Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 119

Claire was taken aback by the seething accusation, her tear-streaked face glaringly visible in the sunlight. She looked at the furious man before her and realized he'd misunderstood everything.

"No, Brian, let me explain," she pleaded, her voice trembling with fear embedded deep in her bones. "It's not what it looks like, it's Vanessa..."

But Brian wasn't listening. He stormed into the hospital room and roughly pulled Claire away from Irene's side. Her frail body stumbled backward, crashing into a solid chest.

In that instant, Claire felt as if her entire skeleton might shatter. Before she could react, large hands gripped her slender shoulders, spinning her around.

She found herself staring into a pair of deep eyes.

For the first fourteen years of her life, those eyes had gazed upon her with endless tenderness. Now, all she saw was disappointment and reproach.

still that

she faced this familiar yet distant Vincent, tears spilled uncontrollably from Claire's eyes, filled with despair. She had never changed;

to his own change

shook slightly, her arms hanging helplessly at her sides as if every

laden with endless sorrow and grievance. But before she could finish, her emotions erupted,

he looked at her as if she were a lunatic

met with even harsher treatment. A large hand suddenly clamped down on her head, forcing her to look at the

you dare deny it? If it wasn't you, where did the marks on Irene's neck

and you couldn't wait to silence her, could you?" Ethan's

the mistreatment she suffered in prison. But now, it seemed he had been too