“Have pity on him? Then who’s ever pitied me?”
“You know he’s my own brother. But did he act like one when he tried to help outsiders carve out my kidney? Is that what brothers do?”
“In my last life, he framed me and I spent five years in prison. Before that, he humiliated me for three years in the Linwood family’s house. After I got out, he kept coming back, humiliating me again and again. The only reason I haven’t gone after him is out of mercy. If he’d just left me alone, I’d have treated him like he was nothing—barely worth a thought.”
“But what did he do instead? He wanted to take my kidney, leave me disabled—and now you want me to just forgive him?”
“Adah, you know how terrified I am of being crippled. Last time around, your whole family left me in pieces. Do you really expect me to let that happen again?”
Tears streamed down Adah’s face as she shook her head desperately. “No, that’s not what I meant at all, sweetheart.”
Claire let out a cold laugh. “Ethan’s not a child. He’s a grown man, and adults have to take responsibility for what they do.”
“But you can relax. He was just an accomplice, not the mastermind—he won’t get the death penalty. At worst, a few years behind bars. It’s not the end of the world.”
Adah’s eyes widened in shock.
That line—she’d heard it so many times before.
Because, in her last life, Ethan had said the exact same thing to Claire.
“It’s just five years in prison, right? All you did was serve time. Irene Cole ended up in a coma.”
Adah couldn’t bring herself to meet Claire’s gaze anymore.
Claire’s voice was calm, almost detached. “Since Ethan thinks prison is no big deal, let him see for himself. Maybe some time in there will teach him something.”
“And don’t worry. I’d never bribe anyone to make prison life any harder for him. The only thing he’ll lose is his freedom. In my last life, I lost a leg and a kidney. Compared to that, he’s getting off easy.”
Adah’s mind went blank. She couldn’t say a single word.
Claire brushed past her and walked out of the hospital room.
Claire had always been his idol. He was her biggest fan.
Now, suddenly, his idol had literally fallen into his arms. Brian’s face flushed red with excitement.
Standing beside him, Irene gasped in delight.
“She’s even more beautiful than she looks on TV,” Irene gushed, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Claire.
Claire snapped back to herself, her expression unreadable, her voice cool.
“Would you mind letting go of me?”
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