Seraphine's Secret

Seraphine's grip on the steering seemed to tighten as she turned the corner, she couldn't do this anymore. She just couldn’t do it.

She parked across the street and sat in the car for a moment longer than necessary, her hands still on the steering wheel even after the engine had gone quiet.

She wasn’t angry.

That was the strangest part.

Anger would have been easier. Anger would have given her something to hold onto but what sat on her chest was guilt.

“Fuck this.”

She stepped out of the car and locked it, then crossed the street quickly.

Inside, the building smelled faintly of dust and old paint. The hallway lights flickered on the moment she walked in. Seraphine climbed the stairs, her boots quiet against the concrete. She stopped at the third door on the left and knocked once.

Then again before pushing the door open.

Naomi stood at the other end of the room.

She was thinner. Paler. There was a faint bruise near her temple that makeup hadn’t fully hidden, and her hair was pulled back carelessly, strands escaping at her neck.

The wall behind her was covered.

Papers were taped on the walls, photographs, printed emails, timelines drawn in marker, and names circled. A map pinned in the center with red marks along a bridge and nearby streets.

Naomi turned when she heard the door close.

“Seraphine,” she said, relief flashing across her face before she caught herself.

Seraphine didn’t respond.

She took in the room slowly. The laptop opened on the table, the empty coffee cup, the trash bin filled with crumpled papers. She's been working really hard, Seraphine figured.

“How is he?” Naomi asked carefully.

Seraphine’s jaw tightened. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. She still didn’t answer.

Naomi took a step forward. “I know he must be..”

Seraphine crossed the room in three strides and grabbed Naomi by the arm.

“You’re coming with me.” Seraphine said.

She dragged her toward the door. Naomi stumbled, papers falling to the ground from the wall as her shoulder brushed them.

“Seraphine, what are you..”

“I can’t stand this anymore,” Seraphine said, yanking the door open. “I can’t stand watching my brother fall apart like this.”

Naomi pulled her arm free. “You think I don’t know he’s hurting?!”

Seraphine turned on her sharply. “Then why are you still here?”

“Because Jack won’t stop!” Naomi snapped back, her voice breaking despite herself. “Because he will try again and again until he gets what he wants!”

“You think this is better?” Seraphine shot back. “You think Damon waking up every day believing you’re dead is protecting him?”

Naomi froze. Her shoulders sagged. Her lips parted, then pressed together. She looked away.

“I miss him too,” she whispered.

Seraphine stared at her.

Naomi took a shaky breath. “I miss him so much it hurts to breathe. I wake up thinking I hear him. I reach for the telecom every morning even though I know I can’t call him. You think this is easy?”

She took another step back, her legs giving out beneath her.

Naomi dropped to her knees.

Tears spilled down her face freely, her hands gripping the fabric of Seraphine’s coat like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Please,” Naomi cried. “Please…I want to be happy with Damon. I’m trying to end this. I’m trying to make sure Jack can never touch us again.”

Seraphine’s breath caught.

She looked down at Naomi, kneeling at her feet, her composure completely shattered.

“Naomi..”

“I saw him,” Naomi continued through tears. “Jack. After the accident. He paid the driver right there, Seraphine. If we can get the driver, we could get something.”

Seraphine’s eyes flickered.

Naomi wiped at her face roughly and forced herself to continue.

“When I reached the bank, I thought I’d go home. I thought..” She laughed weakly. “God, I was stupid.” Her voice shook. “Then I saw him. And I knew if I went back, Damon would be next.”

Seraphine closed her eyes.

This was worse than she’d imagined.

She could still remember that night, how shaky Naomi had been when she called her and begged to be kept hidden.

She opened her eyes again.

“I hate this,” Seraphine said.

Naomi looked up at her.

“I hate lying to Damon,” Seraphine continued. “But I hate that asshole way more..”

Naomi exhaled, face parallel to the ground. “Thank you..”

Searphine exhaled. She wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing anymore but Naomi’s words made sense.

Jack wouldn't stop.

“Caleb knows something’s wrong,” Seraphine said. “He hasn’t said it outright, but he’s watching me. He already has a few things on Jack. Financial trails. Shell accounts. Enough to keep him behind bars.”

Naomi shook her head, “Jack has enough lawyers to get him out. We need more concrete proof.”

Seraphine nodded, "I know. But it's still something.” She said, “And I think Caleb will find the driver soon.”

Seraphine turns to face Naomi. “We can't do this alone. We have a few things on him but we can't prove he tried to kill you or your…father…by ourselves. ”

Naomi exhaled, she knew that. Hell she was hoping they could pull this off alone but she knew they couldn't.

“What do you suggest?” She asked.

“Caleb.” Seraphine said simply. “He might hate Damon's guts but at least he showed up to his house earlier today.”

“I don’t know..”

“Don't worry. He won't tell. It's Jordan and Elara you should worry about and we are not telling either of them.”

Naomi is silent, she is still very unsure. The less people knew she was alive, the better. Jack could be watching them.

“Jack could be watching..”

Seraphine nods. “I noticed a few cars outside Damon's house earlier. They weren't his security detail.”

Naomi swallowed, her suspicions were right. With the police still looking for her body, it's only reasonable that Jack keeps an eye on Damon.

“He's watching Damon but not us. Even if he was, he's not going to find what he's looking for.”

Naomi exhaled, her hands running her chest as bile rose in her throat.

“Are you okay?”

Naomi gagged and rushed to the bathroom. Seraphine followed her, eyes wide as Naomi thre up in the bathroom sink.

She wipes her mouth with water, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” Seraphine asked, “You've been throwing up a lot lately. We might need to go to the hospital.. “

“No!” Naomi met her gaze through the mirror, “I'm fine. I promise.”

Seraphine exhaled as she threw her hands in the air, “Fuck me if anything happens to you.”

She walks away, helping herself to a bottle of water from the fridge.

Naomi steps out of the bathroom, one careful step after the other.

“You're right. We should involve Caleb.”

Seraphine met her eyes, then nodded. “He has the resources we need. The CCTv footage from the accident was deleted, maybe he could retrieve it.”

Naomi swallowed. “If he does find the driver… I can talk to him. Maybe we can get something out of him.”

Seraphine nodded, her eyes scanning Naomi in thought. “Are you sure you're okay?”

Naomi nodded.

Seraphine sighs, “I'll get Caleb onboard.”

Naomi exhaled shakily. “Thank you.”

“This doesn’t mean I’m okay with this,” Seraphine warned. “It means I’m done pretending I don’t see what this is doing to Damon.”

She stepped back toward the door.

“I’ll call you when I know more,” she said. “And Naomi?”

Naomi looked up.

“If you’re wrong..if this gets him hurt..”

“I won’t let that happen,” Naomi said firmly.

Seraphine studied her for a long moment, then turned and left.

—------

Seraphine stops right outside the door of Caleb’s house. She exhaled, this would either go well or straight to hell.

Caleb had moved out of their mother’s house as well and he'd made sure the only one who knew his home address was her. Of all her siblings, Caleb was the only one who didn’t care for fixing their fractured relationship. Despite their differences, they got pretty close recently.

She exhaled, they were supposed to have dinner, nothing more.

Seraphine let herself in after inputting the passcode and running a face ID.

Caleb sat at the dining table, laptop open, fingers paused over the keyboard as if he’d known she was coming.

“You’re late,” he said.

She didn’t bother pretending. “You found him.”

Caleb leaned back slowly. “The driver. Yes.”

Seraphine swallowed. “I need to question him.”

Caleb’s eyes lifted to hers. “That’s not how this works,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Why would you question the driver? That's Damon’s place.”

Of course he wasn’t going to hand over the driver without asking questions. “She’s alive,” Seraphine said. “Naomi.”

Caleb simply watched her, his face unreadable. Then he closed the laptop.

“I knew it,” he said quietly.

Seraphine exhaled. “You did?”

“You were doing a terrible job at keeping it a secret,” he replied. “I figured you either killed her or you know something. ”

She sat down across from him, suddenly exhausted. “She wants to get Jack behind bars. For good. And I tried to talk her into going home and then she could figure this out with Damon but...”

“His estate is crawling with Jack's men.” Caleb intercepts as he makes himself a cup of black coffee. “They weren't exactly discreet.”

He sips from his mug and nods in content. “I understand her logic.”

Now that he knows she was not someone gold digger, and the daughter of Pearl Holdings, the once mighty winning company in the country, he's had every reason to care for Naomi.

Not care like he have a fuck but…you know.

Seraphine leans back, staring at the ceiling, “Colour me surprised. Your cynical ass actually gives a fuck.”

Caleb chuckled, “She's a smart woman. That's the only thing Damon did right in my opinion.”

“I’ll help,” Caleb said finally.

Seraphine met his gaze, “You will? Why?”

Caleb shrugged, “How else am I supposed to test my new software?” He said.

Seraphine chuckled. Caleb would rather chew the back of dirty socks than admit his feelings.

Especially towards Damon since he was their mother's favourite and Caleb never seems to do anything right in Rosie's eyes.

Seraphine smiled, it was good to see all her siblings are starting to see right through their mother’s bullshit.

“She would appreciate that.” Seraphine offered.

“And I do love the idea of watching Damon suffer a little more.” He sips his coffee, “It would heal my inner child.”