Clara was trapped in a nightmare.

In the dream, her father and mother were covered in blood, their voices ghostly as they asked, "Why did you let the killer go?"

"Why did you testify for the murderer?"

She trembled and backed away, shaking her head in desperation. "No, I didn't! I didn't!"

She turned around, only to see her sister’s pale, haggard face covered in scars.

Her sister cried out in despair, "Sister, save me! Please save me!"

"It's so disgusting, it hurts so much, I can't take it anymore!"

Clara tried to pull her into an embrace, but her sister retreated step by step, fresh wounds blooming on her wrists.

"Don't come near me! You're not my sister! My sister would never let those videos spread!"

Clara neared a total breakdown, repeating the same words over and over: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"It’s my fault. I’m useless. I’m so useless!"

She sat up on the hospital bed with a scream, rushing out like a madwoman despite the doctors' attempts to stop her.

Outside, the rain was torrential. Clara stumbled through the downpour until she reached the cemetery.

She had to find her parents! She had to find her sister! She had to beg for their forgiveness.

When she arrived, she found a crowd gathered around the graves of her family.

Sebastian stood there in a suit, holding a black umbrella against the rain. Seeing her running toward them drenched, he pulled her under the umbrella. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea what state your body is in?"

Clara looked at him blankly. "I came to find my parents and sister... What are you doing here?"

Sebastian pursed his lips and avoided her gaze.

A dark premonition surged in her heart. She grabbed Sebastian’s sleeve tightly. "You came to pay your respects to them, right?"

Sebastian hesitated for a moment before brushing her hand away. "Luna has been having nightmares lately. She consulted someone who said there are restless spirits seeking her life."

"I don't believe in that nonsense, but to give her peace of mind, I have to ask you to endure this grievance for now."

Before Clara could process his words, she watched in horror as Sebastian signaled the bodyguards to smash the tombstones and dig up the cremation urns.

"No... no..."

She tried to lunge forward, but Sebastian caught her around the waist.

"No! Please, I’m begging you, no!"

"Sebastian! I'll agree to anything! They’re already gone, please just let them rest!"

Clara struggled violently, her voice shrill and agonized.

Sebastian let her strike him, his grip unmoving as he shot a look at the bodyguards.

The men understood. Once the urns were unearthed, they smashed them without mercy, scattering the ashes into the air.

"NO—"

Clara’s eyes turned bloodshot. Erupting with a strength she never knew she had, she shoved Sebastian away.

But it was too late.

The moment the ashes touched the raindrops, they dissolved and washed away.

Her father, her mother, every piece of her family...

Clara collapsed to her knees, fruitlessly trying to scoop up the ashes that had fallen into the mud, her fingers becoming raw and bloody without her even noticing.

"Dad, Mom, don't leave me..."

"I have nothing left. Please, don't leave me..."

Sebastian sighed and knelt halfway, holding the umbrella over Clara’s head. "You still have me. I will protect you in their stead."

Clara seemed to hit a pause button, all her movements stopping abruptly.

She looked up at Sebastian’s face, her words dripping with bitterness. "It’s you! You’re the one who destroyed me! Get out! I never want to see you again!"

Sebastian’s expression darkened.

Clara had never spoken to him like this. Her absolute rejection made him feel an inexplicable sense of panic.

But then he thought she was likely just caught up in the heat of the moment and needed space. Once her anger faded, she would naturally forgive him.

Sebastian left the umbrella behind and walked away into the rain.

Clara sat before the ruins of the graves, stubbornly shielding the mud where the ashes had dissolved.

It was as if this act could somehow lighten the boundless guilt and pain.

As dusk fell, she felt her forehead burning; she was running a fever.

Supporting herself with sheer will, Clara stood up and started walking back.

She couldn't collapse here. She had to live.

She had to make the criminals pay!

After falling into a heavy, feverish sleep in her room, she was jolted awake by a call from Luna.

"Clara, I really admire you. After all this, you still won't give up your position as Mrs. Sebastian?"

"When you sleep at night, don't your pathetic parents and sister come to claim your life in your dreams?"

Clara was instantly alert, her voice hoarse. "Don't you worry about me. One day, I will see both you and your animal father dead."

Luna laughed. "With what power? Sebastian is on my side. You'll never get my father behind bars in this lifetime!"

"So what if a whole building of people burned to death? You lower-class trash deserved it!"

"I’m warning you, be smart and leave Sebastian, or I’ll end you!"

The call ended, and Clara gripped her phone tightly.

A backup notification popped up on the screen.

She had recorded every word.

After uploading the recording to the cloud, she sent a copy directly to Luna.

After a long, dead silence, Luna began calling frantically, but Clara ignored every single one.

She simply sent Luna a text:

Thank you for hand-delivering the evidence to me. You idiot.

That same night, Clara was forcibly taken to the hospital by bodyguards.

Luna was lying on a hospital bed, her eyes red and her face pale.

"Clara! Delete the recording!" Sebastian looked down at her coldly. "Don't force my hand."

Pressed down to her knees on the floor, Clara spoke one syllable at a time: "Never! I want her to pay! I want that beast to pay!"

"If you have the guts, then kill me!"

Sebastian ground his teeth. "Have you lost your mind?"

Clara burst into laughter. "That's right! I'm crazy! Driven crazy by all of you!"

"I hate you! I hate that I ever accepted your pursuit! I hate that I saved your life! It would have been better if you had died!"

She actually dared to say such things?!

Cold fury surged in Sebastian’s eyes, the veins on his forehead bulging.

Luna sobbed beside him, "Sebastian, what should I do? Is my father going to prison? No, I can't lose him..."

"Please, please help me!"

Sebastian suppressed his rage. "Clara, take back what you just said and delete the recording. I can overlook this."

"You are still my only wife."

Clara’s face was full of mockery. "Wife? Who would ever want to be your wife?"

"I won't delete it! And you better hurry up and divorce me so you can fly away with your precious Luna!"

Sebastian had originally been reluctant to hurt her, but upon hearing those words, his face turned deathly cold.

Divorce? She actually said the word divorce?

How dare she!

She was the one who promised she would stay by his side forever!

He had been far too indulgent with her!

Furious, Sebastian turned to his bodyguards. "Take her out and beat her!"

The hospital lobby was bustling with people.

The bodyguards dragged Clara to the center of the hall and forced her to kneel. When she refused, they kicked her hard in the back of her knees.

They produced a whip two fingers thick and lashed it against her body.

The onlookers whispered among themselves.

"Isn't that the famous profiler, Clara? Why is she being beaten? Is no one going to help?"

"This is Mr. Sebastian’s order. Who would dare intervene? I heard she was jealous and framed the father of the Luna family. Sebastian and Luna are just getting their revenge..."

"And she’s a public official? Pathetic. What a lack of character!"

The comments grew more foul as Clara was beaten into the ground.

After an eternity, Luna walked over.

"Sebastian says that's enough. Clara, are you okay?"

Clara endured the excruciating pain to pull herself up. She glared at Luna. "Don't worry. I’ll stay alive just to see your downfall."

Her gaze was so icy that Luna felt a shiver of fear and hurried away.

Clara’s phone lit up. She looked down at a new message.

[The divorce proceedings are complete. Half of the Sebastian estate is now yours. Congratulations.]

It finally hit her.

It had already been a month.

Clara limped toward the hospital entrance, where a Maybach was parked.

The window rolled down, revealing a man with sharp features and refined eyes.

"Happy divorce, Miss Clara."