Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom novel Chapter 363

Claire stood some distance away, watching Adah in silence, her gaze clouded with a tangled mix of emotions.

Adah Jones Linwood, have you ever truly reflected on your choices? Just because you fell for a worthless man and rushed into marriage, you managed to drag your entire life into utter ruin.

Your son is behind bars, your daughter is crippled for life, and you yourself lost an eye.

You should have had a brilliant future, but your narrow-mindedness and sheer stupidity have left you with nothing but regret.

You—of all people—deserve every bit of this.

A cold, mocking smile played on Claire’s lips. Having a mother like Adah was the greatest shame of her life.

She hated Nathan Linwood, but she hated Adah even more.

Looking back on her two decades of misery, Claire knew Nathan was the root of it all, but Adah was hardly blameless.

Her expression hardened as she stared at Adah.

Adah, meanwhile, was gently rocking a ragged old doll in her arms, cooing and pretending to lull it to sleep. Then she started talking softly to thin air.

“Claire, my precious girl,” she whispered. “Mommy will protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

“You have to believe me, sweetheart. Mommy loves you so, so much.”

She pressed a gentle kiss to the doll’s cheek, as if she were holding her beloved, living daughter instead of a battered toy.

The sight only deepened the scorn in Claire’s eyes.

Where was all this love before?

Now, after losing everything, Adah finally cherished what she’d taken for granted. But it was far too late.

Still, seeing Adah so broken, so punished by life, eased something inside Claire.

She saw no reason to linger here. During those dark months when she’d been wrongly imprisoned, Adah hadn’t visited her even once.