Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 262

She stood alone in the dark, a chill creeping slowly through her heart. That feeling of being overlooked by her family, forgotten by the world-it was something Claire could never quite shake, no matter how much time had passed.

Later, it was May who left a light on for her, a small beacon of warmth in the darkness—a rare comfort in the Linwood household, where such kindness was in short supply.

Having once experienced that deep, bone-chilling loneliness of a home devoid of affection, Claire treasured the warmth she found with the Foster family all the more.

She wanted to wait for Mr. Foster to return, just as she once waited for her fifteen- year-old self to come home, braving the snow and wind alone.

Minute by minute, time ticked by.

The entire house was wrapped in silence, broken only by the steady ticking of the living room clock.

When Claire grew tired of sitting, she curled up on the sofa. Her health had always been frail; exhaustion came easily. As weariness washed over her, she let her eyes drift shut.

She pulled her knees close, cocooning herself in the smallest space possible, as if that could somehow make her feel safer.

found her when he came home:

swept the room. There was no sign of his grandmother or Nanny Grace; they must have

left the light on

Sean's face

down, slipping one arm beneath her back and the other beneath her knees, lifting her gently into

long strides, he carried her upstairs and laid her on the bed, pulling the covers up around

room, a tenderness in his voice

word, he slipped from the room,

he walked straight to the study, settled behind the desk,

for him, the

later, the shrill ring of the phone

found Vincent," came Liam's voice

off at home, Liam had been driving back to his own apartment. Halfway there, he realized he was out of cigarettes and stopped to

glow of a streetlamp, he found Vincent sprawled

said things to Claire at the hospital—things Jeffry had already relayed to Sean, with