Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 13

Her steely gaze swept over each member of the family, one by one.

Nathan, Adah, and Vanessa all avoided her eyes, unable to meet her penetrating stare.

Even an annoyed Ethan faltered, wilting under her sharp, knife-like gaze.

"Not talking? Then let me do the talking for you," Claire asserted.

"When Mr. Ethan received the dress, it was perfectly intact. Surveillance footage can prove I never touched the dress on my way here. Yet, when the dress reached Vanessa, it was damaged. It's pretty obvious who ruined it."

"So, you don't dare to check the surveillance footage because once it's seen, you can't just blame me or make me take the fall for someone else, right?"

Taking the fall for someone else.

Those words were like daggers, stabbing into Nathan and Adah's hearts, dredging up memories of that incident five years ago.

Vanessa are both my daughters. I

she had been the Claire from five years ago, desperate for

five years of hardship,

you want; it

that, she turned away from the Linwood family, not wanting to spare them another glance, and

reached the corner, she unexpectedly encountered

there quietly, having clearly witnessed everything that had just

not to see him, determined

felt like it was crushing her already aching heart. She wanted no connection

distant voice gently cut through the air, firm

comfort her; instead, they filled her with a bitter sense

coming from him

paused for a brief moment, then quickened her

her seem as if she were fleeing, her limping