Chapter 4

Clara POV

I started preparing to leave.

I turned off all the lights in my room, leaving only a desk lamp, and quietly looked up procedures for studying abroad and transferring assets on my tablet.

The trust fund my parents left me was my only security.

I needed to disappear completely, and quickly, before Liam and Stella got married.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, I started coming home late.

I would stay at the school library until closing time, then take the last bus home.

That day, I returned to the villa and walked towards my room as usual.

Pushing open the door, I stopped short.

Someone had moved things around in the room. There was an unfamiliar perfume in the air.

I took out my phone and saw that Stella had posted an update an hour ago.

It was a selfie.

In the photo, she lay on a bed, a blanket pulled up to her collarbone, her face flushed. The bedside lamp and wallpaper in the background were all too familiar.

It was my room.

The caption read:

"A million-dollar mattress really is something. I mentioned I wasn't sleeping well, and he had it replaced for me right away."

I turned off my phone and stood still.

Liam emerged from the shadows of the hallway. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

"You're back?"

His tone was flat, as if speaking of something insignificant. "Stella's a light sleeper, so I gave her your mattress."

I'd injured my back, and it ached on rainy days.

This mattress, he had specially ordered for a million dollars from Germany last year when my back pain flared up.

"Anyway, your back pain is gone,"

He added lightly.

"Anyway, your back doesn't hurt anymore."

I looked up at him and said nothing.

"Mm."

After a long pause, I simply acknowledged him.

He took a step closer, his tall figure looming over me, his gaze scrutinizing and suspicious.

"You're suddenly so well-behaved?"

He looked down at me.

"Don't you hate it when I'm good to other people? Are you secretly plotting something?"

I didn't back away. I just looked at him.

"No."

"I'm warning you, Clara."

He reached out, his index finger almost poking my forehead.

"If you dare cause Stella any trouble, I won't go easy on you!"

I looked at him and smiled.

Liam snorted coldly and turned to leave.

I walked into my room and sat on the bed.

The mattress beneath me was cheap; I could clearly feel the uncomfortable springs.

I sat there in silence for a long time.

Then, I took out a crystal music box.

One year, Liam brought it back for me from a business trip to Athens. He said Athens was the city of music, and he hoped my world would always have music.

I took the music box, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

Below, on the cobblestone path, Liam was walking towards the garage.

I let go.

The crystal music box arced briefly through the air, then plummeted.

A sharp crack echoed in the night.

From downstairs, Liam's angry roar.

"Who the hell is throwing things!"