Chapter 6

Claire felt the blood run cold in her veins. She immediately scrambled out of bed in a frenzied state.

Adonis pinned her down the moment he noticed her trying to leave. He hissed at her in a menacing voice, “Are you running off to see another man?”

Claire snapped. She turned completely wild and started to scratch, bite, and kick at him. Her voice was broken and laced with a primal kind of desperation. “Adonis, I’ll make you pay if something were to happen to my sister!”

Adonis was taken aback and loosened his hold of her.

With that, Claire rushed desperately to the hospital.

When she arrived, the doctor had just stepped out of the emergency room.

He shook his head weakly before telling Claire, “I’m sorry. You have my condolences.”

Claire felt as if someone had turned off all the lights in the world. The pressure was too much, and she fainted.

When she woke up, she found herself lying in the same hospital bed her sister used to lie in.

Then, a doctor came to her to hand her a letter. “Ms. Monroe, Elizabeth took her own life. She left behind his letter for you.”

Claire’s hand was shaking when she took it and proceeded to read from it.

[Claire, I heard everything you said to Ms. Spencer. For the entire time I have been sick, I’ve never known how much you had to suffer for my sake, just to pay my medical bills.

[I’m so sorry I ended up being nothing but a burden to you.

[Please don’t give in and do those horrible things she wants you to do. If I die, she won’t have anything to threaten you with anymore, then you’ll get to live a life for yourself.

[I’m going to be with Mom now. Promise me you’ll live a good life. That’s what me and Mom would want for you.]

Toward the end of the letter, Claire couldn’t see clearly anymore because tears had blurred her vision and dropped onto the paper.

She was completely beside herself. The paper felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in her hands.

Elizabeth took her own life for her.

She was the one who caused Elizabeth’s death.

She cried until nearly passing out again. After that, she forced herself to go to the morgue, bracing against the wall and slowly advancing a step at a time.

There Elizabeth was, lying on a cold metal bed. Her body was battered and bruised all over.

Elizabeth had jumped from the thirteenth floor. It must have hurt beyond belief.

She could not even begin to imagine how much despair was going through Elizabeth’s mind when she stood over the edge.

Claire clasped Elizabeth’s cold, stiff hand and tried to heave warm mouthfuls of air over her hand to give her some warmth. Despite her best attempts, the hand remained rigid and cold.

From then on, she could not even remember how she managed to leave the hospital.

After seeing through the procedures and burying Elizabeth next to Heather, she found herself at Kent Corporation in a complete state of daze.

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she stumbled into Adonis.

There was a look of pure shock in Adonis’s eyes when he saw her. He was taken aback by how gaunt she had become.

In just a few days, Claire had lost a significant amount of weight. She looked so haggard she could drop dead at any given second.

“What are you doing here?”

Claire ignored him while marching straight into Bonnie’s office.

Bonnie looked upset upon spotting her. “Ms. Monroe, this is the CEO's office suite. Not just anyone can wander in here.”

Out of nowhere, Claire produced a knife and lunged at Bonnie. She was out for blood.

A piercing scream echoed across the office.

Adonis pounced on Claire to shove her out of the way.

Claire was sent flying and struck her head against the corner of a desk, spilling bright red drops of blood. However, she seemed completely unfazed by the pain and scrambled back up on her feet to go after Bonnie again.

Adonis stood in between them and called out sharply.

“Claire, have you lost your mind?”

Claire knew she could not overpower him. She howled in a cracked voice, “You know what? Maybe I am crazy like you said! I should have snapped a long time ago! I’m going to drag all of you down with me!”

With that, she summoned strength from the depths of her heart and managed to shove Adonis out of the way this time before lunging at Bonnie with the knife.

When she jabbed forward, the knife plunged into Adonis instead.

At the same time, the bodyguards rushed to the scene and subdued her.

When she woke up again, she found herself inside the Kent family house. She was tied to the same bed she used to sleep in.

Soon, Adonis entered with a rigid look on his face, “The company has taken care to cover up news of your attack. A doctor has been scheduled to give you a psychiatric evaluation.

“In the meantime, you are not allowed to go anywhere without my permission.”

Claire simply stared numbly at the ceiling and hardly reacted to what he said.

Heather was dead, so was Elizabeth.

What was the point of living anymore?

She wept without a sound.

Suddenly, Adonis felt an inexplicable throb in the depths of his heart.

“Claire, what exactly are you crying about?

“You tried to kill someone with a knife! If I hadn’t stepped in to protect you, you would have been thrown into prison by now!”

Claire finally responded.

She slowly turned toward Adonis and gave him a look. Her eyes, which were once bright and clear, were now completely devoid of light.

The only thing within them was despair and hatred. She made her feelings known by biting down on each word.

“I. Hate. You.

“I wish you were dead.”

Adonis shuddered. He clenched his fists so tightly that he started to shake all over.

“Fine! Very well, then!

“Since you hate me that much, there is no reason for you to be here anymore. Come on and boot her out. Let’s see how she survives on her own!”

With that, the bodyguards escorted Claire out of the family estate.

The heavy gates slammed shut behind her.

Meanwhile, Adonis stood on the balcony and stared intently at Claire’s figure outside the gate.

Her figure was reduced to nothing but skin and bones, where even the smallest-sized shirt looked comparatively big on her.

She leaned against the wall and slowly shuffled forward step by step until she vanished completely from sight.

The entire time, she never looked back.

After that, she made her way to Heather’s grave and fell asleep curled up next to it.

The next day, she somehow found the strength to hike up to the highest peak of the mountain range in the city.

It was the place Elizabeth had wanted to visit more than anything else. When she was alive, she used to talk about how the first thing she would do after recovery was to climb up to this precise spot to watch the sunrise.

And now, Claire was standing on the peak while the blood-red sun slowly rose above the horizon.

“Look, Elizabeth. What a beautiful sunrise.”

She slowly walked toward the edge of the cliff.

With her eyes closed, she threw herself into the void.