Chapter 23
I was
rooted to the spot. “What?”
“Since you’ve married him, just try to live a good life,” Clifford said calmly before looking up at the old man in front of him–Ernest Grant. “Don’t hit her. You know what the consequences will be if you do.”
Ernest nodded repeatedly before stepping forward to grab Tiffany by the wrist. “Let’s go back, dear. I’ll take good care of you.”
Even if he couldn’t hit her, Ernest still had plenty of ways to torture someone.
Besides, he was old and ugly, while she was like an exquisite flower. That itself drove her mad.
Tiffany struggled like a madwoman. “Clifford Sinclair! How could you do this to me? You promised that you would always protect me! You said that I was the most important person your heart! Cliff… I was wrong, Cliff…”
in
Her hysterical cries gradually grew distant, and Clifford returned to his study without a single glance back.
He personally set fire to everything related to Tiffany–photos, gifts, the paintings she had drawn as a child–in the meditation room.
The flames devoured the past memories, and ashes floated through the air.
From now on, only traces of Lilibeth would be allowed to exist here.
However, when Clifford scanned the house, he realized that she had taken all her belongings away a long time ago, leaving not a single item behind.
As he knelt in the middle of the meditation room, he suddenly burst into laughter.
He told himself it was fine. He would get her back, after all.
His parents‘ supposed heart attack had indeed been a lie.
Daphne craned her head to look outside. “Where’s Beth? Didn’t you say that you’d come back. with her?”
After a brief moment, Clifford replied, “We got divorced.”
Silence instantly descended upon the living room
Albert stood up abruptly. “What did you say?”
“I let her down,” said Clifford before confessing everything that had happened between them in the past two years, including the incidents with Tiffany and his subsequent realization.
Daphne’s eyes turned red after she finished listening to his story. “Beth… She would always smile and say that she’s fine every time she came to visit. She would prepare healthy meals for me, knit scarves for Albert, and even take care of the employees when they fell sick.”
Albert was so angry that he threw his teacup to the floor. “You good–for–nothing! Go to Gindara right now! Even if you have to get on your knees and beg, I don’t care what it takes as long as you get her back!”
Clifford nodded. “I already booked my ticket for tomorrow’s flight. But there’s still something I have to take care of today.”
Late at night, Clifford was seated at his desk, his pen flying across the paper as he wrote out a letter in his brightly lit study.
“Dear Beth,
“After looking around the house, I finally realized that I barely allowed you any space for your belongings at home. I’m sorry. You always say that I love drinking tea, but it’s actually because I like the taste of sunshine in the tea you make.
“You looked best in that red dress of yours, but didn’t dare look at you for fear of breaking my own vow of abstinence.”
By dawn, he had finished writing an entire box of love letters.
He took the box with him to Gindara, gently rubbing the indent around his ring finger that had been left by his wedding ring.
This time, it was his turn to pursue her. He would persevere, no matter how long it took.
However, when he rushed to the Quimby residence with the box of love letters in hand, he arrived to see an empty living room.
A maid informed him that Lilibeth had left the house early in the morning. It was Magnus‘ birthday, so a banquet was being held at Sollake Estate–the Shearer family’s estate.
Clifford’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel as his car sped down the road. The box of love letters sat on the front passenger seat, like a form of belated repentance.
The estate was brightly lit, and Clifford heard loud cheers as soon as he stepped into the garden.
He pushed through the crowd, but what he saw at the end made his blood run cold.
his
“Thank you all for coming to my birthday party,” announced Magnus, holding up champagne, before suddenly getting down on one knee. “However, I’d like to steal another
Chapter 23
treasure today.”
Amid exclamations from the crowd, he took out a blue velvet ring box. “I wanted to do this ten years ago, during the first snowfall of the season in Murnia ten years ago, Beth.”
Lilibeth covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
“You said that you liked the sunset over the Zorean River, so I bought up all the land along its banks where you can see the most beautiful sunsets.
“You said that you hated yourself for not being anyone special, so I made sure that you’d been the only woman on my contacts list for the past ten years.
“The last six years, I’ve watched you love someone else, and I’ve suffered just as much as you did when I saw you hurting. Now, will you please give me a chance to heal all your wounds?”
Magnus smiled as he wiped her tears away. “Please give me a chance. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that you don’t need to beg and humble yourself to be loved.”
The crowd started to holler and cheer, but Lilibeth turned to look at Lorenzo, who was standing off to the side.
He ruffled her hair and said with a smile, “Go ahead and accept his proposal. I’ve verified that he’ll make you happy.”
As Magnus was about to put the diamond ring on Lilibeth’s finger, Clifford finally rushed out toward them, “win”
