Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 295

The very first thing she did upon waking was look for Claire.

Her gaze darted desperately around the room, and the moment she spotted Claire sitting quietly on the sofa, she forgot all about her own weakness and disheveled state. Nothing else mattered.

Propping herself up with trembling hands, her legs barely supporting her, she half- crawled, half-stumbled toward Claire, inching forward with sheer determination.

Tears streamed down her face, unchecked and uncontrollable.

"Claire, I was wrong. I swear I'll never take Vanessa's side again. Please, please forgive me. Your brother-your brother's in prison because of Nathan, that monster. Claire, you're all I have left."

Adah's voice cracked with sobs, hoarse and filled with despair. As a mother, she collapsed at Claire's feet, weeping bitterly, pouring out her regret. She looked utterly broken, as wretched as a person could possibly be.

But Claire remained as she had been before-expressionless, unmoved, cold as stone.

She only glanced at Adah briefly, her eyes indifferent, before turning away.

That coldness, that utter lack of feeling, drove a knife straight into Adah's heart.

understood what it meant to be truly

There would be

at Adah's heart,

with anguish, her voice trembling, she pleaded, "Claire, are you really going to be

even lingered on her. She didn't hear, or

silence, this complete indifference, that hurt Adah even more than

fury. "Mrs. Linwood, you have no right to call Miss Claire heartless. In the three years she lived in the Linwood household, did you ever care about her for even a single

returned to her family, you ignored her. Every month you sent a fortune to Vanessa,

in new clothes every day while Claire wore the same school uniform all year round. You saw it and looked

and Vanessa were born on the same day, but every year you threw a birthday party for Vanessa alone. You only bought presents for Vanessa.

Meanwhile, the rest of you sat at the table together, laughing, eating, enjoying yourselves. When I suggested bringing Claire something to eat, you wouldn't let me. You

gave a bitter laugh, her eyes full of contempt. "She was in high school, still growing, buried in homework—so hungry she was pale and thin, her hair brittle and lifeless. And you could tell

like Nathan, or lied about her like Vanessa, but your cold indifference, your

dare you blame

kept these words bottled up for

told, during the five years Claire spent in prison for a crime