NovelEnglishChapter 486 "Oh, right—she vanished eight years ago. No one's heard a word since. So what if she was a genius? So what if she aced every class? It never brought her a good life, did it? She was doomed from the start. She's probably dead already a wretched little thing, gone before her time." Adah's temper flared. She raised her hand, ready to slap him across the face.
Ethan, his face smeared with blood, stared back at her defiantly. He didn't even flinch.
"Go on. Hit me. You could beatto death and I wouldn't care. Without Vanessa, there's no reason forto stay in this house. I'd be better off dead." "Your own daughter's gone. If you finishoff too, you'll have no one left. The family line ends with you." "You-" Adah was shaking, so furious her whole body trembled.
Just then, a soft, melodic female voice echoed through the living room.
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, Mr. Ethan. I'm very much alive." Adah's head snapped up. She saw Claire walking through the doorway.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe moment she saw Claire, tears streamed down her face-she simply couldn't hold them back. "Claire? Is it really you?" Claire, at eighteen, looked exactly as Adah remembered-yet, somehow, like a stranger too.
Her features were a flawless blend of Adah's and Nathan's best traits, striking and beautiful.
But this Claire was nothing like the girl from the past.
Last time, Claire had been pretty, yes, but so painfully thin and small, her collarbones jutting out beneath her skin.
Now, she stood tall—at least five-foot-seven, with a healthy figure, every inch the result of a good life and proper care.
The contrast made it painfully obvious how little the Linwood family had ever cared for her before.
Adah rose from the sofa and walked toward her, step by hesitant step.
"Claire... is it really you? Have you finally cback to see your mother? Are you hfor good this time?" She was too emotional to stop herself, firing off one question after another. Claire's expression stayed perfectly calm, unmoved by her mother's excitement.
Adah reached out to hug her-something Claire had longed for in her past life, but never received, not even once. But things were different now. She had a real family-a father, a mother, a brother who truly loved her. As for Adaband Ethan? They were nothing more than biological strangers.
Without hesitation, Claire shoved Adah away.
The force made Adah stumble back several steps; she nearly lost her balance.
Adah looked at her, wounded. "Claire, you still can't forgive your mother, can you?" Claire said nothing, only meeting her gaze with a look of cold contempt. Adah faltered. She knew, deep down, she'd done nothing to deserve forgiveness.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe tried to bury her ssment, forcing a b smile to her face. "Claire, have you been all these years, et M been all these years?" "That's none of your business." Awkward silence fell. Adah didn't know what to say.
iet
A sardonic chuckle broke the tension Ethan, now standing, tall ando m handsas ever, but his eyes as bitter as before. Content Belongs "Well, aren't you hard to kill? Eight years missing, and you're still not dead."
Claire's face remained unreadable.
Ethan's cruel words meant nothing to e now they couldn't touch her. In her eyes, Ethan was just filth on the ground-not even worth a second glance.
Being so thoroughly ignored, Ethan's jaw clenched, veins bulging at his temples as he balled his fists in frustration.
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