Unloved Unwanted Unstoppable (Seraphina and Dominic) novel Chapter 106

Julian glared at her, his tone an even mix of heartache and frustration. "Just look at yourself. Have you taken a single day off since you got discharged from the hospital? Your knees haven't even fully healed, and you just spent nearly two hours standing on that stage today."

"We literally just locked down the partner for Plan A, and there's still a mountain of execution details to oversee. Now you want to launch Plan B ahead of schedule? Seraphina, you're a human being, not a machine."

Seraphina opened her mouth to argue. "I'm fine..."

But the words died in her throat.

Because the truth was, she was exhausted.

Even as she forced out those two words, her voice was completely hoarse.

She could feel the dull, persistent ache flaring up in her lower back, and her knees were throbbing with swelling, though she had been trying her hardest to ignore the pain.

Julian's voice softened. "Professor, please talk some sense into her."

Victor looked up from his paperwork and turned to face Seraphina in the backseat.

"Seraphina, Julian is right."

His tone was calm but left zero room for negotiation. "Since you joined this project, you haven't taken a single day off. Your health is your most important asset. Plan B can wait until Plan A is completely stabilized. There is absolutely no rush to do this right this second."

Seraphina lowered her eyes.

She didn't actually want to stop working.

She didn't want to give her buried emotions any quiet time to resurface.

But meeting the genuine concern in her mentor's and Julian's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to lie and say she was perfectly fine.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay. I'll rest."

Satisfied, Julian turned back around in his seat. "That's what I like to hear."

"Do not show up at the lab tomorrow. Put your phone on silent and sleep until you naturally wake up. If any emergencies pop up, I'll handle them. The sky won't fall without you."

Seraphina didn't argue further.

She tucked the documents safely away, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

Outside the window, the city lights of Northport sparkled brilliantly in the night.

Victor gave her a warm look and nodded. "Get some sleep. And no thinking about work tomorrow."

Seraphina promised she wouldn't, closed the door, and stepped back onto the pavement.

The car restarted and slowly pulled away from the alley entrance.

She watched the taillights turn the corner and vanish into the night.

The alley descended into silence.

Turning around, Seraphina carried her bag and walked deeper into the neighborhood. The streetlamps were old and flickering with a dim, yellow glow, making the sound of her footsteps echo sharply in the narrow space.

After about a dozen steps, she heard the sudden sound of a scuffle up ahead.

"What do you think you're doing? Don't touch me! Get away from me!"

The shrill voice was instantly recognizable.

Seraphina stopped in her tracks.