Chapter 5

Archaeology was my father's lifelong passion, a career he took immense pride in.

Perhaps it was his love for the field that I inherited in my very bones. During my first birthday, I reached for my dad's archaeological journal, and as a child, I always begged for those dig-and-discover toy sets.

As I grew older, I didn't hesitate for a moment when choosing archaeology as my major.

For a long time, I was my father's pride and joy.

But when I heard Melody roll her eyes and claim that I had entered the tomb without permission, nearly causing her and Granger's deaths,

My father's face darkened. "Seraphina violated team regulations. I've already decided to remove her from the roster!"

As the team leader, my father harshly reprimanded me.

With a heart full of grievance, I could only swallow my pain in silence.

However, just as the archaeological team was about to leave, my father suddenly stopped and bowed deeply to Melody and Granger.

In that moment, he seemed to have aged considerably, his demeanor humble.

"But as a father, I apologize to you on Seraphina's behalf. Could you please tell me where she has gone?"

I could bear being wrongly accused, but at this moment, I finally broke down in tears.

I wanted to stop my father, but my hand passed right through his body.

I could only cry out helplessly, "Dad, don't bow to them! Don't apologize! It wasn't my fault at all!" Granger was completely stunned when he heard this.

"Seraphina... she didn't go back?"

He started frantically calling me, and when he realized no one was answering, he shouted into the intercom, harshly scolding me not to act up anymore.

The jealousy in Melody's eyes seemed poisonous as she hugged Granger from behind, cooing softly:

"She's hiding and refusing to show up because she knows you'll worry and panic for her. By acting like this, aren't you just playing right into her hands?"

"Seraphina is probably hiding somewhere, secretly laughing at you right now."

Granger suddenly seemed to snap out of it.

He let out a slow breath and coldly spoke into the intercom:

"Seraphina, don't get too cocky. I'm warning you, if you don't come back soon, I'll really be done with you!"

To force me to return, Granger deliberately threw out all my belongings, and even let Melody move in.

Our engagement photos, the movie ticket stubs from our first date, and gifts from all our big and small anniversaries...

He made a point of announcing each item into the intercom as he tossed it out.

But the intercom remained dead silent, with absolutely no response.

Granger's gaze grew increasingly unsteady. But he stubbornly pushed back even harder, as if to spite me.

When Melody asked him for the second time if he wanted to break off our engagement and rekindle their past relationship.

Granger stared silently at the intercom for a very long time.

He thought that if I didn't show up soon, he would agree to Melody's proposal.

And if I were to regret it later and cry in anguish, I would only have myself to blame.

"Alright," he said hoarsely, his face immediately flushing with anger.

"Seraphina, from now on, even if you beg me to come back by threatening suicide, even if you die a gruesome death, I won't even spare you a glance!"

I stared at his face silently, feeling utterly calm, and smiled faintly.

Suddenly, I became very curious. If he were to discover that I had actually died a gruesome death, realizing that I hadn't been lying, that I didn't refuse to come out but rather couldn't come out anymore.

What would his reaction be?

The phone rang.

My father's voice came through, filled with despair and weariness, "We've found Seraphina."

In that moment, Granger's expression was filled with disgust. He sneered, "So she finally decided to show up. Where is she?"

My father's voice broke as he choked out, "In an ancient tomb. My precious daughter is dead..."