---
Damien called her every day to beg her to come. She didn't.
She and Everett eventually came out of the precinct together. That day, they went to the hospital.
The second she stepped through his door, Damien's eyes snapped to her.
His dim pupils brightened.
"Sera. You came."
"Three days. I thought you were never going to."
She didn't move from the doorway. His pale face started to read confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Her face was calm.
His smile faded. Like he knew what was coming. He looked down. Nothing.
She pulled a folder of photos out of her bag — the evidence Everett had pulled — and laid them out on his bedspread one by one, so he could see each one clearly.
"Damien. It's been confirmed."
"You hired the driver. You planned the whole thing."
His fingers curled. His lips moved, no sound. His eyes finally dropped.
After a long moment, breath shallow, he said it.
"I'm sorry."
"Sera. Yes. I planned it."
"I saw you with Everett, getting closer, and I panicked. I knew if I didn't do something I was never going to have another chance. I love you. In my version, you were never supposed to get hurt."
"Please — can you —"
She cut him off.
"No." A short pause. "Even if the accident had been real. Even if you had almost died for me. I still wouldn't come back."
"While you were in surgery I thought it through. If you had died, I would have handled your funeral. If you had lived and were disabled, I would have paid for round-the-clock care and your medical bills for the rest of your life, even if it bankrupted me."
"There was never an option called forgiveness."
"Now that I know you staged this — the possibility is even further off."
"Damien. This stops now."
He started crying.
His hollowed eyes couldn't hold the tears. His whites went red.
"Sera. Without me — you're happier, aren't you? More than when you were with me?"
His voice cracked.
"Yes." No hesitation.
He looked down, trying to hide how badly that landed.
"I'm sorry. All of it was me. I destroyed us. I killed the family we had."
His eyes flooded again.
Seraphina stayed calm. Distant.
"You don't need to apologize. Let the past be the past. We just don't need to see each other again. That's all."