Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 14

It was time for her to leave.

She stood up and reached for the door.

Before her slender, pale fingers could touch the handle, the door swung open from the other side. Standing there was a woman in her late fifties.

The woman was momentarily taken aback upon seeing her, but then her face broke into an uncontainable smile. "Miss Claire, you're really back?"

Claire paused for a moment, "Nanny May?"

Looking at May, a whirlwind of emotions surged within her.

In the entire Linwood household, only Nanny May treated her as the true lady of the house. The other staff were cold and distant, acknowledging only Vanessa as the Linwood's rightful daughter, referring to her merely as Miss Claire.

On sweltering summer days, when she was covered in heat rash from the stifling utility room, it was May who bought her a fan with her own money. During the freezing winters, when she shivered from the cold, it was May who got her an electric blanket for warmth.

Thinking of these moments, Claire's eyes welled up with tears beyond her control.

the initial excitement, May's gaze fell on the plastic bag in Claire's hand. "Miss Claire, are

unsure of what to say, and

to voice them. She knew all too well how precarious Claire's existence was in

"Miss Claire, I won't stop you if you want to go, but let me treat

waved it off, "It's just a scratch,

this, May's heart ached. How much suffering had Claire endured

she was just a servant, her voice too small to change anything in the Linwood

a loving smile through her pain, "Miss Claire, you've come home without eating a thing. Let me make you a bowl of soup before you

Claire declined again.

"No, thank you."

were too cold, she added, "The sooner I leave

simply couldn't bear the thought of eating anything from

now, her health failing, but all she

would rather beg on the streets than

look down on her, except the