Chapter 4

Clara's POV

As night fell, the Foster family villa plunged into a deathly silence.

Sitting under the dim light, I used a cotton swab dipped in iodine to gently dab at the scrapes on my arms and calves. These were the wounds left behind from earlier today, when the bodyguards had dragged me away while I was trying to protect Onyx.

Dirt and blades of grass were embedded in the scrapes. Every touch brought a piercing, agonizing pain, but my face remained completely expressionless, as though my body didn't even belong to me.

A steady set of footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the door.

The door was pushed open, and Justin Foster's tall figure appeared in the doorway. He was wearing his silk loungewear, and as his gaze swept over my bloody, scratched arms, his eyes flickered slightly.

Walking in, he placed a tube of imported scar-reduction cream on my worn-out nightstand.

"Apply this. It won't leave a scar." Justin's voice still carried his usual high-and-mighty tone, but for once, there was a trace of awkward softness laced within it.

"About earlier today..." Justin paused, as if searching for the right words. "That dog went wild, and I was worried it would hurt Chloe. I appreciate everything you've done to look after me these past three years. Thank you."

Thank you.

What cheap, empty words.

I stared at the elegant tube of cream, but what flashed across my mind was the winter of Justin's first year of blindness.

He had run a raging fever back then. Terrified and deeply insecure because of his blindness, he had clutched my hand in a death grip. I had knelt by his bedside the entire night, wiping down his body over and over again with warm water. In his delirious state, he had caressed my face, his hot tears splashing onto the back of my hand.

He had said, "Clara, once I get better, I'll lay the finest things in the world at your feet. I will never let you suffer another shred of grievance."

How laughable reality made those sweet promises seem now.

I was grateful that throughout these three years of alternating torment and warmth, I had always guarded my heart. I had only ever viewed this as a necessary transaction to save my mother, never once giving him my genuine affection.

"Thank you," I replied flatly, making no move to touch the cream. "My task was simply to care for you for three years. Now that you have recovered, I have only done my duty. There is no need for thanks."

Justin frowned slightly; he clearly disliked the cold way I was drawing a line between us.

Just as he was about to speak, Chloe Somers's sharp, tearful cries echoed from outside.

"Justin! Where are you? Justin!"

Without even knocking, Chloe burst straight in. When she saw Justin standing by my bed, and noticed the imported scar-reduction cream on the nightstand—the very cream she was too stingy to use even when she got a minor scrape—her eyes burned red with fury.

"Justin Foster! What are you doing here?!" Chloe rushed over, grabbing his arm as her tears fell in torrents. "Are you feeling sorry for her? Have you actually fallen for this bitch?!"

"Chloe, stop making a scene." Justin's head throbbed slightly from her shrill voice. "She got hurt. I'm only giving her some medicine out of gratitude for how she cared for me over the past three years."

"Gratitude? What kind of gratitude requires you to deliver medicine yourself in the dead of night?!" Chloe refused to let it go, pointing at me and screaming insults. "I knew she was a homewrecker! She's just playing the martyr to seduce you! Justin, have you forgotten that she's nothing but a lowly illegitimate daughter?!"

An illegitimate daughter.

Yes. No matter how considerate I was, no matter how elegant or aloof, the blood of the Somers family's shameful mistress still ran through my veins. How could I ever compare to Chloe, who was born into nobility and cherished in the palm of his hand since childhood?

Looking at Chloe's red, swollen eyes, Justin took a deep breath.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and coaxed her gently, "Stop crying. It was my lack of consideration. She doesn't deserve such good medicine."

With that, under my calm gaze, Justin reached out and snatched back the tube of cream he had just placed on the nightstand.

A gift given, only to be taken back.

Even Chloe was stunned by this humiliating gesture.

I merely sat there, not even batting an eyelash, as if they were just removing a piece of trash that had absolutely nothing to do with me.

"That's not enough!" Chloe shoved Justin away and pointed at me, her eyes flashing with a manic light. "I don't believe you don't have feelings for her! If you really don't love her, and only love me, then prove it!"

Justin's face darkened completely, but seeing Chloe's hysterical state, he suppressed his anger and asked, "How do you want me to prove it?"

Chloe glared at me, gritting her teeth as she hissed out every single word. "I want you to use her as a target. Fire three shots at her yourself. If you dare to shoot those three times, I will believe that you only love me!"