Chapter 16
Without a hint of emotion on her face, Claire turned around to face the teary Curtis.
“I’ll only ask you one thing – did you or did you not recognize Matilda during that video call?”
His sobs came to a sudden halt, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes.
He forced his composure and said, “It was too dark at that time for me to recognize her. Clairy, you have to trust me on this. Why would I harm Ashton on purpose?
“Please, just help me one last time. I promise to explain everything to you! Once we put everything behind us, we can-”
Before waiting for him to finish, Claire delivered a crisp backhand slap across his face. She screamed, “How dare you feel no remorse and continue to lie to me again?”
Her slap carried immense force. Caught off guard by the strike, Curtis stumbled and knocked his forehead against the nearby shelf. Immediately, fresh blood oozed
out.
He looked at his blood–stained hand and exclaimed, “You hit me!”
Claire’s expression was ice cold. “You nearly got Ash killed! If anything, I should’ve done more than hit you!”
She had always been gentle and indulgent toward Curtis in the past, but now, she had hit him for Ashton’s sake.
For a moment, fury overtook Curtis‘ rationality.
“Yeah, I did recognize her–so what? We’re married on paper, and I’m your husband! Why won’t you just get rid of him already? Honestly, it was Matilda’s fault she didn’t finish the job!”
At those words, Claire’s entire body went still. Ashton’s face flashed through her mind–the hollow, devastated look in his eyes the night he was taken.
Her heart clenched, sharp and unbearable. Immediately, her face dimmed.
“Take him away. He’s got nothing to do with me anymore,” she announced.
What mattered most to her now was to locate Ashton. As for Curtis, Matilda’s parents could deal with him however they wished, for all she cared.
As soon as Claire finished speaking, Matilda’s father’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he grabbed Curtis off the floor and began dragging him toward the door.
Realizing Claire truly wasn’t going to step in this time, Curtis paled with terror.
“No–please, don’t! Claire, help me! I’m your husband. You can’t just leave me like this! I was wrong. I’m sorry! Just please don’t let them take me!”
The only response he got was the heavy slam of the door closing in his face.
The hallway went silent.
In that silence, as the sound of footsteps faded, Claire suddenly felt her strength give out. She sank to her knees, the weight of it all finally crashing down.
Had Curtis been pretending all this time? The forced marriage by his parents was fake; the unprovoked stalking and harassment was a lie.
Suddenly, she recalled the time Curtis got hurt. Ashton had told her to check the surveillance footage.
Had that been staged, too?
All of a sudden, Claire didn’t have the courage to uncover the full truth. What if that, too, had all been part of Curtis‘ plan?
How was she supposed to face Ashton if that were true? What right did she have to ask for his forgiveness?
Still, Ashton deserved to be proven innocent.
In the end, with trembling hands, Claire pulled up the security footage. She already had a terrible feeling about what she might see, but nothing prepared her for
the heartbreak that followed.
In the footage, Curtis was arrogantly showing off the marks on his skin like trophies. There he was, shoving their marriage certificate in Ashton’s face, daring him to walk away.
Yet, what truly destroyed her was how she had blindly taken Curtis‘ side.
If she could go back to that day, she would punch her past self for being foolish enough to fall for Curtis‘ act. It had been her silence and leniency that gave him the confidence to do what he did.
In the end, they pushed Ashton away.
Claire gripped her hair with both hands, sobbing so hard it felt like her chest might cave in.
“Ash, where did you go?+messed up, I know. If you can just give me one more chance, I’ll do anything to make things right…”
However, the only reply she got was the cold, echoing sound from the footage–Ashton pulling his suitcase behind him as he walked out and closed the door without looking back.
Right then, a text message from her friend chimed.
“I found Ashton’s whereabouts.”
