Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

Chapter 422

No matter how desperately he struggled, the bodyguards dragged him away.

His anguished cries echoed through the cemetery, lingering in the chilly air-a sound that tugged painfully at the heart.

Sean checked his watch, then turned to Amara. "Amara, it's time for us to go."

She nodded, her gaze drifting to the photo of Claire on the headstone. "Mom, Dad and I will come see you again soon."

Ethan wandered aimlessly down the street, his mind a tangled haze. His steps were unsteady, his eyes vacant, haunted by the memory of Claire's black-and- white portrait on the gravestone.

He kept mumbling under his breath, a broken mantra: "No way... I don't believe it... Claire must still be alive. You're all lying to me..."

Everything around him blurred into insignificance. He drifted along the wide avenue with no destination, lost in his own world.

Then, suddenly, a girl in a white dress caught his eye.

Her features her eyes, her smile-looked so much like Claire's.

Ethan's pupils widened in shock and a wild hope flashed across his face. "Claire? Claire—!"

was already slipping into the back of a sleek black

engine roared to life, and the car pulled away, leaving Ethan far

himself to the edge, his

me one more time! I was wrong, I promise I'll never treat you like that again. I'l protect you, I'll cherish you, I'll

how he begged,

with uneasy curiosity, some even staring as if he'd

on the curb and he tumbled to the

knees throbbing with pain, but he barely noticed. He reached out toward the direction the car had disappeared, as if he could somehow grasp that last,

on the sidewalk as the crowd shifted

long he stayed there before finally, slowly, he pulled

the time Ethan made it home,

only to

As Ethan approached, the

men had changed in subtle ways, but Ethan recognized him

a far steeper price, but Sean had only driven the Cole family into bankruptcy, sparing Brian and his parents any further retribution-for Irene

as cold and guarded as ever, his features shadowed by a trace of lingering

face hardened. "What do