1

Seraphina’s POV

It said to be a quick, last-minute police raid. So my husband Elias wanted to flee the casino, dragging Mireille with him and leaving me to clean up the mess.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, turning to him. The moment my eyes landed on Mireille, my stomach churned, a cold knot forming deep inside.

Elias didn’t even bat an eye. He was so nonchalant, so annoyingly calm. “Come on, Mireille’s never seen anything like this. I have to get her out of here before the police show up.”

He said it as if running off with my manipulative stepsister was nothing more than a casual errand.

“Seraphina!” Mireille’s voice cut through the tension, high-pitched and trembling. “I’m scared.”

The way she said my name… Every woman knows that tone. Friendly enough to fool the men. Poisonous enough to sting the wife.

Still, I played along, though every word burned in my chest. “So, you’re just going to run off and leave me to deal with the cops alone?”

Elias sighed, like it was no big deal. “Come on, Sera. You’ve handled worse. You’ll be fine. But Mireille and I…”

Elias and I both came from mafia blood. Our families had bankrolled our marriage and our casino business. As anyone with half a brain knew, a casino wasn’t exactly a beacon of lawful business.

There was always the darker side—money laundering, drug dealing, you name it. That’s why the police were so fond of last-minute raids, swooping in when you least expected it.

And yet, that made this whole situation even harder to swallow.

Elias should’ve at least pretended to care, pretended to protect me. But no, the second he caught wind of the police, he bolted. And the worst part? He thought of Mireille first—not me.

“Elias, are you fucking serious right now?”

And then I noticed it—Elias’s car. Flashy, low to the ground, tight as a glove. It seated two. Barely.

No way we’d all fit. He’d planned this.

Mireille’s voice was dripping with sweetness, as if she genuinely cared. “Elias, we can’t just leave Sera here. What if the police take her to the station—or worse, prison?”

Elias didn’t even flinch. “Seraphina, come on. You’ve handled this before. Why can’t you help Mireille out this time? And you know how it is with me. I’ve got a record. The cops won’t go easy on me.”

Was he actually serious?

Mireille reached out, her tone still sugary-sweet. “That’s not fair to my little sister! I should—”

But Elias cut her off. “The best option is for you to handle the police, Sera. Worst-case scenario, you can call your mom and have her bail you out.”

Just like that, he’d made up his mind.

“My mother? As if she wasn’t angry enough with me already,” I said, my voice unnervingly calm.

Elias hesitated for the briefest second, before offering a half-hearted attempt at a solution. “Shit. I forgot. I’ll get you the best lawyer. Just wait a bit, okay?”

He didn’t wait for my reply. Just slid into the front seat and Mireille climbed in beside him.

And as they drove off, I was almost sure I saw Mireille turn and smile at me.

Like she’d won.

For the first time in all these years, I didn’t feel like a wife abandoned by her husband to face a swarm of police.

I felt like a stranger, quietly watching as my marriage slipped away without a single warning.

…

I didn’t call my mother. When the police arrived, luck was on my side—one of my high school friends was among them. He managed to clear all the charges and got me out of the station.

As soon as I got my phone back, I checked for any calls.

Nothing from Elias. Not even his so-called lawyer.

But then I noticed social feed notifications. Mireille had posted over twenty updates on Instagram within two hours.

Not that I was checking. She made sure to tag me. Repeatedly.

The first was a side shot of her perched in Elias’s passenger seat, all windswept hair and coy smiles.

A girl in the comments gushed: “Wow, fancy car!”

Next came two more posts—her laughing, fingers pressed to the window.

“Out for a drive? So jealous!” someone wrote.

Mireille didn’t correct them.

Instead, she dropped three more updates like sugar-coated bombs: Her and Elias grinning at the gas station. Elias handing her an ice cream. Elias driving, one hand on the wheel, the other casually resting near her thigh.

The comments? Predictably nauseating. #Goals #FamilyVibes #LivingItUp

With every post I scrolled past, the bile in my throat rose a little higher.

An hour later, my phone buzzed. Elias left a voice mail.

“I’ll call the lawyer for you soon, babe,” Elias said, his voice casual, as if I were just an afterthought he’d remembered. “I’m still driving, thought I’d take Mireille out of town in case the police catch up with us. Just wait a little, alright? Love ya!”

And then, he hung up.

I sat there in my living room, phone still warm in my hand, the silence settling around me.

I thought about calling him—telling him I wasn’t with the police, that I was fine. But then I decided to wait for Elias and his so-called lawyer.

I wasn’t waiting because I had any hope left toward him. That had evaporated somewhere between the words “Just wait” and “Love ya.”

No, I was waiting to see just how far he’d push this.

Would he really forget me completely?

…

One hour. Two. God knows how many more.

Then another ping lit up my screen.

Another feed.

It was a video this time—shot from a low, sneaky angle like it wasn’t meant to be posted.

Mireille and Elias sat at a vineyard table, wine glasses in hand.

Mireille’s voice soft and uncertain. “Should we call Sera now? Maybe just check in to see how she’s doing?”

Elias shrugged lazily, sipping his wine, “It’s better if we don’t call her right now. It would blow up the whole story if the police knew we were involved.”

“But I feel... wrong about leaving her behind,” Mireille murmured. “Do you think she’ll be mad?”

Elias laughed, a sound so carefree it stung. “Please. As if she ever gets mad at me. She loves me too much. Besides, she can handle herself. Don’t worry about her.”

I clicked off the video, setting my phone down as I slowly stood.

I’d known Elias had been drifting for months now. That’s why I wasn’t entirely surprised when he didn’t even think to include me in his escape today.

But I didn’t expect him to take Mireille with him. As if he cared about her.

What happened today had stripped away the last of my excuses. I picked up my phone and dialed the police. “Hi, I need to report something about that casino you guys searched today. A male and a female were on the run. They might have something shady going on.”

Consider this my gift to him.

Because we’re officially done, Elias.