“I heard what happened,” she said. “Kieran told me when he got home yesterday.”
My jaw automatically clenched. Guaranteed, Kieran didn’t tell her everything that happened yesterday, or I’d be having my hair pulled out right about now.
The gnawing guilt I’d felt in the period following Celeste walking into that hotel room after
Kieran and I were together swirled in my stomach.
“I’m… glad you’re okay, Sera.” She chuckled softly at the surprise that crossed my face. “
Really, I am. If anything had happened to you, Daniel would have been devastated.”
What knocked the air out of me wasn’t the uncharacteristic concern for me that Celeste was showing; it was her words.
My instinct was to dissect every syllable, looking for the hook beneath the bait. I would never forget the venomous threats she’d made to me in the hospital after I got shot.
‘So maybe I’ll take Daniel as my own. Raise him properly. As my son.’
‘How would you like that, Sera? Danny calling me mommy?’
Is that what this was? Another thinly veiled threat? If something happened to me, would she take my son?
Try as I did to see beneath her veil, all I found was perfectly measured sincerity.
Somehow, that was more unnerving than anything else.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, my voice coming out clipped.
I didn’t want to prolong this. I didn’t want to stand here in a robe with wet toes and talk about my near-death experience with a woman who had spent the better part of my life delighting in my misery.
They could have the spa; I was going home.
I started to turn away, but Celeste’s voice followed. “Wait.”
I stopped. Slowly faced her again.
“I wanted to apologize,” she said.
My eyes widened as an incredulous sound fell from Maya. Abby and Emma were looking at their Queen bee like she’d sprouted horns.
But Celeste ignored everyone, her gaze focused on me as she continued.
“For what happened at the party. Things…got out of hand.” She exhaled like she was bracing herself. “I went too far.”
My jaw unhinged. I didn’t think in all Celeste’s twenty-eight years I’d ever heard her admit fault, let alone apologize for it.
Who the fuck was this, and what had she done with my frosty sister?
“And I hope… I hope you’ll come visit Mom sometime. She truly wishes for harmony in the family. It would mean a lot to her.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare at her.
Because I didn’t know this Celeste.
I was used to the spiteful, bitter Celeste.
This one was polished, diplomatic, the words fitting together like she’d rehearsed them in the mirror.
And yet…there was no warmth in her eyes.
Not even the faint flicker of sincerity that would have made her performance believable.
But somehow, that lack of genuineness made the situation more bearable.
She was playing another angle, I was sure of it. I didn’t know what it was yet, but I knew I wanted no part in it.
“Celeste,” I said finally, “I think it would be better-and safer, honestly-for both of us if we just treated each other like strangers from now on.”
A shadow crossed her face, quick but noticeable. “But you’re not a stranger. You’re my sister.”
I would have laughed if she hadn’t looked so serious. But again, her words lacked any warmth or sincerity.
“We’re better off strangers than sisters.”
I turned away before she could say anything else. Maya was already gathering her bag, her glare still burning holes in Abby and Emma.
We didn’t wait to finish our pedicures, or even change back to our regular clothes-we just left.
The spa’s air gave way to the cooler breeze of the mall, and I felt my shoulders drop an inch, tension leaking away now that we were out of their line of sight.
We had barely reached the parking lot when my phone buzzed in my robe pocket. I fished it out, expecting maybe a text from Lucian checking in.
It wasn’t.
The screen lit up with a name I had never seen on my phone before.
Leona Blackthorne.
I hesitated for one beat before answering.
“Sera.” Her voice was sharp with urgency, skipping pleasantries. “We need to talk.”
SERAPHINA’S POV
I was out of Maya’s car before it even rolled to a stop.
“Let me know how it goes!” she called out after me.
I think I gave her an answer-I’m not sure. I was too distracted trying to get my encrypted phone out of my bag without tripping on the porch steps.
Leona’s voice from earlier still rang in my head. I’d thought she’d called to join the tedious chorus of ‘Stay away from Kieran, but the topic of conversation had been much more devastating.
I could still hear the faint tremor underneath her usual poise.
“I was going to call Kieran first, but Daniel has always had a softer spot for you, and you might have a better chance to get through to him…”
Apparently, Daniel had been “off” lately. Not sullen, exactly, but…different. Guarded. Like he’d put up a wall between himself and the rest of the household.
She said he still smiled, still did his lessons, and made polite conversation-but the light in my baby’s eyes had dimmed.
And then the part that hooked itself under my ribs:
“He used to be so open-hearted with us. Now I feel like he’s closed himself off. Maybe you could have a heart-to-heart? You’re his mother; he might tell you what he won’t tell me.”
I’d spent the entire drive home with an invisible hand tightening around my throat.
Now, my fingers hovered over the call button, my heart beating wildly against my sternum.
It was stupid, but part of me was…scared.
Daniel was the one bright light in my life. If that light had dimmed…
I pressed the button before I could talk myself out of it.
Daniel answered on the second ring, his voice filled with his usual warmth.
“Hey, Mom!”
Just like that, my tension eased a notch. “Hey, sweetheart. How’s my favorite person in the whole world?”
He beamed. “Good, now that he’s talking to his favorite person in the whole world.”
I leaned back into my seat, relief flooding through me, loosening the rest of the tension.
For a while, we traded easy chatter-what he’d had for lunch (“Grandma made something with quinoa, which I’m pretty sure is a fancy kind of bird food, but it’s okay, because
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