Chapter 7
Claire curled up on the leather sofa, sobbing with trembling shoulders.
“Ryan, you locked me in that basement for an entire day for Lina’s sake. It was so dark, so cold… If my baby hadn’t made me faint from distress, I don’t know when I would have gotten out.“]
Ryan stood by the floor–to–ceiling window, cigarette ash falling from his fingers.]
He remembered the deadness in Lina’s eyes at the hospital, and his chest felt heavy as stone.]
Claire continued her complaints: “Lina couldn’t give you a child all these years, and now she can’t ever have one. She’s just jealous…”
“Enough.”
Ryan’s brow furrowed deeply, his voice low.]
“From today, you’ll move to the southern villa to focus on your pregnancy.“]
“Once the baby is safely born, one hundred million will be transferred to your account.“]
Claire’s tears stopped instantly, greed flashing in her eyes.
“But what about the child afterward? Without its birth mother, I worry… and Lina is in such a state…”
…0
Ryan’s gaze turned cold as he leaned forward to grip Claire’s chin.]
“Mrs. Winters will always be Lina. As for you–if you behave yourself, I’ll give you everything except the title.”
Claire opened her mouth to speak but wisely fell silent when she saw Ryan’s darkening expression.
Ryan massaged his temples, his frustration mounting]
The child he and Lina had yearned for was gone. Now, the baby in Claire’s womb was his only hope.
But this wornan was insatiably greedy.
He couldn’t help thinking of Lina, who was never like this.]
Even in her deepest sorrow, she would cry privately, then turn to him with a gentle smile.
Even when choosing their wedding rings, she had considerately selected the most modest option, saying she didn’t want to pressure him.
And what had he done?
Used the money he’d saved to buy Claire a limited–edition handbag.
Ryan looked down at Claire sleeping on the bed.
She was only a few weeks pregnant, yet her face was already puffy and spotted, her waist thickened, her stomach layered with flesh. Where was the seductive wornan who had tempted him? He suodenly felt nauseated.]
Ryan sat on his study floor, 1 fingers trembling as he opened a dusty photo album.]
The first image showed seven–year–old Lina smiling at him, holding cotton candy.
He slanned the album shut.]
Memories flooded back
On his eighteenth birthday, Lina had baked him a cake. Though ugly, it clearly showed their smiling faces drawn in frosting.
Lina had torn up her direct doctoral admission letter from a prestigious university, choosing instead to work as his assistant at the cosmetic surgery clinic
“You’re not eating properly again!
In his memories, she would glare at him fiercely before magically producing containers of home–cooked food from her insulated bag
He had found her nagging annoying then; now he would never hear it again.
“Ryan, darung-
Claire emerged from the bedroom, rubbing her eyes, her silk nightgown hanging loosely. “Carry me to the bathroom.“]
Ryan fell suffocated by his cascade of memories.]
He remembered every detail so clearly, yet had somehow overlooked the person who had created those memories
Ryan snapped the album shut and stormed out without looking back]
Watching him leave, Clare felt a tremor of foreboding!
When Ryan rushed to the hospital, he found an empty bed
Lina was gone!]
