My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 367

Chapter 367: Chapter 367 A SETUP

CELESTE’S POV

The familiar smoked-glass coffee table stood before me. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed dark cliffs.

The fireplace crackled softly to my right, its warmth unable to penetrate the ice flooding through my veins.

My hands were clenched in the cushions so tightly that my nails had torn through the leather.

For a long moment, I could not breathe. I could not understand.

Then I saw them.

Ethan stood near the windows, shoulders squared, jaw rigid, the light carving harsh lines across his face.

Not the younger version outside my door. Not the indulgent brother who rolled his eyes and dismissed Sera as a nuisance.

His expression held none of that easy fondness, only the exasperation and frustration he’d begun to reserve solely for me.

Kieran stood by the fireplace, his posture straight and immovable, that same coldness and condemnation shining in his eyes.

Sera stood slightly behind him, fingers interlaced with his, her face unreadable.

And near the far wall was a stranger, leaning against the stone with his arms loosely folded as though this were nothing more than an ordinary evening.

Recognition struck me hard.

He wasn’t a stranger; I had seen him in the hallway days ago, when Ethan had rebuked me.

The one who was staying here. Sera’s friend.

“Even after I realized I mistook you for Sera,” Kieran’s voice cut through the room, his tone low and controlled, each word measured with visible effort, “I told myself you were innocent in all of it. I thought the mistake was mine alone. I was the one who made the first move at the Hunt; I was the one who set it all in motion. I never believed you were capable of something like this.”

Unlike his eyes, there was no accusation in his voice. No rage or condemnation.

Only something steadier and far more devastating—disillusionment. The look of a child watching an idolized parent tumble off their pedestal.

I felt it like a physical strike.

“I—” I inhaled sharply. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking—”

‘Seduce her, moron. Start in the hall before moving to the room.’

My head snapped to the side. Maya stood at the media console, her expression cool and merciless, her thumb on a recording device.

I frowned. “What the hell—”

’I want her so trashed that nobody will ever look at her without wrinkling their nose in disgust.’

“Stop it!” I snapped.

She shrugged and, without a word, turned on the flat-screen TV above the fireplace.

The screen flickered to life.

Static.

Then—

The Elysian lounge.

Crystal chandeliers glittered overhead. Marble floors reflected golden light. I saw myself standing near the bar, silk gown clinging to my frame.

My breath stalled in my throat as I watched myself approach Jason.

I watched my lips move.

"We had no way of knowing what you discussed with him,” Maya said icily.

She held up the recording device. “Thanks to Corin and your little mind trip, now we do.”

My head snapped back towards the stranger—Corin. “What did you do?”

He smirked, his heterochromatic eyes twinkling. “Took you on a little trip down memory lane. Hope you don’t mind that we hitched a ride. The view was...interesting.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

My jaw dropped, closed, then dropped again as I tried to process his words.

I glanced back at the television that was now showing Jason and me entering the room—and then at the recording device in Maya’s hand.

“No,” I whispered. “No.”

She cocked her head. “Something wrong?”

“You faked this,” I said, rising abruptly to my feet, glaring at Corin. My legs trembled, but anger steadied them.

I pointed at Sera. “You and her.”

Sera did not flinch.

She did not smirk or look triumphant. Her face was a blank canvas.

“This is fabricated,” I said, pointing at the TV. “Deepfake technology. Editing. Anyone with resources could create this. This is a setup designed to humiliate me.”

“You think everyone is as bored and malicious as you?” Maya sneered.

My gaze shifted back to Corin.

“I don’t know what tricks you specialize in,” I continued sharply, “but you have no right to do...whatever the fuck you did!”

He didn’t flinch. “Enlighten me. What do you think I did?”

“I—I—” I sputtered. “Some psychic trick. You put images in people’s heads, and now you’re projecting them.”

“And I made you say those words, too?” he replied evenly.

“I don’t fucking know!”

“Celeste,” Ethan sighed. “Enough. It’s time to come clean.”

I turned to him. “Come clean?” I scoffed. “Surely you don’t believe all this bullshit they’re spewing.”

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