Chapter 320
Blake’s POV:
I sensed Anna’s arrival before seeing her.
I remained seated by the window, deliberately positioned in the sunlight, my face expressionless as I watched her step into Claire’s hospital room. Her eyes widened, lips parting in shock at the scene before her.
The sight before her clearly shocked her to the core.
My eyes tracked Anna as she surveyed Claire’s condition: deathly pale with translucent lips, sunken cheeks, and hollow eyes that briefly flickered with life when she spotted Anna. Claire’s hair had been chopped unevenly, scattered in patches, and her ten fingers were bleeding. Beneath the blankets, the empty space where part of her leg should have been was painfully obvious.
Anna’s face drained of color, her hand instinctively rising to cover her mouth. When she turned to leave, her shoulders hunched as if carrying an invisible weight, my heart clenched. I couldn’t let her go–not yet.
I nodded to my security to block the doorway, then spoke to Anna: “Since you’re here, you might as well stay and watch.
I walked behind Anna and wrapped my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder. I felt her tense immediately. Tm sorry.” I whispered in ber ear. “You’ve endured too much because of me.” I should have done this long ago. I should have stood by you from the beginning.
“Blakey, Blakey!” Claire’s shrill voice cut through the room. “Hold me instead! My leg is injured!”
I stared coldly at Claire. “Then die.”
I noticed Anna’s shocked expression, her eyes darting between Claire and me, confusion evident in the furrow of her brow. She seemed startled by both Claire’s desperate dependence on me and my cold response.
I lifted Anna into my arms and sat her in my lap, facing Claire. I felt her resistance, her body rigid against mine, but I held firm. Her pulse raced beneath my fingertips, betraying her outward composure.
I kicked a bag toward Claire. “Tell us what else you’ve done. All of it.”
I watched Anna recognize the items in the bag: a voice recorder, a spare phone, a tablet showing audio fic. -evidence of Claire orchestrating online harassment campaigns against Anna and leaking that photo of her.
When Anna’s eyes met mine, they burned with questions, seeking confirmation. The pain in my chest deepened. Ive betrayed her trust too many times.
“Anna,” I began honestly, “I was afraid to discover the truth because I wouldn’t know how to face you afterward. I never wanted to be apart from you. I thought burying everything was the best choice because you were my wife, and even if you had done something wrong, I would cover for you. But that thinking itself showed my lack of trust and respect for you.
‘I admit I was wrong. I was blinded by Claire’s lifelong act of innocence. I believed she was as kind as she pretended to be. Perhaps I couldn’t accept that the family I’d cherished was deceiving me all along.”
‘And you, Anna–I’ve always loved you, but I was too foolish to recognize my own feelings in time. You might think it’s pathetic that I blame my childhood illness, but I was genuinely too stupid not to stand by you. Now that I know everything, I want to clear your name and beg for your forgiveness.”
I noticed Anna’s expression shift, her lips pressing together as she fought to maintain control. A single tear escaped, trailing down her cheek.
“Blakey! Claire shrieked. “What are you saying? Didn’t you deliberately make things difficult for Anna to avenge me?”
‘I never thought that way,” I replied firmly. “What I’m doing now is avenging Anna.”
I saw Anna close her eyes, her lashes wet against her pale cheeks, and my heart ached.
“What else have you done?‘ I asked Claire coldly. “Tell us everything now. If I discover anything later, the consequences won’t be as simple as today.
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Chapter 320
I watched Claire’s agitated response as she accused me of believing Anna: ‘If you believe her, why ask me? Whatever she says goes, and what I say doe
matter!”
Anna’s calm reaction to these accusations pained me. Her face was a mask of indifference, only the slight tightening around her eyes betraying her
emotions.
She’s been hurt so much that she’s become numb to false accusations.
Claire continued crying: “Three years ago, you promised I’d be the Wright family princess forever, that I’d always be your sister!”
I noticed Anna standing to leave, her shoulders squared with determination despite the weariness in her eyes. “Fine. You two talk, she said flatly. “Just don’t kill each other.”
I can’t let her leave like this. She needs to hear everything.
I grabbed Anna’s wrist and told Claire, “Don’t listen to her twisting the facts. I promised you that status as punishment!”
Anna scoffed, a bitter smile playing on her lips: “So now you’re giving me the title of Mrs. Wright as punishment too? What a unique form of punishment.
‘No, Anna. When you were leaving for your trip, I discovered Claire had inappropriate feelings for me beyond sibling affection. I realized our relationship had been wasted on misunderstandings, so I punished her by saying she could only be my sister, with no financial support–just an empty title.”
“Wanting you as my wife was never a punishment–it was love! Claire got nothing, while I wanted to give you everything. But you didn’t want any of it…
I was such a fool. If I’d realized this sooner, if I’d said these words years ago, perhaps we wouldn’t have lost so much time. I was too stupid, too easily deceived by Claire.
Anna’s question cut through my explanation: “Emily is the person who understands me best. When I gave birth to Nora, she knew my concerns and must have tried to contact you, but she never gave me any feedback. I knew she couldn’t reach you. You didn’t want to see me, did you?”
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