Chapter 5

Late that night, the bedroom door was kicked open by a security guard.

A huge bucket of ice-cold water slammed straight onto Clara!

The freezing chill shot straight to her brain and jolted her awake.

Through her blurred vision, she saw Chloe standing over her with a sneer.

"My face still hurts, you bitch. How can you sleep so comfortably?"

With a flick of her wrist, she ordered the guard to force Clara's jaw open.

They quickly poured a bowl of murky fluid down her throat.

The second they released her, Clara collapsed over the edge of the bed.

She gagged and convulsed violently.

As she spat up the dark liquid, she caught sight of fine gray powder mixed in the fluid.

Her pupils dilated in sheer horror. "What... what did you just force me to drink?!"

"Can't you taste it?" Chloe burst into a soft, melodic laugh. "That's the flavor of your beloved mother!"

A sharp ringing pierced Clara's ears.

She spun around wildly.

Her locked brass urn had been smashed open and it was empty.

Chloe had dissolved her mother's ashes in water and forced her to drink it!

"Chloe!"

Clara's world spun and flipped upside down.

A piercing shriek tore from her throat.

Driven entirely mad by grief, she lunged at Chloe with raw rage!

But the guards grabbed her immediately.

"Let me go!" Clara roared like a trapped, wounded beast. "Let go of me! I am Julian Vance's fiancée! I order you to let me go!"

The guards hesitated for a split second.

Chloe offered a light, breezy chuckle. "Except... Julian cares about me now."

That single, simple sentence dissolved every trace of hesitation in the guards' eyes.

After all, Julian's blatant favoritism toward Chloe was common knowledge.

His men had no fear of consequences. They couldn't care less about Clara's official status as his fiancée.

"She's trying to attack me! Pin her down already!" Chloe commanded.

A blinding surge of pain shot through Clara's arms as the guards twisted her wrists behind her back.

She was forced down into a humiliating kneel on the hard floor.

"Chloe!" Clara's chest heaved violently while her bloodshot eyes brimmed with scalding tears. "You deserve to burn in hell!"

Before she could finish her words, Chloe pulled out a black-and-white photograph.

Clara's mother smiled back at her gently and kindly in the photograph.

Seeing that face, Clara felt like hundreds of needles were being driven straight into her retinas.

Her body shuddered. Her rage shattered and left her trembling with desperation.

"Chloe... please don't… Give it back to me... I'm begging you..."

It was her mother's only remaining memorial portrait.

Face to face with Clara's desperate pleas, Chloe's smile only grew sweeter. "Oh? So Clara, you actually know how to feel afraid?"

She flicked open a silver lighter, her voice dangerously slow. "A pity. You slapped me earlier. And I hold grudges."

The reflection of the flame danced in Clara's eyes. She screamed, thrashed and fought like a feral animal.

Black smoke began to curl into the air.

Chloe offered a mock pouting expression.

"Mrs. Gabriel, my apologies to you. But you have no idea how filthy your daughter is.

"She chased Julian like a shameless dog, throwing her body at him just to secure a marriage.

"Look at her now. Isn't she pathetic? Kneeling and begging like a street cur.

"You gave birth to her. Tell me... don't you deserve to die for creating such a disgrace?"

Clara shook her head frantically.

She didn't want her mother to hear those atrocious lies. Her only remaining wish in this life was for her mother to rest in peace.

"Shut up! Chloe! Shut your mouth!" Clara sobbed until her throat tore open.

A raw, burning pain tore through her vocal cords.

By the time the photo turned entirely to ash, Clara had lost her voice.

The guards finally released her. But she didn't have a single drop of strength left to fight back.

She simply collapsed onto the floor and cupped the warm gray ashes in her palms while her tears overflowed.

---

Julian sat beside Clara's hospital bed.

Seeing her slowly open her swollen eyes, he spoke in a neutral tone, "Feeling any better? Chloe accidentally spilled water on the portrait. It was a mistake.

"I have docked half a day of her intern pay." He paused, his tone entirely even. "Still, there's no need for you to make such a scene or act like it's the end of the world."

Clara stared at his cold, unbothered eyes. The first words out of her throat were raspy and hollow.

"Where is Chloe?"

Julian's brow furrowed slightly. "Why are you looking for her? I already punished her on your behalf..."

"Julian Vance!" Clara clenched her fists, her voice raspy as she cut him off. "Half a day of intern pay?

"The necklace you casually bought her cost a million dollars! The designer bag you gave her is worth as much as a luxury condo!

"Is that a punishment, or are you just spoiling her?! Tell me! Where is she?!"

Julian's eyes turned cold.

"What more do you want? Clara, why do you constantly fight me over a dead person who doesn't even exist anymore?

"She was your mother, fine! But I am your future husband!"

Husband.

Clara chewed on the word between her teeth, tasting nothing but bitter ice and cruel irony.

Her eyes were dull and hollow.

"Julian, if this were a few months ago, hearing you say that would have made me jump for joy like an idiot.

"But now..." She blinked, and a sudden quiet laugh escaped her lips.

Her laughter grew into a frail tremor and her thin shoulders shook uncontrollably.

"Julian... where do you get the confidence to think I'm still going to marry you?"

Julian's breath hitched and his heart seized instantly.

"What did you say?"

At that exact moment, Clara's phone vibrated on the nightstand.

A push notification flashed across the screen.

[A flight reminder for in a few days, a one-way ticket out of the country.]

Julian reached over, grabbed the phone, and tapped the screen awake.

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