Golden Chains

018

CHAPTER 018
| First rain, pt. 2

Serenity and Cyrus returned to the hotel, physically drained from hours of relentless walking. Jasper, Aiden, and Rosalie, who had been consumed by worry, had remained awake throughout the night, constantly searching for them. When Rosalie finally caught sight of Serenity, she embraced her tightly, they had to hear earful from them as well.

They insisted on Serenity returning with them, Cyrus who refused to do so returned along with the students of their class despite Serenity's convincing,

Serenity entered the mansion, noting the eerie silence that hung in the air, even quieter than usual. She casually placed her bag aside before ascending the grand staircase. Just as she began to climb, a worker from the mansion halted her.

"Miss Serenity, you've returned. Would you like something to eat?" the maid inquired.

"No, I'm fine. Is that bast- I mean Luca back as well?" Serenity inquired, her voice tinged with a hint of irritation.

"Yes, ma'am. Young Master Luca returned two days ago due to your father's health," the maid replied.

Serenity's confusion deepened. "My father's health?"

"Yes. Your father was hospitalized, he's just returned the day before yesterday. He suffered a cardiac arrest and is in intensive care," the maid disclosed.

"What?" Serenity exclaimed, running towards the master's bedroom, there were doctors and nurses on the second floor, she peered through the glass door, witnessing her father lying on the bed, connected to IVs. Luca and her stepmother were attending to him.

'They sure look like a real, loving ideal family'

Victoria, her stepmother, noticed Serenity behind the door and promptly opened it. "Serenity, dear, you've come? I thought you were enjoying your camp while your father was suffering from a cardiac arrest," she chided.

"What?" Serenity responded, genuinely bewildered.

"Don't pretend you didn't know. I asked Luca to inform you, and he must've told you the situation, but you were too busy," Victoria said with a hint of accusation.

Serenity's gaze shifted to her father, whose disappointment was unmistakable as he refused to meet her eyes.

"Father, it's not what it seems," she began.

"Silence," her father, Nathaniel Sinclair, ordered.

"But—" Serenity attempted to explain.

"Serenity, I don't want to hear anything from you. You never fail to disappoint me," her father asserted.

"Get out of my sight!" he continued.

Serenity's frustration boiled over. "Why won't you listen to me? Give me a chance to speak, damn it!"

"Or can't you hear anything beyond your mistress's lies?"

"That's your mother you're speaking of. Watch your tongue," her father warned.

"My mother died nine years ago along with my father! What I see before me is a brainwashed man who refuses to accept the words of his own daughter!" Serenity yelled,

"Lower your voice, if you're here to cause more trouble, you should leave. I can't bear your immature self in my current condition," her father declared.

"You'd rather cater to this bastard and his leech of a mother?" Serenity challenged.

"Throw her out," her father ordered, and two imposing bodyguards reluctantly approached her.