Vanessa’s gaze swept over Clara,lingering on her dress and the bag in her hand. Her smile grew smug.
“Oh,that dress–you’re wearing Chanel’s latest season, aren’t you?Bought with Adrian’s money,right? And that bag–Hermès? His money too. Take them off!Do you not understand what’walk away with nothing’means?None of this belongs to you!“}
Clara’s body went cold.
She turned to Adrian,her eyes holding the faintest plea. Even if there was only a shred of humanity left in him,a trace of their
past…
For a moment, when Adrian met her gaze, he seemed to hesitate. His brows furrowed slightly as he said to Vanessa, Vanessa,forget the dress…”
It was just a dress. Adrian still had that much generosity in him.
But that meager defense ignited Vanessa’s fury.
“Forget it?Why should I?”
Vanessa erupted,shoving him hard as though she had been gravely wronged. She began to stomp and wail hysterically. “Adrian,what do you mean by this? You’re still protecting her,aren’t you?I knew it!You lied to me! You said you only loved me what a joke!”
She beat against his chest with her fists as she sobbed.“I followed you as your mistress, with no name and no status,and I never complained. Now I’m only asking to take back what’s yours,and suddenly you’re unwilling?I don’t care!Everything in this house is yours. She doesn’t get to take a single thing. Not even the dress she’s wearing!If you won’t do it,then I’m leaving right now!”
She spun on her heel,making for the door.
Adrian panicked. He caught her at once,clutching her tightly,every trace of hesitation and clarity vanishing.”
He soothed her in a low,coaxing tone:“Baby,sweetheart,don’t be angry. How could I ever protect her?I only want you. You’re right about everything–I’ll listen to you alright? Just don’t go.“”
Then he turned on Clara,his eyes hard and impatient.<
“Clara Winter,didn’t you hear me?Take off the dress and get out.Stop being an eyesore to Vanessa!“}
The last fragment of hope shattered.”
Clara looked at the man who had once held her as if she were his whole world. Now he was like a dog wagging its tail,groveling before another woman–degrading himself without the slightest bottom line just to please her.
And above them,Snowball still whimpered faintly,dangling in terror.”
Despair and rage surged in Clara’s chest,threatening to consume her. Yet when she looked at Snowball’s fragile form,every scream of defiance lodged in her throat. She couldn’t risk it. Not while Snowball was still in their hands.
Humiliation burned her eyes with tears,but she forced them back.
Under Adrian’s cold stare,beneath Vanessa’s malicious gaze, Clara’s trembling fingers pulled down the zipper of her dress. The gown Adrian had once chosen for her with his own hands slid to the floor,leaving her standing in nothing but her undergarments,her body shaking.”
The chill of the air wrapped around her,but it was nothing compared to the ice inside her heart.”
She remembered the day he had bought this dress,whispering in her ear:
“Clara,you look most beautiful in white. Like my bride.”
And now,in her own home,she was stripped of dignity like some mistress caught in the act,driven out the door.
Clara bent down to pick up the fallen dress.”
“Don’t touch itz
Vanessa’s sharp voice rang out “That’s mine now!”
Clara’s hand froze in midair.
She cast one last look at Snowball,still hanging high above, its cries weak and broken. The pain in her chest was so sharp it almost convulsed.
Straightening her back that felt close to breaking, Clara refused to look again at the pair embracing on the sofa. Barefoot,she stepped over the cold tiles and the shards of broken porcelain,one step at a time,toward the open door.
Behind her came Vanessa’s triumphant laugh and Adrian’s low murmur of appeasement–sounds that crushed the last fragments of Clara’s love and warmth into dust.@
She had nothing left.
And now she was certain–she would not regret it.
8:35 AM P p
