From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 448

Seraphina watched as Magnolia snatched her phone. She couldn’t help but think Magnolia had totally lost it. Instinctively, she stepped back, doing her best to keep her face neutral so Magnolia wouldn’t see how rattled she actually was.

“You want to see Laurinda, right? I’ll call her now. I’ll ask her to come over so you two can meet.”

Magnolia narrowed her eyes. “Are you really calling Laurinda? Or are you calling for help? Seraphina, if I find out you’re lying, I don’t care what happens. I’ll take you down with me. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

Seraphina could tell Magnolia didn’t actually want to die, but she was desperate. If Seraphina refused to help, Magnolia was truly out of options. If the world was going to corner her, she didn’t mind dragging Seraphina into the mess with her.

Seraphina forced herself to stay calm. Magnolia had her phone now, and Laurinda was the only person she could count on at this point.

She took a deep breath. “I’m not lying to you. If you don’t believe me, I’ll put her on video. You can see for yourself if it’s really Laurinda.”

Magnolia studied her for a second, then, deciding Seraphina was being honest, finally handed the phone back.

“Call her right now. I want to meet her here, at your place.”

“Okay.”

Seraphina took the phone and started a video call with Laurinda.

Across town, Laurinda had just finished giving Adolphus his meds. She was looking over a Lane family chart that York had brought, talking with Egan and Sam about Lane family business when her phone rang.

She saw Seraphina’s name and answered, not expecting anything out of the ordinary. But the second Laurinda saw Seraphina’s tense, unnatural expression, she knew something was wrong.

“Laurinda, are you home?” Seraphina asked.

Laurinda kept her voice light and casual, but off-camera, her hand moved quickly, scribbling a note that read, ‘Seraphina is in danger.’

Sam and Egan caught the note and tensed, watching Laurinda closely, waiting for her signal.

“Yeah, I’m home,” Laurinda replied smoothly. “A friend of mine wants to meet you. Do you have time?”

Seraphina glanced at Magnolia, trying to buy some time. She was desperate to get Magnolia out of her house, but she also didn’t want to make her suspicious. She was stuck, torn between options.

“A friend? What friend? I don’t remember knowing any of your friends, Seraphina.” Laurinda kept her tone casual, acting like she had no idea what was going on, careful not to tip Magnolia off.

Seraphina caught on right away. Laurinda was playing along. She let out a breath and even managed a little laugh.

Laurinda stood up and glanced over at Adolphus on the bed, then turned to Egan. “You stay and take care of Adolphus. Sam and I can handle this. Does Seraphina have anyone watching over her?”

“She should, but they’re all from the Lane family. We can’t get in touch with them,” Sam said, his expression serious. He’d already messaged Foley and found out none of their people were with Seraphina.

“Arrow will come with us too. The two of us should be more than enough to handle this.”

Laurinda smiled, a little thrill running through her. It had been a while since she’d dealt with things personally. She hadn’t planned on getting involved, but since Magnolia had practically served herself up, Laurinda figured she might as well enjoy the drama.

Sam grabbed the car keys and drove Laurinda and Arrow, with York in the passenger seat. York was familiar with Magnolia’s story.

“She’s probably desperate now. She wants you to agree to some kind of truce. But if she actually hurts Seraphina, what are you going to do?” York asked.

“She won’t. She’s on edge, but she hasn’t lost her mind completely. She still wants to use my friendship with Seraphina to get Seraphina to convince me to let her off the hook.”

Laurinda was right. Back at Seraphina’s apartment, Magnolia was on her knees, begging Seraphina to put in a good word for her. Seraphina just stared at her, her face full of mixed emotions.

It wasn’t just that Magnolia could switch moods so fast. What really shocked Seraphina was Magnolia’s wild claim that Laurinda was actually Queen’s designer.