The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 55

Annelise didn't know how she made it back to the main house.

She only remembered the blinding sunlight outside the sanctuary and the sickeningly heavy floral scent in the courtyard.

She locked herself in her room and drew all the curtains.

In the dark, she sat on the cold floor, her back pressed tightly against the edge of the bed, looking like a hollowed-out statue.

Two battlefronts.

Right now, two intricate yet subtly intersecting battlefronts lay clearly before her.

The first was Hackett and Clarissa's betrayal.

The forced sterilization, the loss of her unborn baby, the illegitimate child, the theft of her family's assets.

On this front, she had gathered a mountain of evidence: the medical reports from Vivian's hospital, Josie Platt's testimony, photos of the insurance policies, and her own firsthand account of the adulterers sleeping together in the guest room across the hall.

The endgame here was divorce, ruining their reputations, and reclaiming everything that belonged to the Sargent Group.

The second front was the mystery of Elias's life and death, which had just been ripped open right in front of her.

The diary, letters, and photograph in the sanctuary.

Plus the torn plane ticket to Oslo and those earth-shattering words: "He is not dead."

If Elias truly was alive, the entire power dynamic of the Lehman family would be overthrown instantly.

Clarissa's status as the "grieving widow" would become a monumental joke.

And her so-called "posthumous child" would entirely lose any claim to the main branch's inheritance.

These two battlefronts were like intertwined venomous snakes, biting at one another while simultaneously keeping each other upright.

Annelise knew she had to strike on both fronts at once.

"You want to prove that your recent pregnancy was a viable medical miracle, rather than some issue on your end?"

"Yes," Annelise replied. "I need the most authoritative medical theories to back up my chain of evidence. When we go to court, I won't give Hackett's lawyers a single weak point to attack."

"Got it," Vivian agreed without hesitation. "Leave it to me. I'll contact my old med school mentors abroad right now. I'll have all the data sent to you within a week."

"Thank you, Vivian."

"Don't mention it." Vivian paused, her tone turning grave. "Anne, I don't know what exactly you're plotting, but please stay safe. Those people in the Lehman family are wolves who eat you without spitting out the bones."

After hanging up, Annelise pushed herself off the floor and walked over to the desk.

She opened her hardcover notebook to a fresh page.

Taking a pen, she mapped out a clear timeline.