Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 317

Mandy finally let out a sigh of relief as she stood in the kitchen.

Carrying a bowl of noodles, she was about to take a seat next to Claire. Then she remembered Claire couldn't hear her, so she changed course and sat down across from her instead-this way, Claire could easily read her lips.

As Mandy twirled her fork in the noodles, she tried to sound casual. "So, Claire, who was that man who just came in?"

"That's Mr. Foster's personal assistant. Liam," Claire replied.

Mandy stiffened mid-bite, her fork pausing halfway to her mouth.

He's with Mr. Foster?

Then why was he hanging out with Victor?

As she remembered how she'd swindled a hundred thousand dollars out of Liam, a wave of anxiety crashed over her.

She'd never minded tricking arrogant, entitled rich guys; she had no qualms about taking advantage of people like that. But she'd never intended to scam a decent person, especially not someone who was looking out for Claire.

Suddenly, her noodles felt tasteless, like a lump in her throat. That money burned in her pocket-she wanted nothing more than to give it back to Liam, pronto.

ever found out Mandy had conned Liam, she'd be

behind her eyes. She kept eating, but

said a word, and Claire, who didn't hear well to begin with, wasn't talkative either. For a while, the only sounds in the kitchen were the running water

Claire led

at the endless spools of colored thread and watched Claire's focused fingers

embroidery while serving time, and in just five years, her skill had

to prison, she would have graduated from

eyes fixed

her like a golden veil. She looked so serene, so

pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of Claire at

to Liam, and also worrying about how she'd save enough to

by, and before she knew it, it was

the Foster family, Mandy said goodbye to Claire and

passed: Claire went back to her

sky outside blazed orange and red.

man on the other end sounded

"Mandy, miss me?"