Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 410

Ethan felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to steady his nerves, then slowly reached out and shoved open the rusted iron gate. The metal screeched in protest, echoing through the still air.

He stepped inside the old house. Everything was exactly as it had been ten years ago—nothing out of place, no sign that time had passed.

Except, ten years ago, the place had gleamed with warmth and life. Now, every surface was muffled beneath a thick layer of dust.

"Mom? Dad? Claire?" Ethan's voice bounced around the empty foyer, swallowed by silence. "Where are you guys?"

He looked around. The familiar furniture and trinkets seemed to whisper memories of happier days.

But now, the only thing that lingered here was silence.

Ethan wandered through the sprawling house, each step feeling like he was searching for echoes from the past.

He passed his parents' room, where their belongings still sat exactly where they always had-only now, everything was shrouded in dust.

His own room was just as he remembered, yet somehow impossibly foreign.

to what used to be Claire's little room at the end of the

in here the day he'd found Claire's award certificates and her acceptance letter from Prestige

the guilt and heartbreak had overwhelmed him so badly

her diary that day, but the pain was too

stepping inside, he found the room unchanged since

The desk sat

untouched, the folding

the wall, and

boxes and forgotten things-just as

pulled open the top drawer.

picked it up, sat down on the creaky cot, and opened to

paper was yellowed with age, but the handwriting was still perfectly

page, feeling as if he could almost

2007. Friday.

a handsome big brother who's the CEO of a real

and brought me home