Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom novel Chapter 1

In the city of Clearwater, the cold, steel prison doors creaked open slowly.

Sunlight spilled over Claire Linwood's gaunt, sallow face.

The clothes she had worn into prison now hung loosely on her thin frame.

She had spent five dark and endless years inside, but today, she was finally free.

Claire dragged her leg, limping slowly out of the prison.

Her pace wasn't deliberate; it was simply that she couldn't move any faster.

Parked by the curb was a sleek black Bentley. As the window rolled down, a man’s stern and piercing gaze met hers.

His eyes swept over her injured leg, and he let out a derisive laugh, his mockery undisguised.

"Five years in prison, and you still love putting on a show," he sneered.

Claire's heart tightened unexpectedly, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.

Ethan Linwood.

Her own brother.

Since she was fifteen, when she was brought back from the orphanage to the Linwood family, she had gone to great lengths to win his approval.

Yet, he had testified against her, securing her conviction for attempted murder in order to protect their adopted sister, with whom he shared no blood relation.

Five years later, his words were as cutting as ever, his disdain for her unchanged.

Claire swallowed her bitterness, pretending she didn't see Ethan, and continued limping forward.

Ethan's expression hardened.

He was not accustomed to being ignored.

In his memory, Claire always sought his favor with eagerness.

When he came home, she had slippers ready for him.

When he was tired, she would massage his shoulders.

When he suffered insomnia, she brewed him calming tea each night.

If he was too busy to come home for dinner, she would wait for him outside his office with a thermos, come rain or shine.

During those three years she lived at home, his chronic stomach issues had eased; yet, since her imprisonment, he often woke at night from the pain.