Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 52

Nathan was shaking with rage at Claire's words, his face turning from a steely gray to a deep, livid red.

"Shut up!" he bellowed.

"Did I hit a nerve, Mr. Linwood?" Claire shot back. "Five years ago, Vanessa pushed Irene down the stairs and framed me for it. Now, she's staged her own fall just to blame me again. You know how malicious she is, yet you still accuse me. You're not blind; you're just choosing to look the other way."

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm really your daughter or your enemy. You'd betray your own blood for an adopted child."

"Unless Vanessa is your child with some mistress? Is that why she means so much to you?"

Nathan flared up as if a hidden secret had been exposed, his anger boiling over.

"You ungrateful girl! If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'm not your father."

In his fury, Nathan unbuckled his belt, raising it high before bringing it down on Claire with a forceful swing.

through the air with a menacing hiss, leaving a vivid welt on Claire's arm. The pain

instinctively curled up, trying to shield herself from the relentless blows

struck with unrestrained force, each lash landing heavily on

her eyes flickering with

Nathan. But when her gaze fell on Vanessa's pitiful figure in her arms, the fleeting

with worry, pleaded, "Sir, please stop! Miss Claire is already injured. If you keep

that moment, Nathan was like a wild beast, his strikes not only unrelenting but

whipped through the air with a terrifying sound, mercilessly striking Claire's

skin, new wounds layering over old ones, blood slowly seeping through, staining her

face turned ashen, lips drained of color, her body trembling uncontrollably from the pain, struggling to

wanted to fight back, but against Nathan's towering male strength, she

agony, Claire finally succumbed,

May's

had pushed Vanessa. It was Vanessa, with

clenched her teeth, throwing caution aside as she rushed forward, using her own body to shield