Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom

A month later, it was time for Claire to return to the institute and resume her research with the professors.

But before she could pack her bags, the Tempest and Foster families had arranged her engagement to Sean. The engagement party was barely over before she made a trip to the prison.

Ever since Nathan, Vanessa, and the others had been arrested and thrown behind bars, Claire hadn't visited them once.

Now, she decided to show them a touch of mercy.

Once she entered the institute again, who knew when she'd resurface? Maybe this was the last time they'd ever see each other-after all, every single one of them had been sentenced to death.

Before they died, she needed to see the misery of her enemies for herself. Only then could she do justice to the pain she'd endured in her previous life.

The prison was cold and gray.

Nathan was the first to appear.

Claire had expected him to glare at her with seething hatred, to look at her as if he'd tear her to pieces if given half a chance.

But the Nathan she faced behind the thick glass looked like he'd aged a decade overnight. His eyes, to her surprise, brimmed with guilt and something else, too. A father's tenderness.

Claire narrowed her eyes, a suspicion taking shape in her mind.

She picked up the phone. Nathan mirrored her, his hand trembling as he brought the receiver to his ear.

Before she could speak, Nathan's voice, wavering with emotion, came through the line.

"Claire, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have hurt you for Sophia and Vanessa's sake."

"I truly know I was wrong. Can you ever forgive your father?"

Claire let out a cold laugh, his heartfelt apology met with scorn. "So that's how it is. If I'm not mistaken, you've remembered everything from your past life, haven't you, Nathan?"

Nathan's face was heavy with regret, shame etched into every line.

Since coming to prison, he'd been beaten daily, and the agony had unlocked memories of his previous life. Now, he finally understood the torment Claire had suffered behind bars the same torment he'd helped inflict on her.

If only he'd remembered sooner. If only he'd awakened the day she was born, not after his own downfall. But it was too late. Everything was too late. He'd been sentenced to death; there was no way left to make amends.

God, he thought bitterly, did you let me remember just to punish me?

Tears of remorse slid down Nathan's face as he looked at Claire on the other side of the glass.

"Claire, I know what I've done is unforgivable. I'm not asking for anything, not really. I just hope—just hope—you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Please?"

Claire's gaze was icy as she met his eyes. "Forgive you? You think you deserve that?"

“Nathan, look at how kind I am to you. You end up in prison and I still come to visit. Not like your precious Linwood family-when you all locked me away in my last life, not a single person came to see me during those five years. Not once."

"Compared to you, I'm practically a saint."

Her words twisted like a knife in Nathan's chest.

"So you really won't forgive me? Not even now, when I'm about to die?"

"You committed the crime. Isn't death what you deserve?" Claire's voice was laced with mockery. "What, you're still trying to guilt. even at the end? Everything I suffered in my last life was because of you. I could wish you paid for it a thousand times over. This is only your second life-why on earth should I forgive you?"

"Nathan, let me be clear. The only reason I'm here today is to see just how miserable you've become."

"And now I have. Looks like the guards are giving you some extra attention in here. That's a relief."noveldrama

"After all, your Linwood family used to say to me, 'It was just five years behind bars, what's the big deal?""