Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 234

Chapter 234: Chapter 234
Seraphina’s POV

The apartment was smaller than I expected.

One bedroom. Tiny kitchen. Living room barely big enough for a couch and coffee table. The walls were beige. Generic. Like every rental property trying not to offend anyone.

But it had windows. Natural light. And most importantly—it wasn’t his house.

I signed the lease without reading it. Paid three months up front. Grabbed the keys from a landlord who asked zero questions.

Perfect.

The moving truck arrived the next morning. I didn’t have much. Some clothes. A few books. Kitchen supplies I’d bought yesterday because I couldn’t stomach taking anything from that house.

From our house.

*Stop. Not our house anymore. His house.*

I directed the movers mechanically. Bed goes there. Couch here. Boxes in the corner.

They left within an hour.

I stood in the middle of my new living room. Surrounded by cardboard boxes. Staring at walls that didn’t hold any memories.

My phone buzzed.

**Damien: Can we talk?**

I deleted it without responding.

It buzzed again.

I blocked his number. Then I sat on my new couch in my new apartment and stared at nothing.

—

Telling the kids was worse than I expected.

I picked them up from school. Drove them to an ice cream shop. Let them order whatever they wanted.

Lily got chocolate with gummy bears. Adrian got vanilla. Simple. Safe.

They ate happily. Talking about their day. Completely unaware that everything was about to change again.

“So.” I waited until they’d finished. Until they were sticky-faced and satisfied. “I need to talk to you guys about something.”

Adrian’s expression shifted immediately. Guarded. Like he’d been waiting for bad news.

“What?” His voice was careful.

“I found a new place.” I kept my tone light. Casual. “An apartment closer to the training facility. It’ll make work easier.”

Lily’s spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. “A new place?”

“Yeah, baby. Just a small apartment. But you guys can come visit whenever you want!”

“But…” Lily’s face crumpled. “You’re leaving again?”

My chest tightened. “No! No, I’m not leaving. I’m just… I’m moving. But I’ll still be close. I’ll still pick you up from school. We can still have sleepovers and—”

“Why?” Adrian cut me off. His eyes were wet. “Why can’t you just stay home?”

Home. That word hurt more than it should.

“Because…” I searched for words that wouldn’t devastate them. “Because sometimes grown-ups need their own space. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It just means Mama needs to be somewhere different for work.”

“But Dad works and he stays home,” Adrian argued.

“I know, buddy. But my situation is different—”

“Is it because of Dad?” His voice got quieter. “Are you guys fighting?”

Lily started crying. Quiet tears streaming down her face. “I don’t want you to leave. Please don’t leave again.”

“I’m not leaving!” I grabbed both their hands. Held tight. “I promise I’m not leaving. I’ll be ten minutes away. You can call me anytime. FaceTime. Visit. Whatever you want. And I’ll come get you guys all the time. We’ll have fun at my new place. We can decorate your rooms however you want—”

“We’re getting rooms?” Lily sniffled.

“Of course! You think I’d have a place without rooms for you?”

“Really?” Some of the devastation left her face. “Can I pick the color?”

“Any color you want, baby.”

“Even pink with purple sparkles?”

“Even pink with purple sparkles.”

Lily’s tears slowed. She wiped her face with her sleeve. “And stuffed animals? Can I bring all my stuffed animals?”

“Absolutely.”

Adrian was quiet. His face doing something complicated.

“Adrian?” I squeezed his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Will you still come to my soccer games?” His voice cracked slightly.

My throat closed up. “Every single one. I promise.”

“And help with homework?”

“Whenever you need me.”

“And… and we can still have movie nights?”

“As many as you want.”

He nodded slowly. Processing. Trying to accept this new reality.

“It’s just for work, right?” He looked up at me. Those too-smart eight-year-old eyes seeing more than I wanted them to. “That’s the only reason?”

I forced myself to meet his gaze. To lie directly to his face. “That’s the only reason.”

He didn’t believe me. I could tell. But he didn’t push.

“Okay,” he said finally. “If it’s for work, then… okay.”

We finished our ice cream. Drove back to collect some of their favorite things. Lily packed approximately seven hundred stuffed animals. Adrian carefully selected books and his favorite pillow.

They stayed with me that first night. We ordered pizza. Watched movies. Pretended everything was normal.

Lily fell asleep on the couch halfway through Frozen. Adrian made it to the end but kept yawning.

I tucked them both into the bedroom I’d set up for them. Lily in the small bed. Adrian on an air mattress because I hadn’t had time to get proper furniture yet.

“Night, Mama,” Lily mumbled. Already half-asleep.

“Night, baby.”

Adrian was quiet for a moment. Then: “Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you and Dad getting divorced?”

The question hung in the darkness.

I could lie. Could deflect. Could tell him not to worry about grown-up stuff.

But he deserved better than that.

“I don’t know, buddy.” The truth came out barely above a whisper. “Maybe.”

“I heard you guys fighting.” His voice was small. “And… and I heard you crying.”

“Adrian—”

“It’s okay.” He rolled over. Faced the wall. “I just wanted to know if it was real. If I heard right.”

I sat on the edge of the air mattress. Put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry you heard that.”

“Is it true?”

How did I answer that? How did I explain betrayal to an eight-year-old?

“Your dad and I have some things to work through,” I said carefully. “Grown-up things that are complicated. But none of it—none of it—is your fault or Lily’s fault. Okay? This is between me and him.”

“But you still love us, right?” His voice cracked. “Even if you don’t love Dad anymore?”

“Oh, buddy.” I lay down next to him. Wrapped my arm around his small body. “I love you more than anything in this entire world. You and Lily are the best things that ever happened to me. That will never change. Ever.”

He was quiet for a long moment. Then: “Do you think you’ll ever come back home?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you’ll still be our mom?”

“Always. Forever and always.”

He relaxed slightly against me. “Okay. That’s… that’s okay then.”

We lay there in the darkness. His breathing gradually evening out. Sleep claiming him.

But I stayed awake. Staring at the ceiling. Listening to my children breathe.

—

Work became my refuge.

I threw myself into training. Pushed the female warriors harder. Stayed later. Left earlier.

Anything to avoid going back to that empty apartment.

The trainees noticed. They didn’t say anything directly. But I caught the concerned looks. The whispered conversations that stopped when I entered a room.

“Sera?” Jessica approached me after a particularly brutal sparring session. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Are you okay?” Her voice was gentle. Careful. “You’ve been… intense lately.”

“I’m fine.”

“You beat Riley so hard yesterday she couldn’t walk straight.”

“She asked me to go full force.”

“Yeah, but…” Jessica hesitated. “Look, I’m not trying to pry. But if something’s going on, you can talk to us. We’re not just your trainees. We’re… we care about you.”

My throat tightened. “I appreciate that. But I’m fine. Really.”

—

Then Sophie spoke up. “Did you guys hear? Emma requested extended leave. Like, months.”

My fork stopped halfway to my mouth.

“Months?” Maya’s eyes went wide. “Why?”

“Medical reasons apparently. That’s all HR would say.”

“Medical? Is she sick?”

“I don’t know. But it must be serious if she needs months off.”

Because of what happened that night? Because of what Damien had done?

Or because she was preparing for something else? Something that required her to step away from work?

Like becoming a Luna full-time?

The thought made my stomach turn.

The hallway was empty. Cool. I leaned against the wall. Tried to breathe.

I laughed. The sound was bitter. Harsh. Echoing off the empty walls.

Emma was probably at the house right now. Moving her things in. Redecorating. Erasing any trace of me.

Making it hers.