Chapter 13 — Spiral

“I know there’s someone here…” Seraphina whispered weakly and Stephanie looked at her like she regretted every life decision that had brought her to this point.

The room stayed painfully bright from all the lights they had left on through the entire night. Neither of them had bothered turning anything off after the photo incident and now the bedroom looked weird under the artificial glow. Stephanie sat beside her against the headboard with messy hair and sleepy eyes before pulling her sister into another tight hug.

“Sera darling…” she muttered tiredly. “We actually need sleep before both of us start hallucinating...” but the moment Stephanie finished speaking, silence filled the room and Seraphina slowly looked down only to realize her sister had genuinely fallen asleep sitting upright against her shoulder and despite everything happening, a small laugh escaped her.

“Unbelievable.” But Seraphina still couldn’t sleep, not even close. Every sound made her flinch now. The wind brushing against the windows and even the air conditioner blowing sounded suspicious to her. She sat there for hours clutching Stephanie’s aluminum baseball bat tightly in her hands while staring toward the bedroom door like she expected someone to walk through it the moment she dozed off and at some point, her eyes started burning badly from exhaustion but the image of her sleeping flashed through her mind again.

Herself…photographed inside her own house and the thought alone made her stomach curl violently.

Morning eventually came slowly and quietly. Golden sunlight slipped through the curtains softly, carrying warmth into the room little by little until the darkness she felt finally disappeared completely. Usually Seraphina loved mornings…She loved opening windows and letting fresh air flood through the house while music played softly downstairs but today, she only felt relieved because daylight meant whoever had been watching her was probably gone.

Probably.

Seraphina carefully slipped away from Stephanie without waking her before quietly leaving the bedroom. Her body ached from sitting up all night but still, her mind refused to rest. The house looked normal again in daylight. The white marble floors reflected sunlight perfectly while fresh flowers still sat untouched inside vases around the living room. It now looked exactly like the dream house she had proudly moved into days ago but at night, everything felt wrong. Every hallway now looked like somewhere a stranger could be hiding.

“If I’m going to catch him…” she whispered quietly to herself while walking downstairs, “at least I need to make sure there’s nowhere left for him to hide.” and the idea had sounded smart in her head initially. Clean everything, unpack every remaining box and check every room. Basically just keeping herself distracted but halfway through opening boxes scattered around the living room floor, Seraphina realized maybe this had been a terrible idea after all. Most boxes were harmless…shoes, books…expensive handbags she forgot she even owned and jewelry wrapped carefully in velvet cases. Those were little pieces of her old life. Then she noticed the black box sitting quietly near the fireplace and her chest tightened instantly. Unlike the others, this one had been sealed carefully with black wrapping paper and a small note written directly across it in gold ink.

DON’T OPEN IT.

Seraphina stared at her own handwriting for a long moment before laughing softly under her breath. “Dramatic much,” she whispered shakily. Past Seraphina had known exactly what was inside the moment she packed it away after the divorce. That version of herself had been smart enough to understand she wouldn’t survive reopening those memories too soon but unfortunately, current Seraphina clearly hated having peace of mind. Her trembling fingers slowly ripped the note away first.

“I’m sorry, past Sera,” she murmured quietly while forcing a smile that immediately started falling apart. “If I don’t do it now… I’ll still do it later.” Then she tore the wrapping off completely and her entire expression broke. Photos…hundreds of them. Five years of marriage frozen inside paper…something that'll never happen again. Vacations, birthday dinners…late-night blurry selfies, pictures of Adrian kissing her forehead when he thought nobody was paying attention and even when people noticed, he never cared enough to stop. There were photographs from award ceremonies where he looked at her more than the cameras and real moments where she laughed so hard her makeup smeared slightly while Adrian stared beside her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Her breathing became uneven almost immediately.

“Stupid…” she whispered shakily while flipping through them faster now. “So stupid…” but she couldn’t stop. She dropped slowly onto the floor beside the box while photographs scattered around her like broken memories and suddenly she found herself searching desperately through them for reasons she couldn’t explain. Then she found one from their second anniversary. Adrian stood inside their kitchen with flour smeared across one side of his face while Seraphina laughed behind the camera. He looked irritated at first until he noticed her laughing too hard to breathe and then his expression softened instantly…like it always did for her. Another photo showed them during a yacht trip years ago. Adrian stood behind her with both arms wrapped tightly around her waist while glaring openly at another man nearby who had stared at her too long. She remembered laughing afterward when he muttered possessively against her ear.

“He keeps looking at you.”

“And?” Seraphina had teased.

“And I dislike breathing the same air as men who want my wife.” but another picture shattered what was left completely. It had been taken accidentally during some charity event. Adrian wasn’t even aware someone photographed him but there he was standing across the ballroom staring directly at her like she was his entire world because once upon a time…she really was. Tears blurred her vision completely.

“How do you go from this…” she whispered brokenly while gripping the photos tightly against trembling fingers, “…to that ugly Vanessa?” and the thought alone destroyed whatever composure she still had left and finally—

Seraphina broke but not elegantly like before…not quietly, not the controlled tears she shed alone in bathrooms or during sleepless nights. This was ugly and violent. A broken sound escaped her throat before tears came endlessly afterward and suddenly she couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard she tried. Her entire body shook violently while years of humiliation, grief, betrayal and love crashed into her at once because despite everything Adrian had done…despite the divorce papers, despite that stupid Vanessa, despite the lies and the hatred she wanted to feel—she missed her husband.

God.

She missed him so much it started to hurt. She cried so hard she struggled breathing properly while clutching old photographs against her chest like they could somehow bring back the life she signed away. Every memory hurt now, every smile and every touch and across the couch— her phone buzzed again. Once, then again…then a third time but right now, surrounded by five years of memories and heartbreak scattered across the floor…Seraphina couldn’t bring herself to move.