"Don't you know exactly why we’re married?" He looked at me, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

Seeing that smirk broke my heart.

Xavier left me with nothing but a cold, distant back as he walked away.

From that day on, we became the most intimate of strangers.

We acted like a loving couple in front of his mother and grew cold the moment we were alone.

It wasn't until half a month later, when his mother passed away, that he stopped pretending altogether and ignored me completely.

If it hadn't been for that one night when he came home drunk, perhaps we would have remained strangers, just as the agreement dictated.

After his mother died, Xavier drowned his sorrows in alcohol. He mistook me for Chloe, and we slept together.

That night, as I listened to my husband call out another woman’s name, my heart was filled with bitterness.

But the true pain began six months later, when Chloe returned.

She came back from abroad, using their past relationship as an excuse to entangle herself with Xavier. And he... he couldn't resist. After all, he loved her deeply.

I knew everything, yet I chose to endure it, silently accepting it all.

Until the day Chloe was violated.

My thoughts drifted back to the present. I heard the doctor’s voice: "The patient is not out of the woods yet. The next three days are critical. Whether she wakes up or not is up to fate."

Chapter 9

I seemed to relive my entire past in my mind, ending with the moment Xavier allowed those three men to humiliate me.

At that point, the dream came to an abrupt halt.

I sat up with a jolt, my hand instinctively flying to my stomach. I stared straight ahead, my eyes wide and vacant.

It was flat.

"Sister..."

It was Celine’s voice.

"The baby is gone, isn't it?"

My voice was raspy and hollow, devoid of any emotion, like a pool of stagnant water.

Celine bit her lower lip, her eyes red as she looked at me with utter helplessness.

Instead of crying, I smiled. My eyes crinkled slightly. "That’s actually for the best."

I couldn't offer any other reaction. I finally understood what it felt like for the heart to be so pained that it went completely numb.

"Sister, don't say that!"

Celine sobbed, shaking her head violently. She tried to reach for my hand, but I pulled away.

I waved her off with a faint smile. "Don't touch me. Don't even come near me... just send me back to the basement. That’s where I belong."

"No! Sister, we all know you’re innocent now. I’m so sorry..."

"I’m the one who should be saying sorry." I cut her off with a bitter laugh. "I did it all. I wanted to kill you. I’m the one who hired the driver to hit you... I’m the one who arranged Chloe’s kidnapping so she’d be violated and lose her chance to be a mother... I orchestrated everything. Arrest me. Throw me back into that dark hole."

I continued to chuckle, looking at Celine with a heart that felt nothing but cold.

Celine was inconsolable, her head shaking back and forth. "That’s not true! I know you’re hurting! I know you hate us! We’re the ones who failed you. Please, I beg you, stop saying these things. I’m so consumed by guilt..."

"There’s no need for guilt, Celine. Sentence me to death; I’ll confess to everything! I’m a wicked woman through and through. I’ve slept with everyone!"

"Stop it!"

Xavier’s roar echoed as he burst into the room.

"Clara, this isn't your fault. It’s all my fault. I’m a bastard, a piece of trash! Hate me if you must!"

I looked at him calmly, slowly shaking my head. My voice was chillingly detached. "You’re not wrong. I am. I’m the one who was foolish enough to fall for someone I shouldn't have... and this is my karma."

A mocking smile played on my lips as I watched the color drain from his face. "I’ll confess. I planned what happened to Chloe. I wanted Celine dead. Do you hear me? You never wronged me. This is all my own doing..."

Xavier’s dark eyes flickered with a mixture of intense remorse and agony. He took a step forward, desperate to reach me.

But as the memories of what he had done flashed through my mind, I instinctively curled into a ball, recoiling toward the corner of the bed.

"Don't come near me..."

Celine ran out of the room in tears, but I didn't care.

Soon, it was just Xavier and me in the room.

"Clara, I’m sorry!"

Xavier dropped to his knees. Every "I’m sorry" felt pathetically weak and hollow.

"Don't apologize to me. I don't deserve it."

I laughed as I spoke, but inside, there was only a piercing, bone-chilling cold...

Chapter 10

For the next three days, I refused to eat or drink, my heart set on death.

I didn't see Xavier in the room again.

Of course, even if he had shown up, I wouldn't have looked at him.

"Sister, please don't do this to yourself. Have something to eat."

Celine brought me freshly made porridge every day, but I acted as if she wasn't there.

Eventually, Xavier had the doctors put me on a nutritional drip.

I only let out a derisive laugh.

What was the point of all this now? Everything I had lost was never coming back.

"Sister, those three men tried to assault me in the hospital room earlier, and my brother caught them. His misunderstanding of you was his greatest mistake. He knows he was wrong."

I lay motionless on the bed, as if I were deaf to her words.

Celine seemed to remember something, and her eyes lit up. "Sister, your parents' headstone... Xavier has already arranged to have it rebuilt. He chose a beautiful spot in a new cemetery."

This time, I finally reacted.

The death of my parents was a wound that would never heal. I finally spoke my first words in three days.

"Where is it?"

Celine immediately smiled. "Riverview Memorial Park. It’s the most prestigious cemetery around."

The most prestigious.

What did that matter?

They were dead. Their peace had been disturbed, their headstone shattered.

Did Xavier really think he could earn my forgiveness by doing this?

Ha.

A faint, cold smile touched my lips, laced with bitterness.

"I want to go see them."

To see my parents one last time.

Celine stood up to help me. "Of course. I’ll go tell my brother—"

"Don't tell him," I interrupted coldly.

"I don't want to see him, and I certainly don't want him standing before my parents."

"Either I go alone, or you come with me, and we don't tell a soul."

Celine froze, glancing toward the door of the ward with a conflicted expression.

After a long moment of hesitation, she bit her lip and nodded.

"Alright. But you have to promise me you won't do anything reckless."

I remained silent.

Reckless? What else was there left for me to do?

I forced a smile, my voice raspy. "If you don't want me to die here, take me to the cemetery."

In the end, Celine relented.

After changing my clothes, I left the hospital with Celine.

Celine kept a firm grip on my arm, directing the driver toward the memorial park.

Once we arrived, she supported me as we climbed the steps, walking toward the new grave.

The headstone was right there.

I looked at the names etched into the stone, and my eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Dad, Mom... your failure of a daughter is here to see you."

"Celine..."

Celine was standing right beside me as I called her name while staring at the grave.

"Yes?"

"We left in such a hurry. I forgot to buy hibiscus flowers. They were my mother’s favorite."

Celine looked at the headstone. "There’s a flower shop outside the gates. I’ll go get some. You aren't well, so stay right here and don't move. Wait for me."

I nodded slightly and gave her a faint smile. "Thank you."

As soon as Celine was out of sight, the smile vanished. I looked at the tombstone and whispered, "Dad, Mom... I can finally... be free."

This time, it would be a true escape.

Away from Xavier, away from that family.

No one would ever be able to hurt me again.

"I miss you both so much..."

Chapter 11

The night was deep and heavy.

I wandered the streets aimlessly, drifting through the city with no destination in mind.

In truth, if my heart were truly set on death, there was no need to linger in this place.

Perhaps I simply wanted one last look at the fleeting brilliance of this world.

From time to time, passersby would step forward to ask if I needed help. I refused them all, one by one, offering only a quiet word of thanks.