Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 258

He pushed his wheelchair forward with frantic urgency, desperate to catch up to Claire. The wheels traced sharp arcs across the floor, screeching with every turn.

"Claire, stop! Don't walk away-tell me what you meant—" His voice cracked as he shouted after her, but Claire either couldn't hear him or simply didn't care.

Within moments, Claire and Jeffry climbed into the car. Jeffry started the engine, and the car sped off from the hospital parking lot.

Vincent watched the car disappear down the road, his body slumping helplessly in the chair, eyes hollow and lost.

He kept whispering, "No, it can't be," but deep down, he already knew the cruel truth.

He'd come to the hospital for a follow-up on his leg injury, but now, all he could think about were Claire's words. Any concern for his own condition was gone without a trace.

Right now, there was only one thing on his mind: he had to see Vanessa-he needed to get to the bottom of this.

Vanessa, the heiress of the Linwood family from Cresthaven, had recently stunned high society at a gala in Aberdeen. She'd been caught red-handed stealing an embroidered masterpiece worth two million dollars, and was taken away by police in front of the entire gathering.

Everyone at the gala saw it happen, and by that night, the scandal was splashed across every major news outlet.

the headlines too. That's how he knew Vanessa was being

dim and oppressive, thick with

cold steel barrier. He could hardly reconcile

heal, stark against the patchy stubble growing back. The effect was almost

effortless pride and aloofness that once radiated from her was gone. Now, she looked like a peacock stripped of its feathers-pathetic

eyes lit up. Hope flickered surely,

in the sight of Vincent-rumpled, exhausted, slouched in his wheelchair-her hope died as quickly as it had come. Still, after all these days, he was the first person to visit her. Even realizing how hard things must

Vanessa was as radiant and pristine as a daffodil, her vulnerability

she was a shell of her former self. Her

a flicker

bars tightly, staring her down. "Vanessa, tell me the truth. Who really paid for

she quickly regained composure and lied smoothly, "Of course it

pretending!" Vincent roared. "Claire told me she was the one who helped

so fierce, it

finally figured it

the raw anger on Vincent's face, realizing