[10 - The Cries of Broken Hearts]

Elijah was in his study reviewing important documents that Margaret had sent him from London. Aria had smoothly takeover the business operations and everything was going fine. Margaret wrote to him informing that she will be arriving to the States next week and also sent him the link to the adjusted calendar listing his schedule for the current week.

Due to Ethan's accident and the fact that he had been in a different country away from his family for over an year, Elijah had decided to work from home for the whole month. He had worked from home before but this time he encountered a problem that he had never faced before.

A 5'5" tall problem that has long, voluminous black hair, prominent cupid bow lips with the lower lip being slightly fuller that the upper lip, and stunning bluish grey eyes.

A problem called Seraphina Vale.

Elijah tried his best but failed to not think about Seraphina. The more he tried, the more his desire to uncover the mystery that Seraphin is grew. She was a problem that Elijah was not able to solve. This caused him such distraction that he had never experienced before.

Elijah had already scrolled through her Infopedia page and several articles about her at various other sites, hoping to jog his memory but so far he wasn't able to recall where the hell had he seen Seraphina in his life.

Seraphina's enigmatic presence lingered in his mind, compelling him to dig deeper. He spent the whole day searching for more information about Seraphina and only managed to half heartedly review just two pages of one of the 15 documents and reports that he had received from Margaret. The said report being 47 pages long.

He finally gave up later that evening.

Unable to shake his curiosity, Elijah decided he needed to see Seraphina again, and the best way to do without unnecessarily alarming Seraphina was to go to her company to pick up Chloe. He picked up his phone and texted Chloe, telling her to wait as he was coming to pick her up. He was determined to solve this mystery because now it was hampering his work.

Picking up his car keys, Elijah walked out of the Grayson mansion, unaware that the pull he was feeling towards Seraphina wasn't simple curiosity. He did not know about how tangled the threads of his fate were with Seraphina's.

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Chloe was thankful that Elijah was coming to get her. After the incident with Natasha, she was feeling low. Never in her life had she been humiliated like this. Not only did Natasha dumped the cold coffee on her head but she also made her kneel down and apologize.

Chloe, who had always been a Daddy's Princess, felt the burn of shame and degradation, and it was not a good feeling. It hurt and all Chloe wanted to do was cry her heart out and they go to a spa to pamper herself and get the awful coffee smell out of her hair.

She had not meant to offend Natasha. Chloe joined The Seraphina Atelier to study fashion designing and not do menial chores like that. It was Natasha's fault and not hers. But, Chloe could not do a thing about that because Natasha had the power that she did not have.

Natasha was a prominent figure who came from the wealthiest family in the world. The Grayson family, though extremely powerful, had no chance against the Carter family. That's why Chloe decided to keep her mouth close and try her best to forget about this incident.

Sighing, Chloe looked at her cell phone to check the time as she waited for her brother.

"Chloe?"

She turned around and saw Seraphina approaching her, "You are still here? I thought you left already."

"I am waiting for my brother, actually." responded Chloe.

Nodding her head, Seraphina decided to stay with Chloe till the time Elijah comes to pick her up. It was an opportunity that shall not be missed. So Seraphina decided to engage Chloe in a brief conversation until Elijah arrives and what better topic of discussion could be then making her little canary recall about how Natasha humiliated her earlier this day.

"I know you must be feeling bad." began Seraphina, her tone sweet and sympathetic, "Natasha should not have poured the coffee on you and neither should she have made you kneel. No matter how rich and powerful she is, one should not forget the basic human decency."

Chloe lowered her head, her eyes welling up with tears as she recalled the said humiliating moment, "You should just try and forget about it. Do not let this incident effect yourself, hhmm."

Chloe hummed in response and wiped the corner of her eyes, not letting the tears spill down her cheeks. Meanwhile, Elijah arrived at Seraphina's office building and spotted Chloe and Seraphina talking at the entryway.

Elijah noticed how worn out Chloe looked and decided to ask her about it later. He worried that something must have happened at the company that upset his little sister.

Chloe smiled when she spotted Elijah and waved her hand in greeting, "Hey." she said, "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem." Elijah replied and ruffled his sister's hair, his eyes lingering on Seraphina who was looking at him with a smile curved upon her lips.

"Hello, Mr. Grayson. It's good to see you again." said Seraphina.

"Hi!" for some reason, that Elijah himself could not comprehend, he sounded a little breathless while he greeting Seraphina.

Seraphina could see it in his face, in his expressions that Elijah wanted to talk to her but Seraphina was not going to give him the chance so easily. "I'll take your leave then. It's getting late. Bye!"

Seraphina bade the brother and sister goodbye before walking past them and towards her car without looking back.

She knew that if she gave him what he wanted too easily, he wouldn't value it and would take it for granted. By making him wait, his curiosity and desire to learn everything about her would intensify. So, she decided to keep him waiting, offering him just a small taste each time to heighten his impatience and deepen the mystery.

Elijah sighed as he watched Seraphina go. He had missed the opportunity to talk to her. He turned to face his sister and grabbed her bag, "So, how was your day?"

Chloe sighed and shook her head as she walked over to their car, "Eventful." she used to word to summarize the whole day.

"What happened?" asked Elijah as he placed her bag on the backseat and then sat on the driver's seat.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Chloe wore the seatbelt and replied, "Natasha Carter came in for a consultation. It was -" after a pause of 5 seconds, she added, "intense."

Elijah's curiosity was piqued. "Natasha Carter? Carter Group of Industries' Natasha Carter?" he asked.

Chloe nodded, recounting the events of the day in a brief way. She did not tell her brother the exact details, only that Natasha got mad at her for not getting the coffee that she wanted and chose to reschedule the consultation. Elijah listened intently, his thoughts drifting to Seraphina. Chloe noticed the faraway look on her brother's face and realized it must be about her boss again. Looks like her brother fell in love with Seraphina at first sight.

She wondered if Elijah came to pick her up just to see Seraphina. Rolling her eyes, Chloe commented, "If you want to talk to Seraphina, you should ask her out directly."

"Wh- What?" Elijah spluttered, "What are you talking about?"

"You like her, don't you?" asked Chloe while looking at her brother with a raised brow."There is nothing like that." Elijah was quick to deny, "She just makes me curious, nothing else."

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Chloe, crossing her arms in front of her chest."Chloe," he said in a firm tone, "I have told you before, I only want to know about where I have seen her before. I don't forget a face ever so I am just curious okay."

"There is nothing else." he reaffirmed to which Chloe responded with a shake of her head, "Whatever!"

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On her way back home, Seraphina stopped by a bakery to pick up the cake that she had ordered. It was her second elder brother Christopher's birthday today and she had ordered his favorite chocolate truffle cake to celebrate. 

If he had been alive, it would have been his 34th birthday. He must have gotten married by now. In fact, Seraphina was sure that he must have become a father already considering how deeply he was in love with his girlfriend, Madison Taylor.

They had started dating when they were both 15 years old, and they were so much in love that everybody who met them would say that Christopher and Madison are made for each other. But her brother's life was cut short by the enemy.

And with Christopher, Madison lost a piece of her soul that day as well. After her rescue from her captivity, Seraphina had gone to the graveyard where her family was buried and she had found Madison there, lying beside Christopher's grave.

Seraphina hadn't wanted to approach her but seeing Madison's condition, seeing how thin and pale she looed, how broken she was, Seraphina couldn't help but go over and hug her Maddie.

Due to all the facial reconstruction surgeries that Seraphina had to undergo, Madison could no longer recognize her until Seraphina told her the truth. That day, Seraphina and Madison had cried while hugging each other, cried for the loss of their loved ones, cried for their sufferings.

Madison had wanted to join her to take revenge but Seraphina argued against it. She had already lost all of her family, she did not want to loose a sister. But Madison was adamant and Seraphina was left with no choice but to let her in on her plans.

"I was about to call you to remind you to pick up the cake." that was how Madison greeted her when Seraphina arrived at the orphanage that the former was in charge of.

After loosing the love of her life, Madison chose to remain single. It was a huge decision considering how young she was at that time. Even Seraphina pushed her to move on but Madison chose to spend the rest of her life with Christopher's memories. It was a love that comes once in a lifetime was what Madison had told her.

"Here." Seraphina placed the box on the table while Madison carefully took the cake out.

'Happy Birthday Chrissy!' was written on the cake with white chocolate icing.

Seraphina gathered the children at the orphanage while Madison placed a few candles in the cake and lit them up. With smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, Seraphina and Madison cut the cake together while the kids and the orphanage staff sang the 'Happy Birthday' song. 

Afterwards, Madison sliced the cake in multiple pieces and began to hand a piece each to the kids while Seraphina watched her. She looked at the photo of Christopher that hung on the wall and then back at Madison. Oh, how she wished he was there with them today, alive.

In that moment, Chloe closed her eyes to imagine how happy and wonderful Christopher and Madison would have been together with a kid or two of their own.