what’s going on?” I asked, my gaze settling on her watching at how she was picking at her manicured nails. A dry chuckle escaped my lips at the look she gave me. There we go. The pretentious snake.“You know what? I’m not hearing it. What I know is I’m not doing any shits with you!” I deadpanned, wanting to move up to my room, but a hand grabbed onto mine, pushing me forward and making me almost trip.“Your sister needs your help. She had an accident, for God’s sake, can’t you help her?”

Seraphina’s POV“Something heavy,”I told the bartender, my voice a hollow, floating above the bass vibrating through the floorboards. He dropped a heavy glass jar in front of me, sloshing with something neon and toxic. I muttered a thank you, lifted it, and swallowed it whole.Liquid fire tore down my throat, making my lungs seized, a violent cough ripped out of me as hot, furious tears spilled over my lashes. A hand landed on my back, heavy and soothing.“Back off,” I choked out, shoving the hand away, before snapping my head forward, gasping for air that felt too thin to breathe.I took another sip after regulating my breathing, letting the numbness creep in, staring into the pulsing neon blur of the club. The bass a distant heartbeat in my ears.Okay, so my life is officially over. No?Asked to be a surrogate for Valentina and him? The exact same guy I gave my heart to years ago, the one who left scars that never quite faded? And now, just when I foolishly thought I might final

Seraphina’s POVPulling the soft fabric Cas had brought over my bare body, I walked over to the mirror and stared at my reflection. My skin looked pale, almost translucent under the harsh light, and my eyes were hollowed out, rimmed in red.Sighing, I turned on the tap, splashing cold water over my face and rinsing out my mouth. The bitter taste of alcohol still coated my tongue, heavy and toxic.Drying my face and hands, I walked out of the washroom, my gaze dropping instantly to his silhouette standing near the window of the room. I sucked in a sharp, painful breath, forcing myself to look at him.“Thanks for tonight,” I mumbled, my voice flat, dead. “I’ll be repaying it back.”His brow shot up, a sharp crease forming between his eyes. “What are you talking about?”“The help you offered,” I scoffed bitterly, wrapping my arms tighter around myself. “It’s probably because you need my womb for your precious unborn child, right? So no problem. I’ll see you in the hospital when you’re r

Seraphina’s POVWas all of this even meant to make sense?Yeah, maybe.But it still sounded completely warped, twisted into a shape I refused to recognize.Either way, I was going to say it. I won’t be spending mine nine months of my life fighting tooth and nail, only to crawl back into this exact same loophole and start over from scratch.Definitely not."So that’s all the procedure entails. What do you want in return?" Valentina asked, sitting across from me with her legs crossed.He was right beside her.He didn’t even look like he was listening to us.Sometimes, looking at him, I had to wonder—is he really the same person? Is he the same Caspian I knew years ago?Apparently yes.Only this time, he came back with a completely new name, wearing a new life like an expensive suit. I breathed out hard, turning my full attention to Valentina."What would she possibly request for? She can do it without asking for anything. Don’t bother with her," Mom chimed in, a sweet, sickly smile plas

Seraphina’s POVMy hand dropped slowly to my stomach.I stared into the full-length mirror, searching anxiously for any sign of a change, and there it was, the faintest, most subtle curve.A quiet wonder washed over me, a fragile little spark in the middle of all this chaos. I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. A tiny human life was growing right inside of me.It had been a full month since we went through the procedure. I had moved into this quiet, isolated wing of the house immediately after, and on paper, things were fine.They provided everything. But living here often felt like being a ghost haunting the corners of a very expensive estate.I was grateful for the invisibility, though. I’d rather be a ghost passing unnoticed through their halls than a pawn in whatever grand game they were playing.I let out a long breath, stripping off my clothes and turning on the shower for a quick, grounding wash.When I stepped out, I pulled a soft night robe tightly around myself, ty