The hand clutching the phone went limp, falling to her side. She stumbled back, murmuring like someone who had lost her mind.
"No. This can't be." She shook her head in frantic denial. "Zane wouldn't... he wouldn't hurt Dad. I know Dad is harsh, but Zane wouldn't go that far. He wouldn't do something like that."
Her thoughts scattered as she tried to make sense of the horror. Raw agony churned through her. She had to see her father. She had to know he was still breathing.
Without hesitation, Selina bolted down the steps toward her pink scooter parked at the curb. She ignored her umbrella, willing to brave the torrential rain if it meant reaching him a second faster. As she fumbled with the keys, her hands trembling violently, she paused.
She felt a familiar tug—the heavy, dark gravity of a specific presence.
Slowly, she turned her head toward the mansion, her gaze climbing to the second-floor window.
It landed on Zane.
He stood there with a cold smirk and a knowing gaze that made her stomach heave.
"Seems you're heading out. To Hudson?" he asked tediously, raising a brow as if expecting her to entertain him.
Selina's jaw clenched, her expression souring with a lethal mix of grief and blooming hatred. "Did you truly do it? Did you harm my father?"
Zane said nothing.
"Were you the one?" she pressed, her voice rising to a scream.
He chose exactly when to speak. Instead of answering immediately, he slipped a cigar between his lips and flicked a lighter. The flame caught, illuminating the chilling indifference in his eyes as he took a slow, deliberate pull.
That nonchalant act gave her all the answers she needed. Her teeth gritted.
"Zane Kaius! Get down here and answer me!" Selina's voice was shrill, cutting through the rhythm of the rain. From the ground level, she glared up at Zane, who stood framed by the golden light of the balcony.
"Wifey," Zane began finally, his tone dripping with a sarcasm that made her skin crawl. "I didn't realize you had such a temper. It really isn't good for your health."
Fury surged through her, hot and suffocating. Her mind fractured for a moment, a violent urge to destroy everything around her clawing at her. Only a thin, fraying thread of restraint kept her from losing it entirely.
"Don't you dare joke with me," Selina snapped, her voice trembling.
Zane leaned against the railing, unbothered. He took a long drag of his cigarette, the tip glowing like a predatory eye in the dark. He exhaled slowly, the smoke curling into the damp air before dissipating.
"I don't care to shout at you from up here, Selina. Why not come inside? Let's have a peaceful husband-and-wife chat." He slipped a hand into his pocket, his eyes tracking her every movement through the worsening rain.
He could see she had learned the truth about Hudson, the monster.
"To hell with your chat! How could you betray me like this?" Her voice cracked, a desperate hope lingering that he might tell her it was all a lie. "You're a heartless, fraudulent man. You don't deserve to be my partner!"
Zane's expression darkened. "Careful, Selina. Don't lose your manners."
A bitter, jagged laugh escaped her. She fixed him with a look of pure contempt.
"Manners? Where were your manners when you were sneaking around with Maura? Where were they when you hurt my father? You're heartless!"
Zane remained unfazed, but his brows snapped into a tight line. His stillness was more terrifying than a shout. "Don't test my patience tonight," he warned, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous vibration. "I don't want to do something we'll both regret."
"What will you do? Harm me, too?"
"Do you think I won't, if you keep being this unpleasant?"
"Then do it, Zane!" Selina growled, her face wet with rain and tears. "Do it and set me free from this snare. I'd rather be gone than spend another minute being 'dutiful' to you!"
Zane let out a dry, dark chuckle that echoed off the stone walls, sending a cold shiver down her spine. "You have no choice but to remain dutiful. So, come inside before you catch a cold. Hmm, wifey?"
"Don't dare call me that name again! We share no bond!"
"We share a bond, Selina," Zane corrected, his calm returning as a subtle form of frustration. "You can speak to me nicely. If you won't, then I have nothing more to say."
Zane ran a hand through his hair, letting out a performative sigh. "Your father traded everything he lost for my 'love.' He wanted me to cherish you. And I might consider doing that now. Let's start over, Selina. What do you think?"
"Zane!" she screamed his name through gritted teeth. His mockery was a physical blow. Her eyes grew misty, her voice a heart-wrenching rasp. "You promised me. You promised you wouldn't harm this marriage. I trusted you."
"I have given enough," Zane uttered, nonchalantly flicking ash into the rain. "It was time for accountability. I believe I kept my promise."
"You didn't!" Selina countered.
"You really think sparing Hudson until now, after he was part of my parents' tragedy, wasn't generous enough?"
Those words sounded like a thunderclap. Selina's jaw dropped in bewilderment.
No. No. That can't be.
She searched his face for an excuse, but it wasn't there. The restrained grief burning behind that stoic gaze was unmistakable. It struck her hard—the reasons for his cold treatment and the distance in their marriage.
How could fate toy with her this way? The cruelest part was that she had prayed daily, desperately, to be by his side—like a devotion—even when he hardly noticed her during the nine years she had crushed on him in secret before becoming his wife.
She reminisced about the day she signed the marriage contract—how she had smiled radiantly, feeling the timid flutter of a new bride finally marrying her secret crush. Instead of a fairy tale, she had simply signed up for the greatest retribution of her life.
How did it all come to this? A strange, taunting smile settled on her lips—the look of someone who had finally reached their breaking point. The air between them felt thick and chilly, but she didn't mind the freezing rain piercing her skin; it was nothing compared to the gnawing ache she had carried for years.
"Ms. Selina! Get out of the rain, you'll catch a cold!" a familiar voice echoed from the entrance.
Eloise, the housekeeper, rushed to her side, hovering an umbrella over her. She wrapped a comforting arm around Selina's shaking shoulders.
"Please, don't stay here. Come inside," Eloise begged, her face contorted at the sight of Selina's sheer grief.
"I'm not going back into that house," Selina murmured, shrugging off the woman's hand. "I've been living in a cage all this while. It's not my home anymore."
She had nowhere to go. Yet, the open, rain-slicked streets felt safer than the prison Zane had built for her. Selina turned her back on the estate, walking away into the darkness.
"Selina! Where are you going? It's already late!" Eloise cried out, glancing desperately up at the balcony. She expected the young man to say something—anything. To at least come down and persuade her, or stop her from disappearing into the storm.
But Zane remained there, high above them, watching her walk away with an unbothered, icy stare.
"Gracious Heaven!" Eloise exclaimed, her heart sinking.
Without hesitation, the housekeeper hurried after her, the umbrella swaying in the wind as she pleaded with Selina to return.