Lahat ng Kabanata ng Tie Me Up : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Seraphina's POVThis will be the last time we see each other.The words echoed in my head long after Lorenzo disappeared through the door.I stood alone in that crimson room, wrapped in his jacket, the scent of cedar and smoke still clinging to my skin. The silence pressed in from all sides.Why does it hurt so much?I barely knew him. We'd met twice—both times under circumstances that should have made me fear him, hate him, want nothing more than to never cross his path again.He'd killed a man in front of me. Tied me to a bed. Made my body respond in ways that still made me blush to remember. And then he'd rejected me. Twice.So why did the thought of never seeing him again feel like losing something I'd never had?You're being ridiculous.I shook my head, forcing the thoughts away. Lorenzo Vitale wasn't my savior. He wasn't my anything. He was Vivienne's father—the man who'd raised my enemy, who believed her poisonous lies, who'd granted me one favor out of pity and obligation.Tha

Seraphina's POVThe auditorium filled slowly.Wren and I found spots near the middle. My palms were sweating. I wiped them on my skirt for the third time in as many minutes."Breathe," Wren whispered. "You look like you're about to pass out.""I might."Around us, conversations hummed like static electricity."—heard the winner this year is exceptional—""—the analysis apparently predicted three market trends that actually materialized—""—my firm would kill to recruit someone with that kind of foresight—"I recognized some of the speakers. Parents of classmates. CEOs whose names appeared in the Wall Street Journal.These are the people I need to impress.A man in a charcoal suit leaned toward his companion two rows ahead. His voice carried in the acoustics of the hall."The Henderson Prize isn't just academic recognition anymore. Anyone who wins at this age? They're marked as a future industry leader. A business genius."His companion nodded. "The last three winners all received job

Seraphina's POVVivienne's smile faltered.Just for a second. A flicker of something cold passing behind her eyes before the mask slipped back into place."Of course." Her voice remained steady, but I saw her fingers tighten around the trophy. "What would you like to know?"The auditorium had gone completely silent.I could feel Lorenzo's gaze burning into the side of my face. A warning. A threat.Don't.I ignored it."I was really impressed by your presentation," I said, keeping my voice calm. Pleasant, even. "The analysis you described sounded incredibly thorough. Would you mind giving us a brief summary? Just the main points of your proposal?"Vivienne relaxed slightly. This was safe territory."Of course." She turned to address the audience, her confidence returning. "My analysis focused on identifying weaknesses in the Asian technology market. I developed a new framework for predicting which companies would face challenges and which would thrive. The key insight was that traditio

Lorenzo's POVThe moment they called Vivienne's name, something warm settled in my chest.I watched her rise from her seat, graceful and poised, walking toward the stage like she'd been born for spotlights. The cream dress I'd had imported from Milan. The diamond earrings I'd given her for her eighteenth birthday. The confident tilt of her chin that reminded me, oddly, of myself.Twelve years.Twelve years since I'd carried a frightened eight-year-old out of that cold Italian orphanage. Twelve years of raising her, teaching her, shaping her into the woman she was today.And now she stood on stage, accepting the highest academic honor her university could bestow.Marcello, old friend. I hope I've done right by your daughter.The thought brought a familiar ache. Marcello had died in my arms, choking on blood, begging me to find his child and protect her. I'd sworn on my life that I would.Every tutor I'd hired. Every opportunity I'd created. Every door I'd opened for Vivienne—it was all

Seraphina's POVThe faculty had provided us each with a laptop and the same market dataset. Simple instructions: apply the methodology described in the winning paper to analyze the data and generate predictions.I'd finished in fifteen minutes. My fingers had moved across the keyboard with the ease of muscle memory, inputting variables, adjusting parameters, running calculations I'd performed hundreds of times while developing the framework.Vivienne hadn't even gotten past the first step.She sat frozen at her laptop, staring at the screen like it was written in a foreign language. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard but never landed. Sweat beaded at her temples."I... the program isn't working properly," she stammered. "There must be a technical issue.""The program is fine," one of the faculty members said quietly. "We tested it before the demonstration.""Then someone must have changed the settings! This isn't fair!"But everyone could see the truth now. The whispers that had mo