After the Fake Heiress Jumped into the Sea

Perhaps Seraphina Valerius's safe return had finally caused a crack in that heart of his, long blinded by anger and favoritism.

'He probably figured that since Seraphina Valerius was fine, my punishment should come to an end.'

My spirit drifted lightly behind him. I watched his tall, straight back, my heart a silent, dead expanse.

'What meaning could this belated concern possibly hold for my already cold corpse?'

The dog kennel in the backyard was just as it had been before I died.

The heavy iron chain drooped forlornly to the ground, one end attached to a wooden stake, the shackle on the other end mottled with rust.

Caden Valerius stood before the kennel, silent for a long time.

There was no trace of my existence here, save for the faint, lingering scent of despair that still clung to the air.

"Mrs. Watkins!" He stood up and shouted to the maid hanging laundry not far away. "Where is she? Where's the person who was locked up here?"

Mrs. Watkins came trotting over at the sound of his voice, her face a mask of fawning, terrified smiles.

She was the first person to find me after I died. Back then, she had been scared out of her wits, collapsing to the ground with a scream.

"E-Eldest Young Master..." Mrs. Watkins's eyes darted away as she pointed at the broken dog chain.

"I... I don't know. Yesterday... when I came to check, she was still here. Maybe... maybe the chain wasn't secured properly, and she managed to break free and run away."

"Ran away?" Caden repeated the two words, the warmth in his voice chilling with every passing second.

"Yes, yes." Seeing that he didn't erupt in anger immediately, Mrs. Watkins grew a little bolder and quickly added more.

"You know how it is. She came from a place like the orphanage—she's wild, untamable."

"We gave her food and shelter, but she was never satisfied. Who knows what resentment she was harboring against us in her heart. Now that she had a chance, of course she'd run."

"Ran away?" He sneered, the guilt in his eyes replaced by anger and contempt.

He slammed his foot into the kennel's wooden door with a loud BANG.

"You ungrateful thing!" he cursed, gritting his teeth.

"What sin did the Valerius Family commit to bring back such an ungrateful wretch! Do you know how long Sera pleaded with us to let her come back?"

"We let her live in our house, we gave her food and clothes, and this is how she repays us? She ran off without a single word, without any explanation! A true savage!"

I quietly watched his furious profile, and the last lingering ember of warmth in my heart—the one I called kinship—was extinguished completely.

He didn't know that on the morning after I died, Mrs. Watkins had discovered my stiff corpse.

She was afraid of taking responsibility, and even more afraid of being tainted by such an unlucky affair.

So, under the cover of darkness, she wrapped me in a tattered old bedsheet and, as if tossing out a piece of trash, dumped me in the most remote patch of wasteland in the hills behind the estate.

With my body unburied, my soul could not enter the cycle of reincarnation.

I could only be the most faithful of audiences, forced to watch day after day as they showered Seraphina Valerius with twice the affection, celebrating her return.

The living room was once again filled with sounds of joy and laughter.

Mother held Seraphina Valerius's hand, fussing over her solicitously, as if to make up for all the worry of the past few days.

Father, though stern-faced, couldn't hide the doting affection in his eyes, and he tacitly allowed Seraphina Valerius to use his credit card to buy the latest model sports car.

As for Caden Valerius, after his initial anger, he was quickly won over by Seraphina Valerius's combination of pouting and gift-giving.

The family was once again a picture of perfect harmony.

Until, on the seventh day, a phone call from the police station shattered this false harmony.