"Serena, I thought you were dead. You gave up your life to save Hayden Crawford, to exchange for his rebirth. I truly thought you were dead. For these past three months, I have been frantically searching for you. I went to my father, hoping to get news about you from him, but it was as if you vanished from this world. I just couldn’t find you anywhere."
"Every day, I kept thinking about finding you as soon as possible. As long as I found you, maybe you could still be saved. I would give my all to rescue you, just like you saved Hayden Crawford. Serena, I have never hated anyone so much, except for Hayden Crawford. You made hate him so intensely!"
Zane Crawford held her tightly, his usually cold black eyes turning crimson. He pressed his handso face against her long hair, murmuring hoarsely to her.
Serena could already feel the strength in his arms, even trembling slightly. He was afraid, terribly afraid, that she would disappear again.
A warm current flowed through Serena’s heart. Encountering an old friend unexpectedly brought her joy as well. In her mind, Zane Crawford had always been a proud and aloof paragon, yet he had been searching for her incessantly these last three months. The fact that he could do this for her would move anyone.
"Zane Crawford, I’m fine. I’m doing well now." Serena slowly raised her small hand and patted his elegant back.
At this mont, a Rolls-Royce Phantom luxury car pulled up by the roadside. Hayden Crawford arrived. Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, he took the car keys and went to the bar to look for her.
Just reaching there, he witnessed the scene ahead.
Hayden Crawford sat in the driver’s seat, his large hand on the steering wheel. Through the gleaming windshield, he saw Zane Crawford and Serena embracing each other up ahead. His slender fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning ominously white.
He didn’t know, didn’t understand how these two were connected!
This brother of his, arrogant and proud, was nothing like his mother Zelda Willow. He never stooped to the scheming of household fights and never desired the Crawford family inheritance. Zane was pure, famously renowned as a prodigy, always the favored son among the noble daughters of Aethelgard, second to none.
If he rembered correctly, Zane had a discerning eye, never enchanted by any girl, never fallen in love.
But now, on the bustling streets of Aethelgard, he was holding Serena so tightly, enveloping her in his embrace.
Hayden Crawford’s gaze drifted back to Serena’s slender figure. She raised her hand, patting Zane’s back gently, like soothing a child.
Ha.
What were they to each other?
Hayden Crawford slowly arched his thin lips into a mocking curve. It seed he had co to the wrong place; she already had soone to pick her up.
She truly gave him quite a show, no, a new perspective!
How many n were around her exactly? The likes of Jas Sawyer and Conner Wright didn’t count, and now even Zane Crawford was in her grasp, or perhaps, there were more...
Then, what did he count for?
Hayden Crawford’s narrow eyes were filled with an ominous blood-red hue, his whole being exuding a terrible fury. He didn’t understand why she had to provoke him?
He had been living well, his life as calm as a still body of water, without any disturbances. Yet, her arrival stirred his heartbeat, turning his entire life upside down.
Hayden Crawford felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him, snapping him into complete sobriety. It was truly laughable.
Tonight, driving here eagerly was nothing short of a joke.
Never again would he let himself walk into a place where she could trample upon him at will.
Hayden Crawford pressed the gas pedal, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom sped away.
...
As Hayden Crawford left, Zane Crawford slowly released Serena. He looked her up and down with concern. "Serena, what about the poison in your system, is it completely cured?"
For these three months, Zane Crawford had focused entirely on Bayside, neglecting Aethelgard. He didn’t expect her to arrive silently in the City of Aethelgard until he heard that the Sterling family had found a little daughter. This little daughter beca the campus beauty of A University and beca famous in a basketball match. It was only then that he found her whereabouts.
At that ti, the mandrake poison was incredibly potent, and now she was standing perfectly in front of him. Zane Crawford found it unbelievable.
"The poison in is completely cured. This matter is long to explain. At that ti, I also thought I was going to die, but then I got ahold of a pill my mommy left behind."
"Your mommy?" It was the first ti Zane Crawford heard of her mommy. "Serena, was your mommy a doctor too?"
"Yes, my mommy had very high dical skills, but she left when I was nine. There are many things, including that pill, that I still haven’t understood."
Zane Crawford, being a doctor, was imdiately captivated by the ntion of Serena’s mommy. A pill capable of bringing soone back from the brink of death; what extraordinary dical skills.
"Serena, I know many famous doctors ranked top across various fields in modern dicine. I can ask around for you. What’s your mommy’s na?"
It was true; Zane Crawford was a paragon, the youngest renowned expert in Aethelgard. He had traveled extensively, lecturing and gaining a great reputation, naturally making many connections. His experiences and horizons were broader than Serena’s.
Serena’s eyes lit up. Upon hearing from the elder Sterling that her mommy might not be dead but missing, she had always wanted to find her mommy’s whereabouts. Perhaps Zane could help her.
"My mommy’s na is Seraphina Linden." Serena revealed her mommy’s na.
My mommy is nad Seraphina Linden...
The words exploded in Zane Crawford’s ears. What did she say? Her mommy was... Seraphina Linden? Seraphina Linden was her mommy?
Zane Crawford was extrely familiar with the na Seraphina Linden because he had heard it countless tis from his own mother, Zelda Willow.
His mother said the daughter of her dearest friend, Seraphina Linden, was the son-in-law she most wanted. Twenty years ago, Seraphina Linden left an engagent keepsake, promising her daughter to the Crawford family!
So, she was his fiancée!
Zane Crawford suddenly understood, everything made sense. That engagent keepsake was later taken by his grandmother, who used it to have Serena marry Hayden Crawford!
So, his grandmother secretly took the engagent keepsake for this purpose. Serena was his fiancée, yet his grandmother took away his fiancée and gave her to her cherished grandson, Hayden Crawford.
Everything was wrong.
From the beginning, it was all wrong.
Zane Crawford’s heart twisted painfully. Since he was small, he knew his grandmother favored Hayden Crawford. It didn’t matter, he didn’t care. He never intended to compete with Hayden Crawford for anything, but why did his grandmother have to take away the girl he liked and give her to Hayden Crawford?
The affairs of the previous generation were sothing he had never been part of. To him, Hayden Crawford had always been the favored one.
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