As he spoke, he tremblingly rolled up the sleeves of his hospital gown, revealing hideous scars on his arms—crisscrossing marks, old and new.

Clara had noticed them while he was still unconscious. The doctor had specifically told her before leaving: "The patient has a large number of self-inflicted scars on his arms. His psychological state may be unstable; family members should pay close attention."

All these signs indicated that Julian’s suffering over the years was not just talk. But so what? A broken mirror cannot be mended, and the wounds on her own body could not be erased.

After a moment of silence, Clara withdrew her hand from his grasp, her expression indifferent.

"What you endure is simply the karma of the sins you committed."

"If you truly feel guilty, stop disturbing my peaceful life."

"Return to your happy family and treat your wife and child well."

"Happy..."

Julian froze for a second, then suddenly burst into a maniacal laugh. He ripped out his IV line and showed her his bare ring finger.

"Look, no ring. I threw it away yesterday."

"How could I be happy with someone I don't love!"

He grew more agitated, tearing open the collar of his gown to reveal a scar on his chest. "This is where she burned me with a cigarette when I was drunk, because she thought I called your name in my sleep..."

"Our marriage has been rotten for a long time!" He gasped, tears streaming down his face. "I always fantasize about how good it would have been if I hadn't returned to the Vance family..."

"Time does not flow backward," Clara interrupted him calmly. "And even if it could, you would have made the same choice."

"Julian Vance, you are selfish to the core."

"You regret it now not because you love me, but because your life is miserable."

She looked into his eyes and said word for word, "A cold-hearted person like you never deserves to be forgiven."

"Because if I forgive you once, you will just hurt me again."

With that, she turned her wheelchair and left the room. The sound of his muffled, beast-like sobbing echoed in the hallway, but her heart remained calm.

However, for a while afterward, Clara’s life was not peaceful. Melody Sterling had somehow obtained her number and began making nearly a hundred calls and sending hundreds of harassing messages every day. Sometimes they were insults, sometimes threats, sometimes tearful pleas; she even went to the radio station to cause trouble.

Clara called the police, but it had little effect.

Until that night, when Clara received a text message:

[I know you treasure your daughter. If you want to see her again, come to this address!]

[You must come alone!]

The address was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. Clara’s heart skipped a beat! She immediately called Seraphina’s teacher and learned that Seraphina had been picked up an hour ago by someone claiming to be her "mother."

She called the police immediately and, after a moment of hesitation, notified Julian Vance. Hiding a fruit knife on her person, she went to the abandoned factory alone.

In the dark workshop filled with the smell of chemicals, she saw Melody and several bodyguards. She also heard Seraphina’s muffled crying.

"Seraphina!" Clara immediately pushed her wheelchair toward the sound.

"Don't be in such a rush, Clara Vance." Melody stepped out with four bodyguards. "You’ve got guts, actually coming here alone."

Melody tossed something in her hand—it was Seraphina’s headband, the birthday gift Clara had bought for her just yesterday.

Clara forced herself to stay calm and questioned her, "Melody Sterling, you come from a prestigious family and have received a top-tier education. You should know that kidnapping is a crime!"

"Especially kidnapping a minor!"

Melody’s sneer deepened. "So what? My family can cover the sky with one hand in this city!"

"Even if I killed your daughter today, nothing would happen!" She paused, her tone shifting. "But I won't be that heartless."

"As long as you promise to leave the city, cut off all contact with Julian Vance, and never come back, I’ll let her go."

"Fine! I promise!" Clara agreed without a moment's hesitation.

She hadn't wanted to stay here anyway. Two days ago, she had received her transfer order; in a few days, she would be leaving the city for a small town in the south.

"You agreed so readily?" Melody was surprised. "You used to love Julian Vance so desperately. I don't believe that now that he's regretting it and coming back to you, your heart isn't wavering at all! You must be stringing him along to use him to get revenge on me!"

Clara said expressionlessly, "If I really wanted to do that, why would I wait eight years?"

"Even if it were revenge, it wouldn't be just against you. I hate Julian Vance even more!"

Melody froze, then her sneer intensified. "I can give your daughter back to you, but you’ve made me very unhappy these past few days. I need to teach you a lesson!"

She gestured for a bodyguard to push over a barrel of gasoline, then said to Clara:

"Right now, get out of that wheelchair, kneel on the ground, slap yourself a hundred times, and say you are a bitch! Otherwise—"

She raised her hand, and Seraphina’s shrill crying echoed from the distance!

"Well?" Melody curled her red lips like a venomous snake.

Hearing that crying, Clara’s heart nearly broke. She spoke in a low voice: "Fine, I’ll do as you say."

Melody smiled with satisfaction and ordered the bodyguard: "Record all of this. I want to take it back and enjoy it over and over."

Clara said nothing. She gripped her wheelchair tightly, her knees slowly lowering toward the ground.

Just as her knees were about to touch the floor—

"Melody Sterling, do you want to die?!"

Julian Vance rushed in with his men and the police. Seraphina was safely rescued, suffering only from fright.

In a state of extreme fury and lingering fear, Clara slapped Julian hard across the face.

"Control that madwoman of yours! If anything happens to Seraphina, I will take both of you down with me!"

Julian didn't get angry; he simply promised to handle it.

That same night, on the grounds that Melody’s "mental state was unstable and required treatment," Julian ignored the opposition of her family and forcibly sent her to a private psychiatric hospital under the Vance name, placing her under strict guard.

Despite this, Clara remained shaken. She prepared GPS watches for herself and Seraphina and moved up the date of her departure for the branch office.

Chapter 18

Before setting out, Clara took Seraphina to say goodbye to Ethan Jiang.

Then, they boarded the high-speed train south, returning to her hometown in Mojang to begin a peaceful new life.

But Julian Vance still managed to find them.

"Julian Vance, we’ve already made things very clear."

Clara turned her wheelchair, attempting to bypass him. "I don't want to see you again."

"I just want to atone for my sins!" Julian blocked her path, his voice urgent. "I know you hate me and don't want to forgive me, but I only beg for one chance."

"Let me take care of you, let me make up for the mistakes of the past!"

"I don't need it," Clara said coldly. "I have my own hands and feet; I can support myself and my daughter."

"But your hand..." Julian’s gaze fell upon her bandaged wrist.

It was an old injury she had accidentally strained a few days ago while moving things.

Clara pulled her hand back into her sleeve. "It has nothing to do with you."

The two remained at a standstill under the streetlamp.

Finally, Julian let out a sigh. "Fine, I won't disturb you. But I won't leave either."

From that day on, Julian rented an apartment across from the complex where Clara lived. Every morning and evening, just as he had in his youth, he would stand on the balcony and play the violin.

The days passed one by one, and life remained relatively peaceful.

Until Seraphina’s ninth birthday.

Clara took a half-day off specifically to pick up a pre-ordered cake from an old, established bakery on the west side of town.

She placed the cake on her lap and was about to maneuver her wheelchair away when a figure blocked her path.

It was Melody Sterling.

After more than two months, she looked even more haggard, having grown thin to the point of being unrecognizable.

Clara backed away warily. "Aren't you in a psychiatric hospital? How did you find this place!"

Melody touched her flat abdomen and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Julian Vance can't lock me up forever. My family wouldn't allow him to treat me like that."

She walked up to Clara, her smile deepening.

"I know that simply trying to win him back is useless."

"So, I want to ask you for a favor. Fake your death once more, so he will lose hope completely."