All Chapters of Years Of Devotion, Repaid With Betrayal: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Clara's POVRain poured outside the school gates. Ride share apps showed no drivers nearby.I opened the app again.The comment section was active.[I always knew true love would win. Seven years of waiting, and you two are finally public!]That comment came from Aaron Cole, my husband's childhood friend. Just last month, he had smiled and told me I was a hundred times better than Ramsey's ex.[Congratulations, Ramsey! Make sure I get an invitation to the wedding. I'll have to come up with a good excuse to take time off work.]That was Chloe Johnson, my intern. When her family caused scenes at our medical clinic, I was the one who stood up for her.[You better make it convincing. If Clara Collins finds out, she'll throw a fit.]That was Sarah Hayes, my college roommate. When she was hospitalized last month, I brought her homemade meals every single day.The page auto-refreshed with a new photo.A carved jade pendant rested on top of a medical chart.[Thank you for all the

We rushed back into the hospital room.Noah had fallen out of bed, and broken pieces of the jade pendant lay scattered across the floor.Lily stood off to the side, looking completely lost."Noah!"Ramsey Collins shoved Lily aside, rushing forward with Evelyn to check on her son.Surrounded by both of them, Noah squeezed out tears and sniffled with exaggerated misery."She said I made her pendant dirty... She tried to drag me off the bed to go wash it. When I said no, she threw me on the floor and smashed it!"Lily's face flushed with desperation."You're lying! I only came back to pick up my star bracelet!"You tripped out of bed all by yourself! You said you'd rather break it than return…"SLAP!A loud crack cut Lily off mid-sentence."Lily!"I scrambled forward and wrapped my arms around her, glaring up at the fury blazing in Ramsey's eyes."Clara, look at what you've taught our daughter! She's a deceitful liar who twists the truth!"Make her apologize to Noah right n

Ramsey Collins’s mind went blank.On the other end of the line, his mother’s voice continued to tremble through the speaker."I just came back from playing cards, and I realized half the house was completely cleared out."It hit me then, all of Clara and Lily’s clothes and things were gone."I got a terrible feeling in my gut, so I ran straight to the pediatric ward to find her."When I got there, the doctors told me... Lily passed away earlier today. Her body was already cremated..."Ramsey stood frozen in place.In his head, Clara's agonized, tear-streaked face flashed with terrifying clarity.“Ramsey Collins, I am begging you! Lily is dying in the room down the hall! If I don't pay right now, she won't make it!”His fingers twitched. The phone slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor, the speaker cracking loud against the tile.He stumbled back two steps, bracing himself against the corridor wall just to stay upright.A wave of long-forgotten, suffocating agony ru

I stayed up late that night unpacking and organizing the house.Around midnight, I made myself a warm bowl of soup.Back at Ramsey’s house, Juliet went to sleep early every single night. No noise was allowed after nine.I used to hold my breath just walking past her bedroom to use the bathroom on the ground floor.Now, I sat at the kitchen counter, enjoying my late-night meal in peace.A sense of deep, settling warmth filled my stomach and my chest.From now on, I was living only for myself.I switched off the lights. Moonlight spilled softly through the broad window.For the first time in seven years, I slept soundly until morning.---Over the next few weeks, my work visa was finalized.I officially joined the research center, diving straight into my assigned projects.My clinical experience proved even more valuable than I had anticipated.Within seven days, I identified a critical flaw in our test models and proposed an alternate pathway.Professor Marcus Kent, a worl

My blood ran cold.I turned my head, meeting Ramsey Collins's eyes.Dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and his sharp features had grown gaunt and hollow."Clara... I've been searching everywhere for you," Ramsey rasped, his voice thick with unshed tears."I looked into the hospital records... I found out you weren't lying that day."I filed for divorce from Evelyn. I threw her and her son out of my life."Clara, since you left... I haven't slept a single night."Every word was the absolute truth.The woman he had taken for granted for seven years was gone, leaving a gaping void in his chest that bled a suffocating, unbearable ache.His focus at work had shattered, sending his company's revenue plummeting.Juliet Collins scolded him at first, but seeing her son reduced to a shell of himself broke her heart.In the end, she gave him a deadline of one month.If he found me and brought me home within thirty days, she would give her full blessing for us to marry imm