Sebastian asked Clara to step outside.

Clara’s expression toward him had softened considerably. "About today... thank you."

"You're thanking me for Julian's sake?" Sebastian let out a bitter laugh. "Do you really like him that much?"

No, not really.

Clara’s gaze flickered, her voice stiff. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Actually, if you really like him... I don't mind."

"As long as you're willing to remarry me..."

Sebastian’s expression was one of suppressed pain, the corners of his eyes reddening.

Clara: "?"

She found it absurd. "Sebastian, you don't actually think you're being grand and tolerant, do you?"

"When I loved you, you chose to hurt me and protect Luna."

"Now that I don't love you, you're rushing back to beg for my return."

"Sebastian, are you just a glutton for punishment?"

Sebastian mocked himself. "Yes, I am."

"If being one can bring you back to my side, I'm willing."

Clara raised her hands. "These hands used to be so agile, but now, they ache unbearably after holding a pen for just a short while."

"You knew I had depression and a fear of water, yet you locked me in a basement and held my head underwater."

"After everything you've done, how could I ever forgive you!"

"Luna is hateful, but without your indulgence, how could she have done those things to me?"

The more she spoke, the paler Sebastian’s face became.

"I’m sorry, Clara..."

"What will it take for you to forgive me?"

"It’s impossible, Sebastian."

Clara’s tone was cold. "The harm you did to me, I can endure. But what about my sister?"

Sebastian was struck dumb.

He had actually been on quite good terms with Clara’s sister.

That child had severe psychological trauma; she usually huddled in the corner of her room, timid and shy.

He had patiently communicated with her, chatted with her, and helped her accept him.

Eventually, the traumatized girl would smile at him, looking at him with wide eyes, saying, "Brother-in-law, you must treat my sister well."

"It’s all my fault... she’s actually had a very hard life."

"You must make her happy."

Sebastian’s heart had melted back then. Staring into her clear eyes, he had made a promise word for word: "Don't worry. I, Sebastian, will make Clara the happiest person in the world."

Later, the girl’s condition gradually improved.

She started to laugh and talk to others.

Sebastian hired a tutor for her for one-on-one lessons. She took the college entrance exam and achieved very good results.

After a doctor's evaluation, they said that after this winter, she could try to go to campus and interact with others.

Everything was getting better.

But in the end, she died.

She carved wound after wound into her wrists, letting her blood run dry.

It was such a resolute, agonizing way to die.

And she was driven to it by him.

Sebastian didn't dare look Clara in the eye, staggering back two steps.

"I..."

"That's enough. The next time we meet, it will be in court."

Clara didn't wish to say more, but he grabbed her as she turned to leave.

"Clara, the matter with Arthur is dangerous. The criminal organization behind him is massive."

"It’s enough to stop here. If you keep investigating, it will be very dangerous."

Clara shook off his hand. "That's none of your business."

...

Clara returned to the ward and sat by the bedside.

"What's wrong? Who upset our Miss Clara?"

Clara asked Julian gloomily, "Do you think it's too dangerous for me to insist on investigating further?"

Julian narrowed his eyes.

"Of course."

Clara felt dejected. "Even you think so..."

"But, you are doing something very right and very great."

Julian interrupted her. "Kind, determined, and pursuing justice—that is the Clara I know."

After being delayed for several days, Julian was discharged, and the public prosecution for the arson case from seven years ago began.

With ironclad evidence, Arthur was sentenced to death.

On the day of the verdict, Arthur cried and screamed like a madman. "You said you'd show leniency! I just burned a few lower-class trash to death, why sentence me to death!"

"I have money, I have lots of money, I'll give it all to you, just don't kill me, okay?"

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

Facing death, he was in tears and looked utterly pathetic.

He had never imagined that the people he burned to death felt the same despair and the same agony.

After seven long years, the criminal was finally brought to justice.

Clara appeared in court as a witness, remaining calm throughout the process.

After the verdict was delivered, she drove to the cemetery, knelt before the tombstones, and finally burst into loud sobs.

Upon her return, she had repaired the graves that had been destroyed.

But the ashes that were in the graves could never come back.

"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom, Sylvia..."

"I've avenged you! I've avenged you!"

She cried and laughed at the same time, forgetting all the pain and hardships of the past seven years.

After paying her respects, she walked out of the cemetery.

Sebastian stood there, his gaze haunting.

Clara took a deep breath and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "I said I didn't want to see you again, especially not here."

"Facing their photos, don't you feel any guilt?"

Sebastian lowered his head.

How could he not feel guilty?

The fact that this injustice went unpunished for years and their souls could not find peace for so long was all because of him.

"I know you hate me..."

"Clara, I can't bring the dead back to life, but everything else, I can return to you."

What?

Clara’s brow twitched.

The man before her knelt down, picked up a stone with his left hand, and slammed it violently against the fingers of his right hand.

Crack.

The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.

Enduring the excruciating pain, Sebastian struck again and again.

Until his right hand was a bloody mess.

"Is this enough, Clara?"

"I'll do everything I did to you to myself, and then you'll forgive me, okay?"

Clara looked away. "Stop being crazy!"

"You don't need to do this. Whatever punishment you deserve, the law will give a fair judgment."

"As for forgiveness... don't even think about it."

She started to walk away.

The hope on Sebastian’s face gradually vanished, replaced by a brooding darkness.

The moment they brushed past each other, he spoke. "I didn't want it to be like this, Clara..."

A surge of panic hit Clara’s heart.

"What are you—"

Before she could finish her sentence, her vision went black, and her body went limp.