My father's words were meant to teach Caspian a lesson about his place, about his duty to me. He was telling him that I was to be his world, the woman he must honor above all others.

I remember the feeling of my small boot on his broad shoulder. My heart had hammered in my chest. It was the first time I realized I was in love with him.

I was too young, too infatuated, to see the shame burning in his eyes.

After that day, I never asked him to do it again. I respected his pride too much.

Now, I watched as he knelt willingly, gladly, for another woman. For Lyra. He looked up at her with a tenderness that made my own eyes sting.

The sight was a physical pain, sharp and unbearable. I forced myself to look away.

I kicked my horse, a powerful black gelding named Shadowfax, into a gallop. I urged him faster and faster, the wind whipping past my face, temporarily chasing away the storm in my heart. I needed to feel free, to outrun the suffocating reality of my life.

The stable had a challenging obstacle course, with high jumps and tight turns. I guided Shadowfax towards it, pushing him to his limits.

We approached a tall oxer. Shadowfax gathered himself, launching into the air.

In that split second, I heard a sharp crack.

The saddle cinch had snapped.

I was thrown from the horse, landing hard on the unforgiving ground. A searing pain shot through my leg. Shadowfax, spooked and riderless, thrashed wildly, his powerful hooves dangerously close to my head.

Through a haze of pain, I looked for Caspian. He was still with Lyra, his back to me, completely oblivious to my plight. He was supposed to be my designated guardian during these lessons, his one official duty.

He had failed. He was too busy doting on her.

"Caspian!" I screamed, my voice raw with desperation and agony.

He finally turned, his eyes widening in shock. With a speed that was almost inhuman, he was at my side. He grabbed Shadowfax's reins, his voice a low command that instantly calmed the frantic animal. He was a master of beasts, a skill he'd learned on the streets.

His job was to keep me safe. He had been so focused on Lyra he had almost gotten me killed.

The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with a broken leg.

Caspian, seemingly wracked with guilt, volunteered to be my caretaker. He was a perfect nurse, attentive and gentle. He brought me my meals, read to me, and made sure I was never in any pain.

For a few days, a foolish part of me allowed a sliver of hope to grow. Maybe he did care. Maybe this accident had made him realize something.

But then I would see the way his eyes lit up whenever Lyra visited, the secret smiles they shared when they thought I wasn't looking. The hope would wither and die.

My leg was healing. One night, I woke up needing to use the restroom. The cast made it awkward, and I hobbled slowly down the quiet, sterile hallway of the private hospital wing.

That's when I heard voices from a small alcove near the nurses' station. It was Mateo and Caspian.

"You went too far this time, Caspian," Mateo's voice was a low hiss, showing a rare crack in his calm facade. "Cutting her saddle strap? She could have broken her neck. This isn't a game."

My blood ran cold. I pressed myself against the wall, my heart pounding in my ears.

Caspian's reply was chillingly calm, like a scientist discussing a lab rat. "I didn't expect the horse to spook like that. My calculations showed a 97% probability of a minor fall, maybe a sprain. Enough to scare her, to make her more dependent. This fracture... it was an anomaly in the data. The subduing effect, however, is proving quite effective."

He had calculated my fall. It wasn't an accident. It was a plan.

"So this is your penance?" Mateo asked, his voice laced with disgust. "Playing the devoted caretaker?"

"I'll see it through," Caspian said. "Then this will all be over. She'll be fine, and we can move on."

A wave of nausea washed over me. I felt a coldness spread from my chest through my entire body, a chill that had nothing to do with the hospital air conditioning.

He had done this to me. On purpose. To "scare" me. To "manage" me.

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, but I didn't feel the pain. The agony in my heart was so much greater, it eclipsed everything else. This wasn't just betrayal. This was monstrous.

I was discharged from the hospital a week later. Caspian was there, waiting to drive me home. I ignored him completely and got into the car with Mateo, who had also come along.

Mateo, the strategist. The one who had "saved" me from a falling sculpture. The one who had just reprimanded Caspian for almost killing me.

He tried to make small talk on the way home, telling jokes, trying to get me to smile.

I couldn't. My face felt like a frozen mask.

"Seraphina, are you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle. "You seem... different."

"I'm fine," I said, my voice flat.

"Look, I know things have been tense," he said. "Why don't we go to the Christie's auction tonight? Buy yourself something pretty. It always helps." He smiled. "My treat."

I looked at him, at his handsome, concerned face, and felt a surge of disgust. "With my father's money?"

He flinched, but recovered quickly. "I have my own money, Seraphina. I've made some very successful investments." He leaned in a little. "Seriously. Let me buy you anything you want."

A slow, cold smile spread across my face for the first time in weeks. "Alright, Mateo. You're on."

If he wanted to play the generous fool, I would let him. I would take everything I could from these vipers.

The auction house was buzzing with the city's elite. The centerpiece of the evening was a stunning necklace known as the "Starfall Sapphire," a cascade of flawless blue diamonds rumored to have belonged to my late mother, a final gift from my father before she passed. It was more than jewelry; it was a symbol of my legacy.

The moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it.

Just as the bidding was about to start, the doors opened and two more people walked in. Caspian and Lyra.

My smile froze. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I knew, with absolute certainty, that Lyra would want that necklace.

The bidding started.

"One million dollars," came a soft voice from across the room. It was Lyra.

She caught my eye and then looked down, a hesitant expression on her face. "Oh, Seraphina. Do you want it? I'm sorry, I'll stop." She made a show of lowering her bidding paddle, looking up at Caspian with sad eyes. "I wouldn't want to take something you like."

She played the part of the magnanimous sister so well.

Caspian's face hardened. He glared at me from across the room, his eyes full of contempt, as if I were a bully taking a toy from a small child. This was no longer about a simple gift; this was a public challenge to my birthright.

He turned to Lyra, his voice loud enough for the whole room to hear. "If you like it, you should have it. Don't let anyone stop you."

Then he raised his own paddle. "Five million dollars."

A hush fell over the room. Everyone knew who Caspian was. He was the Ashworth heir apparent, my future husband. For him to publicly bid against me, for my own mother's legacy, for another woman was a slap in the face. Whispers erupted.

"Is he trying to humiliate her?"

"Poor Seraphina. To be treated like that in public."

I felt the heat of a hundred pairs of eyes on me, some pitying, some mocking. My hand, holding my own paddle, trembled with rage.

I would not be humiliated. I would not back down.

I lifted my paddle, catching the auctioneer's eye, and made a sharp, decisive gesture.

"Ten million," the auctioneer announced, his voice booming.

I would not let them win.

"Sold! To Miss Ashworth for ten million dollars!" the auctioneer declared.

A wave of relief washed over me. For a moment, the tightness in my chest eased.

I went to the back room to finalize the purchase. The attendant swiped my exclusive, unlimited black card. It was declined.

"That's impossible," I said, my voice tight. "Try it again."

He did. "I'm sorry, Miss Ashworth. The card has been frozen."

I stared at him in disbelief. My father would never freeze my card.

Mateo, who had followed me, stepped forward. "Don't worry, Seraphina. I told you, it's my treat." He handed the attendant his own card, a private account I knew he'd been building for years.

It was also declined.

Mateo looked stunned, a flash of genuine, raw anger crossing his face. "What? My accounts are fine. There must be a mistake."

A commotion started to build outside the room. People were whispering, laughing.

"Did you hear? The Ashworths are broke!"

"She bid ten million and can't even pay for it. What a joke."

My face burned with shame. I had never felt so humiliated in my entire life.

Just then, Caspian appeared in the doorway. He had watched the whole scene unfold, a cool, unreadable expression on his face. He walked slowly towards the attendant.

"Allow me," he said, pulling a card from his wallet.

The payment went through instantly.

The attendant handed the velvet box containing the necklace to Caspian.

And then, in front of everyone, Caspian walked over to Lyra, opened the box, and fastened the "Starfall Sapphire" around her neck.

I was no longer just a joke. I was the punchline.

My eyes stung, and I fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

Mateo swore under his breath. "That son of a bitch. He must have hacked our accounts. He did this on purpose."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, and then the tears came, hot and unstoppable. Of course, he did. He was a genius coder. He could cripple financial systems with a few keystrokes. This wasn't just about a necklace. This was a public execution of my dignity and my inheritance.

He had the power to ruin me, and he had just proved it.

Caspian turned to Mateo, his voice low and menacing. "Stay away from her."

Then he looked at me, his eyes cold as ice. "Let's go home, Seraphina."

"I'd rather die," I whispered, my voice choked with grief.

I turned and walked away, not looking back.

For the next week, I locked myself in my room. Mateo tried to visit, leaving trays of my favorite desserts outside my door. I ignored them. I remembered his voice from the library, laughing about how he'd manipulated me. He was no better than the rest of them.

One afternoon, I turned on the security feed I'd secretly had installed in the main living areas of the house. I'd done it after overhearing their conversation in the library, needing to know the true extent of their deception.

The Fellows were sprawled on the couches, complaining.

"Is she ever coming out?" Ronan groaned. "Lyra wants us to take her to the Hamptons, but Caspian says we can't go until Seraphina is 'stable' again."

"Why is it our job to cheer her up?" another Fellow, Liam, whined. "I'd much rather be with Lyra."

"Caspian's orders," Mateo said with a sigh. "He wants one of us to go up there and coax her out."

"I'm not going," Ronan grumbled.

"I don't want to either," Liam added. "Mateo, you go. You're the best at pretending to care."

"Why should I?" Mateo shot back, his good-natured facade gone. "Caspian's the one who caused this mess at the auction. Let him clean it up."

Just then, Caspian himself walked into the frame. He looked at the others, his expression dark.

"I'll handle my fiancée," he said, his voice laced with a cold possession that made my skin crawl. "You all just stay out of it."

He picked up a small gift box from the table and headed for the stairs.

I quickly shut off the monitor. My fiancée. He still had the audacity to call me that.

Downstairs, I could hear Ronan's angry voice through the door. "His fiancée? Who does he think he is? She belongs to all of us... or to none of us."

Mateo's voice was heavy with resignation. "It doesn't matter, Ron. In the end, she'll still choose him. She always does. We're just the supporting cast in their twisted play."