Chapter 0419
“Claude!”
Suzy rushed forward to stop him, but it was too late.
Claude’s eyes locked onto hers as he clung to the last shreds of life. “Suzy… if it wasn’t because you wanted to know where Dylan is, would you even care if I lived or died?”
“No, that’s not true!” Suzy’s tears fell uncontrollably as she shook her head. “Claude, I’ve never hated you. Not once.
“No matter what you’ve done, you’ve always been my savior. If it hadn’t been for you saving me from Charlotte that day, I wouldn’t be alive right now.
“And all those years after, you were always protecting me in secret. I know everything you’ve done for me, Claude. I truly don’t hate you. I just… I can’t give you what you want.”
Her voice trembled, but her words came from the depths of her heart. She wasn’t lying to him–she meant every word.
She didn’t hate him.
Everything he had done, all his mistakes, had come from loving her too much. His obsession had turned to madness, but Suzy had never wanted revenge.
If she had, her temper would never have let him live this long.
Claude’s pained expression softened slightly as he caught the tears streaming down her face. “I thought you’d hate me.”
“No,” Suzy whispered, shaking her head. “No matter what, you’ll always be one of the most important people in my life. You’ll always be family to me, and that will never change.”
“Family…” Claude let out a bitter laugh, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye. “I tried everything, yet I could never escape that word.
He had never wanted to be her family, yet in the end, it was the only role he could play.
“Claude…” Suzy’s voice broke, the lump in her throat making it hard to speak. “I’m so sorry.”
“No,” Claude murmured, his gaze filled with sorrow. “Don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong, Suzy. Never.”
He hesitated for a moment before his voice cracked with desperation. “Suzy… if there’s a next life, could you not see me as a brother? I don’t want to be your brother. Not ever again.”
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+25 BONUS
Chapter 0419
Tears streamed down Suzy’s face as she trembled, her lips quivering. She nodded through her sobs. “Alright… I promise.”
At this moment, everything seemed to come full circle for Claude. Yet…
“Even so, I still won’t tell you where Dylan is,” he said stubbornly. “Like I said before, if I can’t have you,
then Dylan doesn’t get to have you either. Not now, not ever.”
“Claude, why?” Suzy’s voice was filled with exhaustion and confusion. “I’ve told you–I will never get back together with Dylan. No matter what, it won’t happen. I only want him to reunite with his family.
“His grandmother has endured so much–widowed at a young age, then losing her son. Dylan is her only reason to keep going.
“I’m begging you, Claude. Have some compassion for that woman who’s suffered her entire life.”
“Compassion?” Claude let out a bitter laugh. “Who’s ever had compassion for me?
“I’ve done so much, and yet you’ve never pitied me, not even once. Even now, at the very end, you’re still deceiving me.”
“I’m not deceiving you,” Suzy said earnestly, holding her phone up to him. “That child really is yours.”
She tapped the screen, showing him the photo of the little girl. “Look closely. She looks so much like you. Avalon did everything she could to protect her. She’s a sweet and adorable girl, Claude. From now on, don’t live for me. Live for your daughter.
“You owe her so much. It’s time to start making it right.”
Claude stared intently at the photo. The closer he looked, the more the resemblance became undeniable.
Yet even then, he refused to believe it.
