The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 26

[26 – Happy Birthday To Me]
Dressed in an all black, satin night suit, Seraphina was sitting on her floor of a room shrouded in darkness. The only source of light in that room were the moon and the flickering candles on the birthday cake that was placed in front of her.

There was a time when Seraphina feared the darkness more than anything else in the world, but now, the darkness resides within her.

Seraphina’s eyes were focused on the portrait in front of her. A moment frozen a time that had beautifully captured the happiness that once was a part of her life. It her her family portrait that they took on her 9th birthday; her last birthday that she celebrated with her family.

With a teary smile, Seraphina gently sliced the soft chocolate sponge cake that she had baked herself. Every year, her parents would make the same cake for her on her birthday and Seraphina remembered decorating it with her brothers, and now, she was the sole bearer of this tradition.

As she cut the cake and blew the candle, a shaky breath escaped her lips, tears welling up in her eyes, her voice barely a whisper as she began to sing, “Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me.”

With shaky hands, Seraphina cut a small piece of the cake and placed it at the bottom of her family’s portrait before cutting a small piece for herself. The happy memories of her mother’s gentle smile, her father’s warm embrace as they woke her up with a birthday song flooded her mind.

With tears in her eyes and a fond smile curling up her lips, Seraphina recalled her brother’s playful antics as they did everything she asked on her special day no matter what she asked them to do. She remembered being the most excited about her grandfather’s thoughtful gifts wrapped in the most exquisite gift wrap paper.

She missed them all so much that it hurt to breathe. The happy memories that she had with her family along with the haunting, vivid details of the tragedy that she had witness, all of it made it physically painful for to live.

If it hadn’t been her desire to avenge the deaths of her family members, Seraphina would have ended her life long ago.

Tears streamed down her face as she took a bite of the cake, the taste both sweet and bitter. Looking at her family portrait, her gaze blurry because of tears, Seraphina whispered to herself, “I miss you all so much!” she sniffled, “I wish you were here with me.”

“I don’t know till when can I survive.” she cried not caring about the cake crumbs and icing smudged across her cheek, “But I promise you, I will not rest until I avenge your deaths and the torture that we were subjected to.”

“I will do whatever it takes to bring those sinners to their demise, even if I have to get blood on my hands.” Seraphina was trembling with rage, her eyes reddened as if filled with blood and not tears.

“Forgive me for what I must become, but to kill a monster, I have to become a monster myself.” her expressions hardened just like her resolve, “I know that you must be extremely disappointed in me because of what I have become but I cannot turn back now.”

She traced the smiling faces of her family members in the photograph, her fingers gently moving over the glass frame, her resolve growing stronger with each passing moment. She had a mission, and nothing would stop her.

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Meanwhile, in her hotel room, Caroline had fainted after experiencing a panic attack on seeing the necklace that she had taken from her cousin, the real Caroline Mae Sullivan, all those years ago. And the scrapbook that contained the photographs of her from when she was 9 years old and younger.

It was like a hard slap across her face and Caroline could not tolerate that. She could not handle the pressure that built up in her chest, suffocating her and hence, she lost consciousness and fell down on the floor with a thud.

Minutes later, a man entered her room. He gently picked Caroline up and laid her on the bed. After covering her with the comforter, he bent down to pick up the necklace, the scrapbook, and the box that they came in.

Gathering them all, he left the room just as silently as he had came in.

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The next morning Caroline woke up feeling quite disoriented. At first, she couldn’t recall the events of last night but soon the fog surrounding her memories cleared and the memories of last night flashed behind her eyes.

Her breath hitched and heart started beating erratically as Caroline looked around searching for the necklace and the scrapbook. She needed to destroy them as soon as possible, before anyone else could find it.

She checked the bedroom thrice, and twice did she go through the entire hotel room but she could not find either of those two items. Panic gripped her heart, as she frantically searched for the necklace and scrapbook but was unable them.

‘Where did they go?!’ she wondered as she wiped the sweat off her face with her shaky hands.

The thought that someone might have entered her hotel room last night after she lost consciousness, and took those items along was horrifying. This posed as huge risk to her identity, her status in the society. What would happen of her if everybody finds out about her truth?

Desperation set in as Caroline rushed to the hotel’s security office. She wanted to see the security CCTV footage to check if someone did broke in and entered her hotel room.

Wearing only her bathrobe, not caring about anything, Caroline ran up to the receptionist, “I need to see the CCTV footage from last night,” she demanded, her voice shaky.

“Ma’am -” the receptionist did not know what to say. The guests present in the lobby area began gossiping seeing Caroline in that condition but those murmurs meant nothing when there was a sharp edged sword dangling over her head.

“Please! It’s urgent. I -, someone -” she was too panicked to make coherent sentences, “Listen, I think someone broke into my room last night and stole something of importance. So I want to just check if someone did come and stole something.”

Listening to Caroline’s explanation, the receptionist nodded and immediately called for a security guard who led her to the security room. They told the other security guard who was monitoring the CCTV cameras at her floor to pull up the footage for the specified time.

They watched together, but to Caroline’s horror, there was no sign of anyone entering or exiting her room.

“This can’t be right,” she said, her voice rising, “Someone was there in my room last night. I saw him!” though she hadn’t, yet she lied.

The guard looked at her sympathetically, feeling a little uncomfortable as well considering Caroline’s choice of clothing, “I am sorry, ma’am, but the footage doesn’t show anyone.”

“You have to check it again! Maybe you specified the wrong date and time, check again please!” she continued to insist because there was no way she imagined seeing those things last night.

“My diamond and sapphire necklace was stolen!” claimed Caroline, “I would call the police if you don’t show me the right footage!” she threatened.

“Ma’am we need the manager’s permission for this. We have already -” a security guard tried to reason.

“Manager? The Hotel manager!” Caroline yelled out loud recalling that it was the Hotel manager who had come to drop that giftbox at her door.

“Call your Manager then. I want to speak to him.” the guards did as Caroline ordered them to.

The called the Hotel Manager to the security office and with his permission, the security footage was checked again but just like before, no suspicious activity was noticed.

Feeling the walls closing in on her, Caroline turned towards the Hotel Manager and asked, “Did you bring me a gift last night?” her voice was laced with urgency.

The manager frowned, “I am sorry, what?” he assumed that Caroline was trying to make him the thief.

“Last night, around 10 PM, you came to meet me. You had this giftbox with you which you said was sent by friend Isabella Smith.” the panic and fear was eating her from the inside.

“No, ma’am, I didn’t. I never came to your room. Neither did I give you any giftbox. In fact, I wasn’t even at the hotel yesterday. I had a personal matter to attend to that’s why I had taken a day off. ” explained the hotel manager.

“You are lying!” Caroline screamed in his face, “You all are lying to me!”

“But why would we do that?” questioned the hotel manager.

Caroline was visibly shaking and looked as if she would fall unconscious anytime, “I don’t know that! I DON’T KNOW!” she began crying not being able to think properly.

As a final straw of hope, she gave a call to Isabella who answered her call after seven tries, “Hey babe! Where’s the fire?” she could hear the laughter in Isabella’s voice which fueled her anger and panic.

“Isabella, did you send me a gift last night?” Caroline asked, her voice shaking. She did not have any time for greetings right now.

There was a pause, “Are you upset?” questioned Isabella. She had assumed that Caroline might be upset because of not getting a gift from her.

“I am not upset, Isabella!” the tremor could be heard in her voice, “Just answer ,y question, please!”

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy with the honeymoon that I didn’t have time to get you anything.” responded Isabella, her tone apologetic.

Caroline’s heart sank, “But… I received a gift, a necklace and a scrapbook. I thought it was from you.”

She wondered if she had imagined everything but then again why would she?

“Caroline, are you okay?” Isabella asked, concern evident in her voice. “Caroline?”

But Caroline didn’t reply. She was too shocked to say anything, her mind in turmoil. Had it all been a delusion?

Her hands trembled and she lot her grip on her cell phone causing it to fall down. She could not comprehend what exactly happened with her last night. Was Ethan’s betrayal not enough that now her own mind was torturing her?

Or was someone else behind this? But who?

From a few feet away, hidden in the shadows, Seraphina watched Caroline’s panic with a cold smile. She had been the mastermind of this plan after all so watching it succeed satisfied her to the core.

“If you want to take someone else’s place,” Seraphina murmured to herself, “make sure there’s no one left who can recognize your façade and knows the real one. No matter how well you take someone else’s identity, the fear of exposure is always there, dear cousin.”