Chapter 5
The servants dragged Claire out to the garden.
No matter how much she begged, Ethan didn't budge.
The bodyguards shoved her toward the cobblestone path leading to the memorial chapel. They forced her to take off her shoes and shoved her down onto the sharp, jagged stones.
The second her skin hit the jagged rocks, a searing, blinding pain shot through her, and she let out a raw, desperate scream as blood began to stain the path.
Emily, standing nearby, flinched at the sound.
Ethan's eyes grew colder. "Enough with the screaming." At his signal, a servant stuffed a towel into Claire's mouth to silence her.
Claire knew that unless she finished the whole thing, Ethan wouldn't let her stop.
Tears blurred her vision as she moved forward, inch by agonizing inch, the stones slicing into her skin with every movement.
She felt the weight of her regrets with each step. She regretted that she'd first fallen for him because of his simple help. She regretted her naive hope that she could ever win his heart.
After dragging herself through those brutal ten yards, Claire finally gave out. She pitched forward and hit the ground, totally spent.
Watching her, Ethan felt a flicker of hesitation and nearly reached out to pick her up.
However, right then, Emily, standing beside him, faltered and leaned into his arms. She looked up at him, her voice barely above a whisper. "Ethan, I think I'm shaken up. My head's spinning..."
Ethan held her close, and even though he could tell she was probably faking it, he forced himself to look away from Claire.
Without a second thought, he scooped Emily up in his arms and walked away.
Claire glanced at him, her eyes flashing with utter despair and hatred.
The servants half-carried her into the living room.
The family doctor showed up with a medical kit to patch her up. But after rummaging through the kit, there wasn't a single painkiller to be found.
The doctor frowned. "Where are the painkillers? Mrs. Sterling is seriously injured. She won't be able to handle this without them."
The servant shot Claire an awkward glance. "Miss Sutton said her forehead was hurting badly from the fall, so she had all the painkillers sent up to her room."
Claire had already seen right through Emily's malicious scheme. She lay calmly on the sofa, addressing the family doctor, "Just apply the medicine. No need for anything else."
The doctor sighed, looking at her with a mix of helplessness and sympathy. "Hang in there."
Claire nodded. But as soon as the doctor started applying the medicine, the pain hit so hard that her whole body shook, cold sweat pouring off her and soaking the sofa.
By the time the doctor finally finished, she looked like she'd been pulled out of a lake.
When the bandages were finally tight, a bodyguard stepped forward. "Mrs. Sterling, time for the memorial prayers."
Claire nodded numbly and forced herself to stand up. Every step was pure agony, and those few steps felt impossible.
The bodyguards led her to the chapel. They shoved her down onto the freezing stone floor.
With her fresh wounds stinging, she began to lose her grip on reality, letting out faint, agonized groans.
Biting back the tears, she knelt and prayed into the cold, empty night.
When she finally hit her limit, everything went black, and she collapsed, dead to the world on the cold floor.