Chapter 5

"Are you insane?" Liam’s voice trembled, laced with disbelief. "Sera is still in there! She is your own sister! And she's already crippled, if she—"

Ethan cut him off, his voice raspy from the smoke but rock-steady. "I know you love Sera, Liam. But don't forget who dragged you out of that car accident five years ago! If Mia hadn't risked her life to save you and give you blood, you would be dead! We must repay our debts!"

Amidst the ruins, pinned under a broken beam, Serafina’s eyes flew open.

The car accident five years ago? It was clearly she who had dragged Liam out of the twisted wreckage regardless of the danger, carrying him for three kilometers along a mountain road before fainting. When she woke up, Mia had simply happened to be at the hospital keeping watch, and she had stolen the credit?

Was this the reason for their bottomless bias toward Mia all this time?

Finally, after a fierce argument, they reached a consensus. "Save Mia first!"

Through the flames, Serafina kept her smoke-stung eyes open, watching the lights of the rescue team fade away. They carried the unscathed Mia away in such a hurry that they didn't even glance back at the ruins behind them.

The beam groaned under the strain and snapped, crashing down with a roar of fire, sealing off her only path to survival.

Serafina closed her eyes, letting the darkness and searing heat consume her.

...

It was unknown how much time had passed when Serafina opened her eyes amidst excruciating pain. Overhead was not the glory of heaven, but the stark, shadowless lamp of an operating room.

"If you had been brought in ten minutes later, these hands would truly have required amputation, and your life wouldn't have been saved either," a stranger, a doctor, said as he changed her dressings. "You are truly lucky, Miss Blackwood. The people from 'Aegis' arrived just in time."

Serafina stared at the ceiling and smiled bitterly. She would have preferred to die in that fire than live like this, bearing a body full of scars and memories of betrayal.

Suddenly, the ward door was shoved open. Ethan and Liam rushed in, their faces written with hypocritical surprise and worry.

"Sera!" Ethan tried to grab her hand but was blocked by thick gauze. "Thank God you're alive! The fire was so intense, we thought—"

Liam knelt on one knee by the bed, his eyes red-rimmed. "I'm sorry, Sera. I was separated by the crowd. I wanted to go back and save you, but I was held back! I swear I will never let you leave my sight again!"

Serafina watched their performance coldly, her gaze hollow and void. She didn't want to hear a single word of these clumsy lies. She had heard their choice; every word was branded into her mind like a soldering iron.

"Sera?" Liam finally realized something was wrong, his voice trembling. "Say something. Curse me, hit me, just don't look at me like that."

But all he received was a deathly silence.

...

For three whole days, Serafina was like an exquisite, broken puppet—no tears, no smiles, no words.

Ethan finally panicked and insisted on a full body checkup for her.

"Physically, apart from the old injuries to her hands and the burns, everything is normal," the doctor replied, adjusting his glasses. "But I suggest she see a psychiatrist."

The moment the consultation room door closed, Ethan tugged irritably at his tie, pacing back and forth in the corridor. "Is it really that serious? I don't believe she needs a psychiatrist! She used to be so strong."

"Mr. Blackwood." The psychiatrist walked out holding a diagnostic report, his expression grave. "The patient is suffering from severe depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), accompanied by strong suicidal tendencies."

"What?" Ethan looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. "Just because of this little incident? Just because we saved Mia first? How could she get depression?"

Liam punched the wall, blood seeping from his knuckles. "Little incident? Making her a cripple, forcing her to give up the violin, getting her kidnapped and beaten, and now almost burning her to death—you call this a little incident? She was such a proud person, and we pushed her to this state—"

His eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed Ethan by the collar, roaring in a suppressed voice, "Sera is the woman I loved with my life, Ethan! This is the last time I listen to you. Even if Mia saved my life, what I owe her has long been paid off. No matter what, I will never listen to you and hurt Sera again!"

"She is my own sister!" Ethan roared back in anger, shoving Liam away. "Do you think I wanted to treat her this way? I did it all for Mia! Mia is so fragile; if she didn't get that championship, she wouldn't have survived!"

He let go, sighing in defeat as he leaned against the wall. "Fine. Since Mia has already won the Golden Harp Award, Sera won't stand in her way anymore. From now on, we'll just treat Sera better. We'll provide for her like a princess."