The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 116

If Annelise's previous accusations had been sharp, icy blades, then this final sentence was a bucket of boiling lead poured straight over Clarissa's head, hot enough to melt flesh from bone.

In mere seconds, Clarissa's complexion morphed from ashen gray to a horrifying, mottled purple fueled by sheer terror and panic.

"No... that's not..."

She opened her mouth, finally managing to squeeze a few pathetic, barely audible syllables past her frozen vocal cords.

"You're lying... I didn't..."

But faced with Annelise's blood-soaked truth, and subjected to the disgusted, judgmental glares of over three hundred guests, her weak denial was laughably hollow.

She looked like a cheap con artist exposed mid-trick, incapable of stringing together a single coherent defense.

Meanwhile, Lizzie—whose sanity had already been pushed to the absolute limit—completely snapped the moment she heard the word "ligation."

She stared blankly at Annelise, then at the purple-faced Clarissa. Utter, uncomprehending chaos swirled in her cloudy eyes.

And then, the pieces finally clicked.

She realized why Annelise hadn't gotten pregnant in her four years of marriage.

She realized why Clarissa had so 'coincidentally' gotten pregnant with the Lehman heir.

She realized the sickening, inhumane bait-and-switch conspiracy that had been orchestrated right under her nose.

That final, overstretched nerve in her brain snapped with a crisp pop.

She didn't cry. She didn't scream.

She just started laughing.

"Heh... hehehehe..."

Raising her hand with every ounce of strength in her body, she delivered a brutal slap across Clarissa's flawlessly made-up face.

Smack!

The sharp, ringing crack echoed loudly.

That single slap hit harder and heavier than any lash of the whip.

The force sent Clarissa reeling to the side. Her bridal makeup was instantly ruined, and a glaring red handprint swelled on her cheek.

"You poisonous bitch!"

Lizzie's eyes blazed with a manic fire ready to burn the whole world down.

"Give me back my grandson! You used a bastard to fake the Lehman bloodline! You lied to me! How dare you lie to me!"