Chapter 100
“So what if I stole it? Felix trusted me all these years!”
“If that useless old policeman hadn’t appeared, you’d still be nothing more than dirt beneath my feet!“}
“Sarah, don’t be so smug! Even if he knows the truth, he still loves my face. He’s used to me!“>
I laughed.
“Really?”
I pulled out my phone and opened a recording.
It was a conversation between her and the gallery manager. Word for word, it captured how she ordered him to forge evidence and frame me for prison.
I handed the phone to the reporter who had hurried over.”
“I think the public will be very interested in Miss Claire Green’s true face.”
Claire’s complexion drained completely.
She was finished.
Utterly finished.
Felix’s revenge only stripped her of wealth and vanity.”
Mine condemned her forever to shame, never to rise again.”
Afterward, Felix began searching for me like a man possessed. He lifted all restrictions on me and stationed security guards at my gallery around the clock. Gifts piled up–jewelry, rare art supplies. I returned them all unopened. He even blocked my path himself. One evening, after bidding farewell to a guest, I found Felix at the door. He had grown thinner, his eyes sunken and shadowed. Though he wore an expensive suit, he looked broken. The moment he saw me, a fragile hope flickered in his
gaze.
“Sarah,” he rasped, stepping forward. “Can we–can we talk?“}
I sidestepped and kept walking. Panic struck him; he seized my wrist.
“Sarah, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. Please… give me another chance.”
“I was blind before. I–“@!
“Mr. Shaw,” I cut in, my tone flat, as if discussing the weather. “You already signed the divorce. We’re no longer connected.” “That agreement doesn’t count!” He clung desperately to my hand. “I signed it because I didn’t recognize you! We can fix this. I’ll arrange everything right now!”
I looked at him, absurdity and pity mingling.”
“Felix, have you forgotten?”
“Have you forgotten telling the police in France, ‘I don’t know her“?”
“Forgot how you slapped me, had me beaten, and threw me onto that plane like trash.“®
“Forgot how you crushed the jade rose and swore you never wanted to see me again.“}
Each word I spoke cut into him like a blade.
His face drained, his body wavering on the brink of collapse. “I…” He shut his eyes, stricken. “I’ll have the jade repaired and return it to you. Don’t be angry, please?”
“No.” I wrenched free of his grip. “Felix, I don’t love you anymore.“”
“I remember every wound you gave me. And I’ve repaid the only kindness you once showed me.“}
“We owe each other nothing.”
With that, I turned away without looking back.”
Behind me, I heard his strangled sobs, like a beast trapped in its cage.”
I thought Felix would give up.
But I underestimated his obsession.”
In clumsy, desperate ways, he began trying to win me back.”
He abandoned his black suits, filling his wardrobe with white shirts.
He said white was the color I wore during our childhood captivity.
He dismissed every servant from the villa, learning himself how to tend the garden.
