"My bracelet is missing. My daughter made it for me by hand, and I just had it on a minute ago," Elaine said, panic lacing her voice.
Seraphina stopped in her tracks. "I'll go back and help you look."
"No, no, you go ahead to the hot springs." Elaine pulled Seraphina's towel tighter around her shoulders. "You just had a baby, you shouldn't be standing around in the cold air. I'll find it and meet you there."
"I'm not in a rush."
"But I am." Elaine gently pushed her toward the entrance. "Go on, or Mr. Langford will think I didn't take good care of you."
Seraphina nodded. "Call me if you need an extra set of eyes."
Following the wooden signs, she arrived at the entrance to the women's hot spring.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a figure lifting the privacy curtain of the men's hot spring next door. It was Zelda.
The two locked eyes. Zelda immediately clutched her towel tight against her chest. "Seraphina? What are you doing here?"
Seraphina closed the door behind her. "I think that's my line." Why on earth are you coming out of the men's dressing room?
Zelda darted a quick look around, and confirming Seraphina was alone, a smug smirk crossed her face. "Lucian couldn't join you? Makes sense. Looking the way he does now, he probably couldn't join you even if he wanted to."
Seraphina calmly draped her towel over a nearby rack. "If your mouth is that filthy, Zelda, you're better off keeping it shut."
"You think you can lecture me?" Zelda took a threatening step forward. "You marry into the Langford family and suddenly you think you're royalty?"
Seraphina met her glare flawlessly. "At least I don't hide behind closed doors to spit venom."
Zelda's face darkened. "You heard us?"
"Loud and clear."
"So what if you did?" Zelda sneered. "Lucian is stuck in a wheelchair. You're throwing away your youth on a cripple. What kind of future do you honestly have?"
Seraphina's eyes dropped to Zelda's neck, lingering on the hasty, poorly concealed red marks blooming across her skin. "You seem to have quite an active future yourself."
Zelda immediately slapped a hand over her collarbone. "What are you staring at?"
"Just a friendly tip. Next time you step out, check a mirror. You shouldn't bring the marks another man leaves on you into a public space."
Zelda's face turned completely white. "What garbage are you spewing?"

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