THE DRIVE HOME.

The moment her car doors closed shut, Stephanie lost it immediately. “That bitch is insane!” she nearly screamed, pulling her heels off and throwing them angrily into the back of the car.

“Why would anyone behave like that in public? Hair pulling? Food throwing? Is she mentally stable?” but Seraphina said nothing. She pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and drove out slowly. Stephanie kept ranting angrily from the passenger seat while Seraphina remained unusually quiet, her hands stayed clutched against the steering wheel…and they looked steady or at least they did.

Her expression stayed the same since she left the restaurant and Stephanie slowly turned to stare at her.

“…You’re scaring me.”

Seraphina’s eyes remained on the road. “I’m driving.”

“No,” Stephanie muttered, narrowing her eyes. “You’re thinking.” and that finally got a reaction out of her.

Seraphina tightened her grip on the steering wheel while her mind replayed the message over and over again like a shitty broken recording.

Don’t fall for it…not leave her alone, not walk away, not even don’t fight…specifically—don’t fall for it and the wording bothered her deeply because it carried something much worse. Someone knew Vanessa was trying to provoke her intentionally, someone knew enough to warn her beforehand and her brows furrowed slowly.

“You know what’s bothering me now?” Stephanie suddenly said, sitting up straighter in her seat.

Seraphina glanced at her briefly. “Hm?”

“That woman acted like she wanted you to hit her.” and silence filled the car immediately but Stephanie blinked first then Seraphina finally spoke quietly. “Exactly.”

Stephanie frowned harder. “Wait…”

“She started crying before I even touched her properly.” and the realization settled between them almost instantly, Stephanie’s mouth slowly fell open.

“Oh my God.”

Seraphina let out a dry laugh, even though there was nothing funny about this. “She planned it.” and now that she thought about it carefully, everything felt rehearsed. The hair pulling, the food spilling, the dramatic screaming…even Adrian showing up exactly when things escalated…Vanessa had wanted a reaction from her…she wanted Seraphina to lose control publicly. Stephanie cursed under her breath and leaned back against her seat. “That manipulative little witch.”

“I almost gave her exactly what she wanted too,” Seraphina admitted quietly and suddenly, that part irritated her the most.

Not Vanessa, not Adrian…herself because for one reckless second, she had genuinely wanted to destroy them both then her phone suddenly buzzed inside the cup holder…both women froze immediately. The atmosphere inside the car shifted and Seraphina slowly looked down at the screen.

Unknown Number.

Stephanie reacted first. “Don’t answer it.”

“I wasn’t planning to.” Another buzz followed instantly, then another. Stephanie groaned dramatically. “See? This person is sick in the head.” Seraphina inhaled slowly before finally picking the phone up and her chest tightened slightly as she unlocked the screen…one new message.

You looked beautiful tonight.

Stephanie made a disgusted face immediately. “Okay nope. I officially hate whoever this is.” but Seraphina wasn’t listening anymore because beneath the message…was an image attachment and her stomach twisted uneasily as she opened it…then her heartbeat paused. The photo had been taken from behind her inside the restaurant. It showed her seated across from Stephanie moments before Vanessa approached their table. Her hair spilled beautifully down her back under the dim golden lights, one hand wrapped elegantly around her wine glass while she smiled faintly at something Stephanie had said and the angle was close and she realized that whoever took it had been sitting nearby the entire time…watching her and Stephanie grabbed the phone from her hand so quickly she almost swerved the car.

“What the hell?!”

Her sister glared into the image, horrified. “This was tonight.”

Seraphina’s throat suddenly felt dry and even the restaurant no longer felt like a coincidence anymore…nothing did. Stephanie looked around nervously through the windows as if she expected someone to appear beside the car.

“This isn’t funny anymore, Seraphina.” and for the first time since the messages started…she agreed.

Meanwhile, Adrian drove through the city in complete silence. Vanessa sat beside him with her arms folded tightly across her chest, her ruined mascara making her irritation even more obvious. The tension inside the car was suffocating, but Adrian looked completely unaffected by it. One hand rested against the steering wheel while the other tapped impatiently against the door beside him.

“You embarrassed me tonight,” Vanessa muttered eventually but no response and she turned to look at him properly. “Adrian.” still nothing…but the silence seemed to irritate her more. “You ignored me again,” she snapped. “You stood there staring at her like I didn’t even exist.”

And that finally earned her something…a very tired sigh.

“Vanessa.”

“No, seriously,” she continued angrily. “Say something…she threatened me and you just stood there—”

“You pulled her hair.” And Vanessa blinked..Adrian’s jaw tightened visibly as he kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “What exactly did you expect her to do after that?”

“but she grabbed me too!”

“After you provoked the shit out of her.”

Vanessa stared at him in disbelief. “Are you seriously defending your ex-wife right now?”

The word ex-wife changed something in his expression instantly and something dark passed briefly across his face before disappearing just as quickly and Vanessa noticed it…then suddenly regretted saying it. Adrian abruptly pulled the car over so harshly Vanessa jerked slightly hardly her seatbelt. The city lights outside reflected sharply across his face as he finally turned toward her fully and his expression remained calm…too calm.

But his eyes? Those eyes looked cold enough to make her stomach twist.

“Why did you provoke her?”