Seven Years Pursuit, A Big Lie

The day Dominic Hayes's first love returned to the country, I was demoted from his secret girlfriend to just the girl next door.

Without hesitation, I turned around and accepted Caspian Reed, a man who claimed to have been pining for me for seven years.

During our year together, he acted as if I were his entire world, and I finally allowed myself to open up to him.

I had planned to surprise him on our anniversary by bidding on a rare painting he had always admired.

But instead, I stumbled upon a secluded art studio in a quiet corner of the city. It was filled with nothing but portraits of Clementine Meadows and stacks of unsent love letters addressed to her.

After some digging, I discovered that the secret owner of that studio was none other than Caspian Reed.

It finally clickedDhis so-called seven-year pursuit of me was nothing more than a tactical move to clear the obstacles from Clementine's path to love.

In that moment, my heart turned to stone, and I agreed to the arranged marriage my parents had proposed.

1.

"Dad, I'll do it. I'll marry him."

I walked aimlessly under the warm glow of the streetlights after leaving the studio.

My father sounded stunned on the other end of the line.

"Sera, honey, tell me the truth. Did someone hurt you? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Hearing the concern in his voice made my throat tighten, and tears began to blur my vision.

My family owns the top conglomerate in New York City.

I have always been the apple of my parents' eye.

Since I was a child, if I said no to something, there was never any room for argument.

Yet here I was, barely two days after flatly refusing the arrangement, suddenly changing my mind.

Not wanting my father to worry, I took a deep breath to steady my voice.

"Dad, I'm Seraphina Sterling. Who would be stupid enough to try and bully me?"

My father finally seemed to relax, letting out a small chuckle.

"Alright then, my princess. I'll head over to Seattle immediately to bring you home."

"No need, Dad. I have a few things to wrap up here. I'll be back in a week on my own."

Just as I hung up, Caspian's voice rang out from behind me. "Sera? Where did you say you were going?"

I quickly tucked my phone away, not wanting him to overhear anything.

"You misheard," I said dismissively.

Caspian wasn't letting it go. "I don't think so. My hearing has always been excellent."

He stepped closer, his breath warm against my ear, making my skin crawl.

I frowned and tried to pull away, but he grabbed my wrist firmly. "Sera, why are you dodging me?"

He pulled me into a fake-intimate embrace from behind and laughed softly. "Come on, tell me. Where are you going?"

I was losing my patience and couldn't shake him off. "Home. For an arranged marriage," I stated flatly.

I felt his entire body stiffen instantly.

However, he recovered his smug attitude almost immediately.

"Sure thing. Just don't forget to invite your big brother for a glass of champagne at the wedding, okay?"

I knew he didn't believe a word I said.

But I meant every bit of it. "I don't think that will be necessary."

My serious tone only made him chuckle again.

"Alright, alright. My little Sera is just having a tantrum, isn't she?"

He leaned in, trying to kiss me.

He was always like thisDno matter how upset I actually was, he wore that mask of playful indifference to brush me off.

I used to find it charming. Now, it just made me feel sick.

I broke free from his grip and stood my ground, looking him straight in the eyes. "Where exactly did you just come from?"

Since I discovered that studio, I had visited the area multiple times.

I had never caught him there before.

But I was certain he was the one inside.

Every time he came home, he carried the faint, sharp scent of oil paint on his clothes.

I didn't believe for a second that he didn't know I'd found the place.

I hadn't confronted him yet because I wanted to see if this man, who supposedly loved me for seven years, had a single ounce of honesty in him.

Perhaps he was staying quiet because he thought I was still in the dark.

Or maybe he was terrified that if the truth came out, I'd go running back to Dominic.

And that would break the heart of his precious Clementine.

After a long, tense silence, Caspian sighed.

He reached for my hand. "Sera, lately you've been..."

He was cut off by Clementine Meadows, who suddenly emerged from the narrow alley behind us.

"Caspian? You said you were just stepping out for a smoke. What took you so... Oh, hi, Sera."

2.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I watched Clementine walk toward us.

Caspian's playful, arrogant expression vanished instantly.

He shifted his weight, instinctively stepping between me and Clementine.

"Cleo, it's freezing out here. Why did you come out?"

His voice was dripping with concern, completely ignoring the fact that his actual girlfriend was standing right there.

"I'm fine, really. It's not that cold."

Her voice was soft and delicate. Caspian's expression darkened with worry.

"How can you say that? Your nose is already turning red."

He quickly unwrapped the expensive cashmere scarf from his own neck and bundled it around her.

After fussing over her for a moment, Clementine was left peering at me with nothing but her big, watery eyes visible.

"Don't mind him, Sera. I've always been a bit fragile, so Caspian tends to overreact."

I squeezed my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms.

Caspian had been arguing with me in the middle of a freezing street for ten minutes.

He hadn't noticed that my voice was heavy with a cold or that I was shivering.

But the moment Clementine's nose got a little pink, he gave her the only scarf he had.

It was blindingly obvious who actually mattered to him.

"Sera, don't get the wrong idea. Cleo is just..."

Caspian finally noticed my silence and tried to offer an explanation.

I didn't want to hear another lie. "Caspian, you told me you were working late at the office tonight."

"Clementine isn't your coworker, and this alley certainly isn't your office. Don't you have anything real to say to me?"

Clementine's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Sera, please don't be mad. It's all my fault. I'll leave right now."

She covered her face and ran back into the shadows of the alley.

Caspian's brow furrowed in anger.

He was clearly desperate to chase after her, but he stopped to bark at me first. "Seraphina Sterling, you look absolutely hideous when you're being this unreasonable!"

Right. I was the unreasonable one.

In front of Clementine, his pet name for me had already vanished. I was no longer Sera; I was just Seraphina.

The line between who he loved and who he was using was drawn in the sand.

I got back to our apartment in the early hours of the morning.

A text from Caspian popped up: "Cleo has a fever. I'm staying with her for a while. I'll be back late."

I deleted it with a cold laugh.

I grabbed a stack of industrial trash bags and began packing every single thing in the house that I had paid for.

As I worked, the realization hit me like a physical blow.

In our entire year together, every piece of furniture and every luxury item was bought by me. He hadn't given me a single gift.

Meanwhile, Clementine's social media was a gallery of his affection. Eight out of ten posts were photos of the thoughtful gifts he bought her daily.

I sat on the sofa, staring at the increasingly empty apartment.

I didn't need a week to move on. I was already halfway out the door.

But since we had shared a life, I decided I would at least give him a proper goodbye.

3.

That night, I tossed and turned, unable to find a moment of peace.

My head felt like lead, so I climbed out of bed to find some cold medicine.

As soon as I swallowed the pill, my stomach cramped violently.

I felt a sharp, twisting pain that made it hard to breathe.

Trembling, I dialed Caspian's number. It rang until the very last second before he finally picked up.

"What now, Seraphina? I told you I'd be home late! Stop calling me!"

"Cleo just got her fever shot and finally fell asleep. You're going to wake her up!"

I clutched my stomach, my voice weak and strained.

"Caspian, I don't feel well. Can you please..."

Before I could finish, a soft, feminine voice drifted through the line.

"Caspian? Who's calling this late?"

I heard a loud thud as Caspian tossed the phone onto a nearby surface.

His voice became muffled as he moved away from the device.

But I could still hear him perfectly as he comforted her.

"It's okay, Cleo. You just got your fever down. Don't get up, just go back to sleep."

"You always treat me like such a baby, Caspian," she giggled.

"But really, who is calling you at this hour?"

Caspian's voice was cold and indifferent. "Just a telemarketer. Nobody important. Ignore it."

Three denials in a row. I couldn't take it anymore.

With shaking fingers, I hung up the phone.

The pain in my stomach was getting worse, and I realized I needed to call 911.

But before I could dial, Caspian's name flashed on the screen. He was calling back.

I answered, but before I could utter a word, his shouting filled the room.

"Seraphina, you are being incredibly immature!"

He let out a frustrated huff.

"What is so urgent that you had to call me in the middle of the night? Just say it."

I felt a cold smile spread across my face despite the agony.

"Caspian Reed," I gasped out. "You are a pathetic excuse for a man."

I didn't give him a chance to respond. I cut the call.

He kept calling back immediately, blocking me from being able to reach emergency services.

When I wouldn't pick up, he sent a text:

"Seraphina, I've clearly spoiled you too much. You don't even know how to reflect on your own mistakes!"

In that moment, the very last spark of affection I had for him vanished.

The phone finally went quiet, and the pain reached a point where I felt I might lose consciousness.

Fighting through the black spots in my vision, I finally managed to call for an ambulance.

By the time the paramedics arrived, I had completely blacked out.

4.

When I woke up, I was lying in a crowded ER bay with an IV in my arm.

The hospital was buzzing with the usual early-morning chaos.

A doctor saw me stirring, told me to keep an eye on my IV bag, and hurried off to the next patient.

I was drifting back into a drug-induced sleep when a loud, angry shout jerked me awake.

I listened closely and realized the man causing a scene in the hallway was Caspian.

"Doctor, you can't be serious! My girlfriend is still running a fever! You can't discharge her now!"

I was confused for a split second.

I was the one in the ER, and Caspian clearly hadn't seen me.

That meant the "girlfriend" he was fighting for was Clementine.

I let out a soft, bitter laugh. I grabbed my IV pole and wheeled myself toward the door to watch the show.

The doctor was trying to calm him down, gesturing for him to lower his voice.

"Sir, we have a patient with acute appendicitis who needs this bed urgently. Your girlfriend's fever has broken. She's stable enough to go home."

"The hospital is even willing to waive her copay for the inconvenience."

Caspian's back was to me, his shoulders shaking with rage.

"I don't care about the money! I'm not taking her home yet! If anything happens to her, your hospital will be held responsible!"

The doctor kept trying to quiet him, but Caspian was acting like a madman.

His shouting was so loud that a nearby patient with a neurological condition actually fainted.

As the medical team rushed to help the other patient, Caspian actually grabbed the doctor's arm, refusing to let go.

A young nurse rushed over and pried his hand off.

"Sir! Your girlfriend didn't even need to be admitted in the first place! You demanded it. We have a real emergency now, and you need to follow our protocols!"

Caspian looked ready to explode, but then Clementine appeared, walking slowly down the hall.

"Caspian? You told me you were coming down to talk to the billing department. Were you actually looking for Sera?"

"You don't have to lie to me. After all, Sera is your real girlfriend."

Her face was pale, and she looked like a kicked puppy.

Caspian froze. He slowly turned around and finally saw me standing there, watching them.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but Clementine spoke first.

"Sera, I know you're upset that Caspian stayed to take care of me instead of going home."

"But you don't have to fake an illness and get an IV just to get his attention. If you wanted him back, you could have just asked."

Caspian's eyes finally landed on the needle in my arm.

His brow pinched together. "Are you actually sick?"

I shook my head slowly. "No. I'm just here for the attention."

Clementine's eyes welled up instantly.

"I'm clearly in the way here," she sobbed. "I'll leave."

She turned and ran toward the exit.

I looked at Caspian, who was vibrating with anxiety. "Your girl is getting away. Better run."

"Seraphina!"

He stared at me intensely for a heartbeat. "Wait here for me. I'll take Cleo home and come right back for you."

Before the sentence was even finished, he had disappeared through the sliding doors.

5.

I knew he wasn't coming back. After the IV finished, I took an Uber home.

I spent the next three days in bed, slowly recovering my strength.

During those three days, Caspian was a ghost. He didn't call or text once.

By the fourth day, I finally felt human again. I decided to cook a full, elaborate dinner.

Caspian's phone went straight to voicemail, so I sent a text to Clementine instead.

"Tell Caspian to come home for an hour. We need to talk over dinner."

She replied almost instantly with a bunch of passive-aggressive nonsense.

But it worked. Caspian showed up at the apartment.

I had spent three days practicing what I was going to say. I wanted a civilized breakup over a meal.

But the moment he walked in, he charged past me into the kitchen and ripped the tablecloth off the table.

Everything I had spent hours preparing crashed to the floor. Plates shattered, and food splattered everywhere.

A sharp shard of porcelain grazed the back of my hand, and blood began to bead on the skin.

Caspian didn't even blink. He just loomed over me, red-faced with fury.

"Seraphina, I've known you for years, but I never realized how malicious you could be!"

"You faked a hospital visit just to make Cleo miserable, didn't you?"

"She ran out of that hospital without a coat because of your little stunt, and she's been bedridden with a high fever ever since!"

"You are going to get in the car right now and apologize to her! Do it, or we are through!"

I watched him rave like a lunatic.

When he finally stopped to breathe, I smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Let's break up."