Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom novel Chapter 295

The very first thing she did upon waking was look for Claire.

Her gaze darted desperately around the room, and the moment she spotted Claire sitting quietly on the sofa, she forgot all about her own weakness and disheveled state. Nothing else mattered.

Propping herself up with trembling hands, her legs barely supporting her, she half-crawled, half-stumbled toward Claire, inching forward with sheer determination.

Tears streamed down her face, unchecked and uncontrollable.

"Claire, I was wrong. I swear I'll never take Vanessa's side again. Please, please forgive me. Your brother—your brother's in prison because of Nathan, that monster. Claire, you're all I have left."

Adah's voice cracked with sobs, hoarse and filled with despair. As a mother, she collapsed at Claire's feet, weeping bitterly, pouring out her regret. She looked utterly broken, as wretched as a person could possibly be.

But Claire remained as she had been before—expressionless, unmoved, cold as stone.

She only glanced at Adah briefly, her eyes indifferent, before turning away.

That coldness, that utter lack of feeling, drove a knife straight into Adah's heart.

In that moment, Adah finally understood what it meant to be truly devastated—to lose all hope.

Claire was done with her. There would be no forgiveness this time.

The realization tore at Adah's heart, leaving her gasping with pain.

Eyes overflowing with anguish, her voice trembling, she pleaded, "Claire, are you really going to be this heartless? Are you going to abandon your mother too?"

But Claire's gaze never even lingered on her. She didn't hear, or didn't care, what Adah said.

It was this silence, this complete indifference, that hurt Adah even more than any shouted accusation.

May stood off to the side, her face dark with anger as she spoke up, voice sharp with righteous fury. "Mrs. Linwood, you have no right to call Miss Claire heartless. In the three years she lived in the Linwood household, did you ever care about her for even a single day?"