"This is where it ends!"

The words echoed in her head as Arabella opened her eyes.

She was in Axel's room, curled on the floor beside his bed, sunlight streaming harsh and bright through the window.

She barely remembered getting home last night-just stumbling through the empty house, collapsing in the one place that still smelled like him.

Sunlight.

Her eyes flew to the clock: 9:47 a.m.

She shot to her feet. She never slept past six. Never. Not in five years of living in this house.

Where was Ms. Shaw? The elderly housekeeper woke her every morning at 5:30 sharp with a list of chores.

Unless she'd been told not to.

The bed was empty.

Her heart lurched. She pushed to her feet, checking his bathroom, his closet. Nothing.

"He should be at school..."

Then her eyes landed on his school uniform, still hanging pristine on the back of his door.

She grabbed her phone and called his homeroom teacher.

"Oh, you didn't know?" The woman's tone shifted to sympathy. "Mr. Sterling called to inform us Axel transferred schools. I assumed you'd discussed it..."

The words barely registered. Transferred? In the middle of the session?

Arabella ended the call, her mind racing.

Adrian had taken him. Actually taken him.

She needed to see Adrian. Now.

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking through the Sterling Law Group offices, ignoring the whispers that followed her down the hallway.

Adrian might have used his power to stop the media frenzy last night, but gossip among colleagues and friends was inevitable.

"Arabella, what are you doing here?" Gavin asked politely, standing as she entered his office.

"I need to see Adrian. It's urgent," she replied, forcing a smile.

Gavin had been Adrian's assistant for almost seven years. Unlike the others, he'd never looked at her with contempt. Never whispered when she passed. Once, he'd even held the elevator door when she was carrying groceries.

Small kindnesses. But in this house, they felt like lifelines.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um...Mr. Sterling is inside with Ms. Smith. Let me inform him."

"They even make out on our bed beside me. What worse could happen?" she muttered, scoffing as she walked away.

Gavin sighed, shaking his head as he watched her leave with pity.

When Arabella stepped into the office, Serena's voice reached her first. "...I only did that to protect you."

Arabella watched as Adrian leaned forward, his eyes unusually gentle, the way he hadn't looked at her in years.

"I'm not angry at you, Serena. I'm glad you thought to handle her mess," he said softly.

His eyes flicked to the doorway, locking on Arabella. His jaw stiffened, but he continued. "I am doing this to punish Arabella."

The gentleness vanished. "She deserved what she got."

Serena glanced at Arabella, her expression softening.

"Oh, Arabella. You're here..."

"Where's Axel?" Arabella interrupted, her voice trembling.

Something in Adrian's expression told her it had to be about Axel.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, though her hand shook.

Serena let out an exaggerated gasp, glancing between Adrian and Arabella. "Oh, you haven't told her?"

Arabella's eyes widened. "Tell me what?"

"Axel is currently in Asia," Adrian announced, his voice flat as he leaned back in his chair. "On his way to be enrolled in a boarding school there."

The lie tasted bitter on his tongue. How could he afford to send his child away? But Arabella didn't need to know that.

Arabella shook her head. "What? That's impossible. He's only five. No school would accept him."

Adrian rose and circled toward her, his hand buried in his pocket. "Not when that school runs an orphanage that just happened to receive a generous donation from me."

Arabella's legs weakened, and she grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

He leaned close, whispering, "You want him back living with me?"

His face was so near she could feel his breath.

"You sign the divorce papers," he added, pointing at the desk.

"No. No, that can't be right," she whispered, brows furrowed.

'Adrian loves Axel...there's no way he could do that, right? He must be trying to pull my leg.'

As if reading her thoughts, Adrian pulled out his phone and showed her a video of Axel in a different school uniform, held in the arms of one of Adrian's guards.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll be okay here as long as it takes. Tell Mommy she doesn't have to stay because of me anymore."

The words were wooden. Rehearsed.

Arabella's resolve shattered.

Still she believed her son was too sweet to say those words.

He was doing this for Adrian. Because Adrian asked him to.

Because Adrian had convinced their five-year-old that his mother's refusal to divorce was the problem.

Not the affair. Not the abuse. Not the public humiliation.

Her.

"You turned him against me," she whispered. "You actually turned my son against me." Hot tears blurred her vision. Adrian had crossed the line.

Arabella's legs weakened, and she grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

She watched the video again. And again. Axel's small face on the screen, trying so hard to be brave. The uniform that didn't fit right.

"A child whose birth you weren't even there for!"

On the day of Axel's birth, Adrian was nursing Serena's bruised ankle in the same hospital. Five years later, he had the audacity to take that child away.

Adrian's jaw tightened, his eyes darting everywhere else but her.

"Do you think it's easy to send my child miles away?" His fist came down on the desk. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make his point.

"I tolerated you for years, letting you watch him grow!" His voice shook with rage he could barely control. "But you had to barge in, acting like a lunatic, like Serena was going to eat him up!"

He leaned in close, his voice dropping to something cold and precise. "You embarrassed me. You made my son a spectacle. You think I can let that slide?"

His eyes were ice. "You need to learn that actions have consequences. And since you keep using my son as a shield to cling to me, I decided to send him away."

"Serena sent me a text with your phone, Adrian! This is all her! Can't you see?" Her voice cracked before she steadied herself.

Adrian raised a brow, eyes shifting between Arabella and Serena. "What?"

Serena's eyes widened, filling with tears. "Arabella... how could you think I would do something like that?"

She turned to Adrian, her voice breaking. "I've tried so hard to be kind to her. To understand her condition. But this...accusing me of-"

A sob cut her off.

Arabella watched Serena's shoulders shake, her hand clutching Adrian's desk for support.

The tears were real-or looked real. The trembling voice, the wounded expression.

But Arabella had seen this performance before.

"Check your phone, Adrian! You'll see she orchestrated the whole incident," Arabella insisted, a little more confidently.

Adrian hesitated as he grabbed his phone. He had given it to Serena last night, but she...she was too innocent for that, right?

"Adrian, are you really going to listen to her?" Serena asked, her brows knitted with fury.

But Adrian didn't listen to her.

As he opened the text app, a frown crept onto his face. "What the hell is this?"

"What is this new tactic, Arabella?" Adrian asked, raising his gaze to meet hers.

Arabella's brows furrowed as she tried to speak, "W–what are you..."

"Arabella, I know you hate me, but please don't implicate me like this!" Serena cried, but only Arabella noticed the curl at the corner of her lip. "What do I have to gain from ruining the family's reputation?"

Adrian ran a hand through his dark crew cut, "Serena is right. You should be thanking her for cleaning up your mess, not coming up with more lies!"

"Our last messages were dated to over a month now and it's from you!"

Serena sniffled dramatically, "Adrian...I'm more heartbroken that you chose to believe her instead of me."

Adrian slipped a hand around waist, helping her wipe out the fake tears that she always seemed to have ready, "I'm sorry, Serena."

Arabella bit her lower lip bitterly.

What was she thinking? Serena was one hell of a smart lawyer. There's no way she'd leave evidence behind.

"I doubt you can delete mine," she scoffed, pulling out her phone.

But upon checking her message, nothing was there.

"What?" she muttered, scrolling up and down. There was no trace of any message from Adrian in the past few months.

"What? Can't find the message?" Serena asked with a smirk.

Arabella immediately knew Serena had tampered with it. Ms. Shaw actively worked for her-there was no need to think twice. She sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

'Serena is really unbeatable, isn't she?'

"Arabella, no amount of scheming will change my mind today," Adrian interrupted her thoughts. "Unless you don't want Axel back."

Arabella looked up slowly, eyes red. "You want divorce and full custody..." Her voice broke as she paused, "How is this a choice for me?"

Adrian turned, a mocking curl lifting one corner of his lips. "Axel gets to come back home to live with me, my mom, and Serena...a happy, normal family."

Hot tears trickled down Arabella's cheeks faster than her hand could wipe them.

"Or he remains in the boarding school with no one until he's 18," Adrian continued, dawdling over the words, barely hiding his smugness. "Your choice."

He returned to his seat, typing on his laptop, trying his best to be nonchalant about the whole situation...and failing.

Serena leaned closer, her voice pleading, "Arabella, please don't let Axel stay there. He's too young..."

Arabella raised her gaze, silencing Serena.

For the first time, she saw raw fury reflected in her own eyes, sharp enough to pierce Serena's smugness.

Arabella didn't speak, but her stare was warning enough.

As she stepped forward, Serena quickly moved back, unsure why the look intimidated her so much.

Adrian lifted his gaze from his laptop as Arabella approached his desk.

"I will sign it," Arabella said firmly, despite shaky breaths.

Serena ran up to her, excitement written all over her face. "Good choice, Arabella."

But when Adrian looked at her, she quickly added, "Uh...Axel will get to come back home."

"But...I need you to promise me you will protect Axel at all costs," Arabella insisted, voice firmer now.

Adrian frowned. "He's my son too. I don't have to promise you. It's my responsibility."

"Well, I'm just worried Serena will start scheming against him once I'm gone, and you'd blindly believe her like the fool you've become," Arabella murmured with a small, bitter smile.

"ARABELLA!" Adrian snapped-but that was all he could do as she picked up the pen and signed the papers.

As she finished, Arabella felt a strange lightness, as if a huge weight had lifted.

She looked at Adrian, expecting to see relief...maybe even triumph.

But his jaw was locked tight. His eyes fixed on the signed papers like they'd betrayed him.

"You should be over the moon now. All your insecurities about my 'golddigging' are over."

Adrian didn't say a word. He stared at the signature-her name in black ink, finalizing everything he'd demanded.

His throat worked. His fingers curled into his palm.

For a moment, he looked like a man who'd gotten exactly what he wanted and hated himself for it.

For someone who always wanted this divorce, that felt weird.

As much as Arabella tried to stay strong, tears blurred her vision as she looked at the man who had once ruled her heart.

"We are divorced now. Can I at least...see him before I leave?"

Adrian didn't hesitate, "No!"

His jaw clenched. "It's only after I'm sure you're far away from him that he comes back. Don't get any ideas or try any tricks."

All the while, ignoring her gaze.

Arabella inhaled sharply, hurriedly wiping a tear before Adrian could notice. She forced a smile, holding his gaze one last time. "Yes, it was my fault I fell in love with you. I disrupted your relationship with Serena... but remember, Adrian, you kissed me first."

Serena's face twisted, the mask slipping just for a second before she composed herself. "Adrian was drunk. You took advantage-"

"You moaned my name as we fucked," Arabella screamed, veins throbbing in her neck. "Was that a mistake too?" Angry tears poured down her cheeks.

Adrian didn't respond. His eyes slowly reddened, glistening as if he were holding back tears. His hands clenched the edge of the table.

"Adrian Sterling, I will never forgive you for ruining my life." Arabella started to walk away, wiping her cheeks.

Just as she reached the doorway, her phone pinged, and Adrian's voice followed, stopping her in her tracks.

"I sent $5 million to your account." His voice softened, almost like the boy she once loved.

Five million dollars. Like he could pay her to disappear. To forget her child.

To stop existing in his world.

She almost laughed. Almost threw it back in his face.

But she would need to survive...to come back stronger.

So she took his blood money and said nothing.

Then he spoke again, "Live a good life...Petals."

Petals. Named after the birthmarks on her shoulders that only he had ever noticed.

The nickname that once made her heart race now made her blood boil.

She opened the door and walked out. She didn't stop crying, letting the pain spill over as she left the company and hailed a cab.

The cab ride was a blur. She didn't remember paying the driver or walking through the front door.

She only remembered the sound of it closing behind her-final, hollow-before her knees gave out and she slid down against it, finally alone enough to shatter.

This was the last time she would cry over him.

Eventually, she began packing, but everything reminded her of him-from the expensive jewelry to the small hair brooches he had bought randomly, saying, "If I don't spoil my sister, who will?"

What used to make her heart flutter now only burned her skin. She took only essentials: clothes and documents.

She paused at her business degree, realizing she had never used it since marrying Adrian straight out of college.

Then she went to Axel's room. She could almost see him lying peacefully on his bed.

Her fingers trembled as they clutched the blanket, still warm with his scent.

The room was silent, toys lined up neatly as if waiting for him. Her shoulders curled inward, each breath splintering her chest, forcing her to hold the bedframe to stay upright.

Her gaze drifted to the wall where tiny stickers clung in a crooked line-pirates, planets, a smiling sun he used to say looked like her.

A shaky laugh escaped, shattering into jagged sobs. She pressed her forehead into the mattress, remembering him crawling onto her lap with morning hair sticking up like a startled bird.

Axel loved her. She refused to believe otherwise.

As she tried to stand, her hand brushed something hard at the bed's edge.

A notebook.

She remembered it clearly-a fancy diary she'd bought Adrian for his 21st birthday eight years ago. "You may need a place to write your deepest, darkest secrets," she had joked.

Arabella wiped her eyes and dusted it off. "Why is this here?"

Adrian often spent time in Axel's room so he might have dropped it?

She wanted to put it back-she didn't need reminders of him. But curiosity won.

The date at the top caught her eye: his birthday.

The first line read:

"Dear Diary, as scary as it is to admit, I am in love with my sister."

Arabella felt her whole body go numb for a moment.

Maybe she'd read it wrong. Maybe.

She closed the note...then opened it again. But the words didn't change.

Adrian really wrote those words. She knew his handwriting well so there was no mistaking it.

Arabella tilted her head back, forcing herself to hold back the tears.

Maybe this was just another drunken mistake. After all, he had a lot to drink that night at the party.

But when she continued to open one page after another, her heart sank deeper into the bottom of her belly.

Adrian had kept a record of every flirty word he said to her...and then laughed it off as a joke.

Everytime he held her hand and felt butterflies in his stomach.

Every time his gaze lingered on her a little too long.

And every time he bought her gifts because they reminded him of how beautiful she was.

More tears pumped out of Arabella's eyes, as she realized it wasn't all just in her head.

The words that made her heart flutter, the touch that gave her butterflies...they were all deliberate.

She wasn't confusing things. Adrian was really seducing her...making her fall for him.

And when she did...he panicked and tried to create a distance.

He even knew the moment she realized she'd fallen for him. Something Arabella still wasn't sure of.

Arabella's memory replayed to the eve of her high school reunion party years ago when he interrupted a dance she was having with a male friend.

Adrian had noticed Arabella being uncomfortable and intervened at the perfect time...so perfect that Arabella wrapped her hands around him in what felt like the warmest hug ever.

It had caused quite a stare back then, but everyone knew how protective of her Adrian was, so they didn't talk about it.

Maybe it was the way her heart thudded louder than ever that gave away her feelings?

But somehow he knew right then and there she'd fallen for him.

Her tears dropped on the pages, each drop soaking the paper as her hands trembled by the edge.

She could still remember how he stopped coming home for the small holidays from his law school...and how he started to ignore her calls.

Arabella covered her mouth as a choked sob threatened to escape her.

"Serena asked why I call Arabella 'Petals.' I lied, said it's a sibling thing. Truth is, I've memorized every mark on her skin. She's my sister, for God's sake. I'm trying so hard to love the right person. I keep failing. I'm sick."

Just when she thought nothing more could surprise her, she opened to the next page. It was about their one-night stand.

He wasn't drunk that night.

"I told everyone I was too drunk to remember. Told Serena it meant nothing. Told myself it was a mistake. But I remember everything. Every sound she made. Every time she said my name. It was the best night of my life, and I let her think she seduced me. I'm a coward."

Arabella's hands shook.

He knew. He'd always known.

Arabella's throat clicked as she swallowed, the words blurring for a moment before she blinked them back into focus.

A hollow ache settled beneath her ribs, spreading slowly and cold as she read the last lines on the page, "I love Arabella, but dirty feelings will ruin my family."

"I can not disappoint my Father. I can't love. I will never love her...because I can't protect her. Serena will have to do."

Arabella let out a shaky exhale, the kind that sounded more like defeat than breath. "This...this is what he calls love?"

She let out a humourless laugh that did nothing to the sting as she wiped her face off.

There were still so many pages left to read. Probably about the pregnancy, the forced marriage and everything in between.

But she was done crying over an asshole like him. Now it was time to leave, so at least Axel could come back home.

Since he was adamant that she had to leave before he brought him back, there was no doubt he had someone keep an eye on her.

But before she dropped the book, she picked up a pen and scribbled something on the last page; words he'd find later, when it was too late to take back what he'd done.

As she dragged her small suitcase down the living room, she met Catherine sitting on her wheelchair in the center of the room.

When she reached her front, she stopped, looking at her with deep sadness, "As you might already know, I have finally divorced your son."

"I give up my child to fulfill your happy family fantasy."

Catherine scoffed, rolling her eyes. She'd already heard about the divorce so it wasn't news to her, "Don't think you're doing us a favour, Arabella. You owe us this."

"I took you in wholeheartedly, but as soon as you were old enough, you bit the hand that fed you. So don't play victim around me." she said, leaning back with a maddening smirk, "It's disgusting."

"I'm playing victim?" Arabella muttered, a laugh slipping out, sharp, disbelieving, entirely humorless. "So what do we call you who weaponize your immobility against me every single time?"

Catherine's brows creased with fury. Arabella was talking back now? How dare she.

"If you had just let Dad drive in peace...If you hadn't started arguing about HIS decision to change HIS will..." Arabella's voice broke as the memories of that night flashed in her face again.

The shouting. The arguments. The sudden break fail. The crash. Blood. Darkness.

"...maybe Dad would still be with us now."

She'd been in the back seat, silent, as Catherine railed against Victor's decision to change his will in Arabella's favor. The shouting escalated. Victor turned to respond.

He never saw the truck.

The impact through the driver's side killed him instantly. Arabella and Catherine survived.

And Catherine had spent five years making sure everyone believed it was Arabella's fault.

"You..." Catherine cut in sharply, but that was all she could do. She didn't have any words to counter her.

Ms. Shaw who was just walking into the living room thought to defend her boss, "How dare you speak to madam..."

Arabella shot her a cold glance, forcing her mouth shut, but she didn't have words for her. Didn't have time to waste on her.

She wiped off her tears, facing Catherine again, "Making me take the blame might have eased your guilt...but I've had enough. Now is your turn."

"Keep enjoying the attention and control you have over Adrian because of your condition, but stop making him hate Father, because we both know neither of you deserve him." She dragged her suitcase away.

Catherine's eyes were bloodshot, jaws clenched and fingers digging furiously into the iron railings of her chair.

Yet she had no words to defend herself.

Arabella suddenly stopped as she reached the doorway, looking back at the big mansion that held both her happiest and saddest memories.

Her gaze darted back to Catherine even as hot tears blurred her vision.

"As of today, I have paid my debt to this family for raising me."

Her voice broke even as she tried hard to hold back her pain, "I-I...might never understand why you suddenly hate me so much after all the love we shared in all those years."

"But..." she paused again, wiping off her tears, speaking more steadily this time, "I will come back. To take everything that belongs to me."

For once she could swear she saw tears in Catherine's eyes, but maybe it was just her blurred vision.

She turned away, restraining her tears with all her might as she walked out of the mansion. The one she once called home.

Arabella had to cover her mouth to hide her uncontrollable sobs as she walked along the pedestrian.

This is where it ends. The love. The hate. The pain. The guilt. The humiliations.

She looked back again, even though only the top balcony of their house was barely in view.

"I will come back for you Axel. I promise."

She pulled out her phone and began moving the money-splitting it across accounts Adrian couldn't access, accounts she'd set up before but didn't use.

$5 million. Her escape fund. Her revenge fund.

Her new beginning.

In her heartbreak, she had forgotten to book a cab and it was rare to find wandering cabs in such a high society area.

Luckily for her, a cab drove out of the estate, stopping before her. She didn't hesitate and entered.

"Oasis Hotel." She said as she pulled out her phone and started to make her reservation.

She planned to stay in the hotel for the night while she booked a ticket.

When she raised her head, she noticed the driver had passed the intersection leading to the hotel.

She looked back through the window to be sure before she spoke up, "Hey, I think you missed the lane.

No response.

Arabella adjusted to her seat and spoke again, "Hey Mister, is there another route you plan to follow?"

Still no response.

A cold dread washed through Arabella's body. But she didn't want to show it.

"Stop the car!" She ordered.

But the driver didn't.

"Stop the car or I will call the police." Arabella threatened.

Finally, the car slowly came to a halt.

Arabella attempted to step out of the car but it was on central lock.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Arabella panicked but the driver maintained his silence, searching for something in his pocket.

Arabella quickly dialed 911, threatening, "The police will..."

Her voice trailed off to a mumble as the driver suddenly turned, pressing a cloth to her face.

Arabella struggled, her mind going through the identity of her possible abductor. Adrian? Serena? Catherine?

Her mind scrambled for a reason until everything slowly went dark.