A Homeward Path Unknown

My hope of finding my parents was utterly shattered. Just as I rushed to our meeting spot, they were struck and killed right before my eyes.

I returned home, utterly devastated, only to hear the sound of Silas Vaughn on the phone with his confidant in the foyer.

"First, it was a forged DNA report, and now, a staged car crash."

"President Vaughn, you've really gone to great lengths to keep Zara Lowell from finding her family."

Curled up on the sofa, I felt my breath catch in my throat as I heard his words.

Silas Vaughn took off his coat, his voice weary yet resolute.

"This is the last time. Zara Lowell will never be able to find her biological parents."

His confidant sighed.

"Must you go this far? Letting Miss Lowell reunite with the Sterling Family wouldn't actually affect Miss Sterling's position..."

"No. If Zara Lowell is taken back by the Sterling Family and steals Mr. and Mrs. Sterling's affection, Nina will be upset again."

Silas Vaughn cut him off immediately, his tone exceptionally grave.

"That's why I had no choice but to stage Mr. and Mrs. Sterling's deaths right in front of her. In three days, they'll leave the country, never to return."

"As for Zara Lowell, I've already promised to marry her."

His confidant was taken aback. "Then what about Miss Sterling?"

After a moment of silence, Silas Vaughn finally sounded as if he'd been deflated.

"As long as she's happy, I'll be content..."

...

When Silas Vaughn hung up the phone and turned to see me lying on the sofa, he froze in place.

The shock in his eyes was fleeting, quickly masked by his usual composure.

He strode over, a hint of tension in his voice.

"Zara? Why are the lights off? When did you get back?"

I didn't answer. I just lifted my head and stared at him, my eyes hollow and dead.

The face I had loved for ten years now looked like nothing more than a false mask.

My gaze made him uncomfortable. He reached out to touch my face, but I flinched away as if I'd been burned.

His hand stopped awkwardly in midair.

"What's wrong?" He frowned, a hint of reprimand in his voice.

"Are you throwing a tantrum again? I'm exhausted from dealing with company business all day."

My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise, the pain so intense I nearly convulsed.

He personally orchestrated a car crash, forcing me to watch the parents I'd spent over twenty years searching for die tragically before my eyes, and he had the audacity to say *he* was tired?

Trembling, I held the death certificate up to his face. Each word felt like it was being clawed from my throat.

"Silas, my parents... they're dead."

He looked at the report, a flicker of what looked like relief in his eyes, before he sighed and pulled me into his arms.

His embrace, once my safe harbor, now felt like a cold, iron cage.

"I know you're hurting, Zara." He patted my back gently, his voice so soft he sounded like a completely different person from the monster I'd just overheard.

"Don't be afraid. You have me now."

"I'll marry you, take care of you for the rest of our lives, and make sure you're never alone again."

'A lifetime?'

I buried my face in his shoulder and laughed without a sound, tears streaming down my face and soaking his shirt.

He thought I was crying from grief and patted me soothingly.

"There, there, don't cry. What's done is done."

"You're already so frail. What will you do if you cry yourself sick?"

I could never have imagined it. My sole obsession for more than twenty years had been to find my biological parents, and the five times my hopes had been raised and then shattered—it had all been his doing.

And this time, he'd simply made them "die" in front of me, extinguishing any last flicker of hope.

He did all of this just because he was afraid I'd be accepted back by the Sterling Family, afraid I'd take away some of the affection they showered on Nina Sterling.

I pulled myself from his embrace and stood up, swaying unsteadily.

"Silas Vaughn, I'm tired. I want to rest."

He looked at my pale face and swollen, red-rimmed eyes, then nodded.

"All right. I'll help you upstairs. I've already had Mrs. Miller make you some calming soup."

He was always like this—meticulously attentive in the smallest daily matters, supporting me in everything I did, including my passion for restoring ancient paintings, a profession looked down upon by high society.

That was why I had been so convinced that we were in love.

But I never imagined that all his kindness was just a way to trap me at his side, to make me a tool he could use to protect Nina Sterling.

I let him support me as we walked up the stairs, one step at a time.

He settled me into bed and tucked the covers in, his voice gentle.

"Get some sleep. Don't think about anything. Everything will be better tomorrow."

I closed my eyes and felt the soft press of his lips on my forehead.

The door clicked softly shut, and the room fell into a dead silence.

My eyes snapped open, and silent tears streamed down my face.

'Silas Vaughn, there will be no tomorrow.'

'Our world came to an end the moment you orchestrated that death.'