Tangled in his Obsession novel Chapter 484

Before her tenth birthday, Seraphina's life was a picture of stability and contentment.

Her father, Carney, was a struggling artist whose paintings barely paid the bills for her and her mother, Magdalen. They sometimes had to make do with the simplest of meals, but Carney and Magdalen shared a bond so loving that Seraphina, their only child, grew up without knowing the slightest hint of sorrow.

Everything changed when Carney passed away.

Seraphina could still vividly recall the winter of her tenth year, when illness had whittled her father down to bones, and he spent his days in a hospital bed, fighting a losing battle.

Magdalen, once a woman whose hands had never been marred by household chores, transformed overnight into the epitome of a devoted wife and mother. She was a constant presence at Carney's bedside, her tears shed in silence, her heartache cloaked in stoic resolve.

Despite her efforts, Carney didn't make it through the winter.

He departed this world just before New Year's Eve, leaving them in the cold sterility of the hospital room. After handling Carney’s funeral all by herself, Magdalen set out to find work.

But years of domestic life had left her with few marketable skills beyond her beauty, and decent job prospects were bleak. Still, she persisted, her breakdowns reserved for the darkest hours of the night when she would clutch Seraphina and cry until there were no tears left.

Seraphina knew why her mother wept - they had both lost the man they thought would be their rock for a lifetime.

With Carney's departure, their world had collapsed. And no matter how hard she tried, Magdalen couldn't support it single-handedly.

After one particularly harrowing night, Magdalen took Seraphina back to their hometown of Sunburst City and left her with the Reynold family, before she herself vanished to Starhaven, not to return for many years.

"That night, something must have happened," Seraphina whispered into Leandro's embrace. "Someone must have lied to her, made her believe I was the child of Dad and Adelina. That's why she broke down, why she resented Dad, why she abandoned me..."

The only ones who knew the truth were Simon and those close to him. Seraphina didn't remember meeting Simon as a child, but he had told Andrea that he had seen her once, many years prior, when he went to Summitville to honor the memory of a woman he had loved.

By chance, he encountered Carney and little Seraphina at the cemetery. Despite just having visited a grave, she was full of life, her laughter and playful tugs at her father's arm painting a beautiful picture of father and daughter.