CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

The first thing she heard was the sound of a vase breaking

She could make out the silhouette of a man from afar.

His movements were jittery, almost clumsy. He staggered

Not a single person made an attempt to stop him, not even Arman. Like it was something that happened often, something that they were used to

Luca's suit had been pulled off, his shirt was rumpled, his hair was messy and his eyes were dark and empty

He was making a mess of the place, he broke everything he could lay his hands on, and he was hurting himself in the process

Sharon froze when she saw him, her words got stuck in her mouth and she was terrified— for him

Arman stood at a distance holding his suit jacket, clearly giving him enough space

Sharon walked over the broken ceramic pieces on the floor, her eyes carried a mix of horror and concern

“Why”

she asked Arman, her voice barely audible

“It's his way of cooling off steam”

“When did it start?”

Arman looked away from her

“I'd rather not tell you that”

“Tell me, please”

Arman's face twisted, he tried his best not to look her in the face

“He started this when his grandfather announced his engagement to you. I thought he was going to stop

But it seems he's at it again”

“So basically it's— my fault”

“It's not”

“But it's not his fault either”

Sharon walked to her room not knowing what to make of the entire situation

They were both victims, they were both pawns in someone else's game—

Wait a second, was that sympathy she was feeling for him?

It didn't matter, he had no claim to her sympathy, he didn't deserve it. All he did was make her life miserable

And besides, she planned to kill him, she couldn't back down now because she pitied him

He could trash the whole house for all she cared, she knew what she wanted to do, and nothing was going to stop her

*********************

It was Claire's third time of visiting the Gray family mansion since the incident with Mrs Gray

Donald has asked a lot of crazy things from her, but this one had to be the craziest.

Funny enough, she was willing to go to any lengths to please him, and he knew it

There was no way Mrs Gray would trust her so easily, there was a reason she kept her scars hidden for so long

A woman with that kind of resolve wasn't easy to fool

So Claire had to plan it, step by step

On her first visit, she brought Mrs Gray flowers

Mrs Gray thanked her, but Claire knew she had a lond way to go

Claire always made sure she was in the Gray mansion whenever Mr Hillary had gone out.

That man was powerful enough to ruin her with a background search

On her second visit, Claire did the things that Sharon usually did at the house

Since Sharon got married, there was a hole that needed to be filled

By filling this role, Claire was able to gain Mrs Gray's trust to some extent

Claire got familiar with the servants, and even offered to assist them.

This was her third visit, and she knew she needed to orchestrate it perfectly

She baked a nice apple pie, and took it with her.

When she entered the house, Mrs Gray was seated, reading a book

“Good afternoon Mrs Gray”

Claire said excitedly

“Oh Claire, I'm very glad to see you, do have a seat”

Claire sat down nervously

“I'm not the best baker in the world, and my pastries would never be as good as what you're used to but—

I baked you some apple pie”

Mrs Emilia looked at the decorated cardboard box Sharon held in her hands

“Oh Claire, I'm going to eat it real slow because you made it”

They both giggled, then Mr's Gray's face morphed back to it's original expression

“I must ask though, why are you doing all of this for me?

I mean I have never done anything for you”

“Mrs Gray to be honest—”

“You're the closest thing to a mother I've had.”

Claire remembered her birth mother

But she could bring herself to mentally construct her face, she could remember what her mother looked like, she had no pictures of her either

But her mother was an alcoholic, and Claire's childhood was terrible

Her boyfriend raped her several times, and there was nothing she did to intervene

Absolutely nothing

Claire was a product of what society made her, but she wasn't going to tell Mrs Gray all that

The Grays believed she was from a prestigious family, and she was going to leave things the way they were

Claire continued

“My parents were rich, but my mother wasn't really “mother material” She was always working,candy she paid no attention to me.

Till she died, she didn't really know who I was. She never spent time with me enough to figure me out

And then it was too late”

“And your father?” Mrs Emilia asked feeling sorry for her

“They divorced, he died shortly after”

A tear slipped down Claire's cheeks

Mrs Emilia stood up, walked to her and used her napkin to wipe the tear away

Instinctively, Claire hugged her

“Mr's Gray, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I've lost one mum, I cannot lose another

Mr's Gray tried to convince herself that she didn't understand what Claire was talking about, but alas, the girl knew

She broke the embrace

“Tell me Mrs Gray, does your husband hurt you? Was he the reason why you had all those scars?”

Mrs Gray was silent

“Tell me, please”

Claire held her hands and looked into her eyes

“Does he hurt you?”

“Oh Claire” Mrs Gray said as she sat back down

“He’s been hurting me for a long time —”