Chapter 1
In the city of Clearwater, the cold, steel prison doors creaked open slowly.”
Sunlight spilled over Claire Linwood’s gaunt, sallow face.k
The clothes she had wom into prison now hung loosely on her thin frame.X
She had spent five dark and endless years inside, but today, she was finally free.
Claire dragged her leg, limping slowly out of the prison.
Her pace wasn’t deliberate, it was simply that she couldn’t move any faster.
Parked by the curb was a sleek black Bentley. As the window rolled down, a man’s stern and piercing gaze met hers.
His eyes swept over her injured leg, and he let out a derisive laugh, his mockery undisguised.
“Five years in prison, and you still love putting on a show,” he sneered.
Claire’s heart tightened unexpectedly, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.
Ethan Linwood.
Her own brother.
Since she was fifteen, when she was brought back from the orphanage to the Linwood family, she had gone to great lengths to win his approval.
Yet, he had testified against her, securing her conviction for attempted murder in order to protect their adopted sister, with whom he shared no blood relation.
Five years later, his words were as cutting as ever, his disdain for her unchanged.8
Claire swallowed her bittemess, pretending she didn’t see Ethan, and continued limping forward.
Ethan’s expression hardened.
He was not accustomed to being ignored.
In his memory, Claire always sought his favor with eagerness.”
When he came home, she had slippers ready for him.8
When he was tired, she would massage his shoulders.
When he suffered insomnia, she brewed him calming tea each night.
If he was too busy to come home for dinner she would wait for him outside his office with a thermos, come rain or shine.!
During those three years she lived at home, his chronic stomach issues had eased; yet, since her imprisonment, he often woke at night from the pain I
p from the
Upon learning of her release today, he had been somewhat pleased, even rescheduling an international meeting to pick her up
prison.
He imagined she’d be overjoyed to see him and had braced himself for her to pour out her grievances.)
But he hadn’t anticipated her cold indifference.
The worship he once saw in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a distant aloofness.
The unfamiliar emptiness gnawed at him, filling him with irritation as he gripped the steering wheel, veins bulging on his hands. With a gruffness that belied his feelings, he ordered, “Get in the car.”
He regretted his tone immediately, his brow furrowing with frustration, softening it slightly as he added, “Mom and Dad know you’re out today. They’ve arranged a welcome home dinner”
Mom and Dad.
How familiar yet strange those words felt il
At the orphanage, she had dreamed of having parents, believing she would be a cherished little princess.
She had hoped and wished for fifteen long years.
And after those fifteen years, her wish seemned granted.
She had parents now, and a tall, handsome CEO brother.
But the cherished little princess wasn’t her, it was Vanessa Linwood, the impostor they had raised.
Those people weren’t her parents.”
They were Ethan and Vanessa’s parents.
Claire couldn’t help but scoff at her own naivety.
In the three years she lived in that house, she endured endless humiliation and coldness. Knowing she was unwelcome, why would she return to face more of the same??
Though her steps were slow, Claire didn’t stop moving.!!
Her indifferent demeanor and stubbom back stung Ethan’s eyes, fueling an inexplicable rage within him.
He flung open the car door, his long strides quickly catching up with Claire. He seized her wrist, yanking her back, “Have you had enough of this tantrum?”
Off balance, Claire fell heavily to the ground, pain shooting through her injured leg. her face turning ashen.X
Ethan’s voice was filled with anger, “Still playing the victim, are we?“!!
“Don’t forget, five years ago you pushed Irene down the stairs, leaving her in a coma, and tried to frame Vanessa. Five years in prison and you haven’t learned a thing. It seems you weren’t reformed enough!”
With that, Ethan roughly pulled Claire to her feet, his frustration evident, “Don’t think that just because you’ve served your time, your debt is paid. As long as Irene doesn’t wake, your crime isn’t absolved.”
