Elsa's eyes clung to the mansion like iron to a magnet as she responded to the maid beside her."Why do you keep your face veiled? With eyes like those, you must be beautiful."
Her voice was as cold as winter. "I'm probably the ugliest creature alive."The maid recoiled at her words, awe mixing with unease.
Inside, Rafael and Stonia smothered Serena with affection, convinced she was their lost daughter. Elsa remained where she stood, exhaling a faint sigh as she watched. Serena's joy overflowed—every kiss and every word of love was intoxicating. She had expected warmth, but not this flood of adoration. Now that she wore Ixora's face, she knew she would never be denied it again.
And she planned to keep it forever.
Her smile dimmed only when her eyes met Elsa's veiled figure across the park. As long as the veil stayed in place, no one would discover the truth—that she, Serena, was the real Ixora. She had worked too hard for this deception. Not even the devil himself could undo it. Thanks to Dr. Fat, everything was perfectly arranged.
When Stonia pulled Serena inside, Rafael turned and noticed Elsa."And you are?""My maid," Serena cut in quickly. "The doctor who saved me hired her.""I'm Elsa," she murmured with a bow.
Rafael unexpectedly hugged her. "Thank you for protecting my daughter, for bringing her back."Elsa stiffened, forcing herself free. "I despise hugs.""Cold as ice, then," Rafael chuckled softly before instructing a maid to show her to a room.
Meanwhile, Stonia examined Serena carefully. Every scar, every mole, every curve—perfectly imitated. Serena had even reshaped her hips to mirror Ixora's proportions. When asked about her dark hair and frail figure, she told a tale of being kidnapped, starved, sold into prostitution in France, and rescued by Dr. Fat. She cast Warren as the mastermind behind it all.
Rafael hesitated, but Stonia wanted immediate action, pressing him to call the commissioner. Rafael resisted, wanting peace first. Yet once he was alone, he secretly made the call, demanding a new investigation and vowing to protect his daughter at all costs.
Elsewhere, Elsa smashed the mirror in her quarters the moment she saw it. She couldn't stand her own reflection. A voice echoed in her mind: You are the ugliest. Never remove the mask. Kill anyone who tries. Serve your mistress. Protect her. You are Elsa.
Serena entered soon after, smiling triumphantly. "Back home at last. You'll stay my maid forever, beneath me." She gripped Elsa's chin, commanding her to keep the veil on and obey every command. Elsa's reply was frosty: "I'll obey if it suits me." Serena scoffed, mocking her as the ugliest before leaving.
Far away, chaos stirred. At Satan's Heirs' hideout, Konstantin mocked Capri and Ashton over video call, while Chicago raged at their gate, demanding entry. In Romeo's mansion, he and Clover packaged drugs themselves, bound together by business, blood, and Mykel's mafia ties. Alone, Romeo stared at Ixora's photo, whispering a vow to chase her again if fate returned her to him.
At the Chapel of Silence, Warren lay blind and broken, haunted by voices of love and betrayal, ignoring Konstantin's endless calls. In Russia, Konstantin lived restless nights, murdering a guard who dared spy on Nadine, while Tina and Monty obsessed over clothes, concerts, and Bronx.
Back at Stonia's mansion, Serena dressed for her grand return to school, guarded by ten men and shadowed by Elsa. "You don't need them—Elsa is enough," she argued, but Stonia insisted. With a kiss to her parents, she left in a convoy.
At Imperial Levels College, chaos erupted the moment she stepped out of the car. Students screamed, filmed, and swarmed her in disbelief. "Ixora is back!" they cried, their voices carrying across the grounds.
Elsa stood silently at her side, watching. Serena smiled, basking in the shock, her eyes secretly drawn to Mykel among the infamous horsemen. Handsome beyond words, he was everything she had heard and more. Her pulse raced.
Romeo reached her first, engulfing her in a desperate embrace. "You're back… finally back." She forced a smile, pretending warmth, while inwardly dreading his obsession. The crowd roared. Phones filmed. Tina fled in heartbreak.
Then Warren arrived. Silent, piercing, relentless. His eyes stripped away her lies. When Serena taunted him, blaming him for her suffering, his response was a single brutal slap. Blood spilled from her nose and lips.
"You're not her," he growled.
The crowd froze. Romeo and the guards lunged forward—but Elsa was faster. With steel knuckles, she slammed into Warren's face. He retaliated instantly, his fist cutting beneath her exposed eye.
Their eyes locked with murderous intent. Protector and predator. Mask and truth.They collided like beasts, grappling violently, bones cracking under the force of their rage as the stunned students gasped in horror.