Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 122

Claire looked at me, her gaze locked on mine, searching for something. She was quiet for a long time. I could see it in her eyes, that flicker of envy. She envied that I still had someone left to protect, while she had no one. And deep down, she blamed it all on the fact that I had left her.

She stood there before stepping closer, closing the gap between us.

“It’s almost enviable, you know. The way you and your mom are so close.” Her voice trembled, bitterness woven through every word. “I wish I could be there for my parents, too, but I don’t even have that chance anymore.”

Her eyes shone with sadness, and I could feel the pain spilling out, like she couldn’t hold it back any longer. It was as if her memories were still sharp enough to wound her, even now.

I remembered what happened with her dad, Ableson. I knew she had been all alone at the hospital, dealing with everything by herself. She took care of her father, handled the pressure from the debt collectors, and tried to save the company all at once. She had been stretched so thin, barely holding it together, running on empty every single day. And in the end, Ableson passed away. The grief hit her mom, Henrietta, so hard that she fell seriously ill too. Claire carried all of it on her own. Even now, I couldn’t really let myself imagine what those days must have been like for her.

Claire moved closer, making me step back without thinking.

“Do you know what I was doing when my father died?”

I didn’t know. I hadn’t been there. But I could guess it had to be terrible.

“I don’t,” I said quietly.

She let out a bitter laugh. “Of course you don’t. Because you ran away.”

“I was looking for you. I searched everywhere. I just wanted someone to lean on, someone to tell me what to do. But there was no one. Everyone abandoned me. You abandoned me.”

She looked straight at me, her voice sharp. “You say you know you were wrong. But if you really want to understand, maybe you should feel my pain for yourself.”

With that, she turned around and went back to her desk, sitting down with her back straight and her shoulders tense.

“Get out. And from now on, don’t come up here unless I say so.”

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