NovelFinishChapter 494 When Claire opened her eyes, Adah was sitting at her bedside, her face shadowed with worry.
"Claire, are you alright?" Adah asked softly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtClaire pushed herself upright in the hospital bed. The anesthesia had worn off, and she felt perfectly fine now-no lingering pain, nothing to worry about. She glanced at Adah, her expression cool and detached. "Thank you for this, but consider any past grudges between us settled. It's done." A flash of hope lit up Adah's face. "Claire, does that mean you've finally forgiven me? You're willing to chome? You won't leaveanymore?" Claire's tone was icy. "Ms. Jones, I'm afraid you're misunderstanding. I said the old resentment is over, not that I'm coming hwith you, or accepting you as my mother." She fixed Adah with a steady gaze. "Have you forgotten? My last nis Sterling now-not Linwood. I have my own parents, my own brother. Why should I go back with you?" Adah's expression collapsed, pain flickering in her eyes. "Claire, I'm your real mother. The Sterlings took you from me." Claire let out a cold, humorless laugh. "They never 'took' me. The truth is, I stopped needing you a long tago." She looked away, voice flat but firm. "Maybe you don't know this, but in my last life, the Sterlings visited the orphanage intending to adopt me. But back then, Vincent Lewis was my best friend-I refused to leave him and turned down the adoption. I thought I was making the right choice. I was wrong." Her tone sharpened. "If I'd agreed, I could have had a loving family, a brother who protected me, parents who cared. Instead, I went back to the Linwood family and suffered nothing but cruelty from you all." Adah wilted, her shoulders slumping as if the energy had been drained out of her.
"Claire, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong." Her voice trembled.
Claire cut her off, impatient. "I've heard that line so many times, I could recite it in my sleep. Every time, you say you regret it, but you never change. You have zero credibility with me. Please, don't waste your breath saying empty things anymore. It's exhausting." There was no softness in Claire's words; she didn't spare Adah's feelings in the slightest.
Adah's face turned ashen. "Alright, I won't say it again." She fell silent, the room heavy with unspoken pain.
Claire had no desire to share the sair any longer. She felt fine, so why stay in the hospital? After half a year at the research institute, it had been eight long years since she'd seen her real family.
She wanted nothing more than to go hand see them. Eight years would they even recognize her now? Swinging her legs off the bed, Claire slipped on her shoes, ready to leave.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAdah shot to her feet. "Claire, where are you going?" "Back to Northcrest City. I want to see my parents." The bitterness in Adah's eyes was unmistakable. She was Claire's birth mother, but Claire spoke of the Sterlings with such affection as if Adah were a stranger.
Adah stepped in front of her, hesitation written across her face. "Claire..." Claire's patience was running thin; she didn't want to look at Adah for another second. "What is it now?"
Adah bit her lip, searching for the right words. "Claire, could you could could you write a letter of forgiveness for 上 your brother?"
Claire let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh. "He helped someone out but my kidney and you wantto forgive him?"
Adah knew how unreasonable her request sounded, but pressed on "But om he's your brother Youre safe now. Do you really want to see your brother go to prison over this... this mistake?" "You're the youngest scientific genius in Vesperia. If you speak up, the court will go easy on him. Couldn't you show him a little mercy? Please?" "Enough!" Claire's voice rang out in sudden fury.
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