Chapter 1012

Claire couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She squeezed her grandmother’s frail, cold hand, her throat so tight she couldn’t speak.

Felix arrived just then.

Old Mrs. Quigley patted Claire’s back gently. “Go grab some breakfast, sweetheart.”

Claire knew her grandmother wanted to speak with Felix privately, so she wiped her tears and quietly slipped out of the room.

The others, including the lawyer, filed out as well.

Old Mrs. Quigley fell into a fit of coughing.

Felix quickly poured her a glass of water.

She took a few sips, waiting for her breathing to steady before she spoke. “I heard you two submitted the divorce papers again?”

“Yes,” Felix muttered, “but it’s just a stalling tactic. I’m not going to divorce her.”

Old Mrs. Quigley pushed the water glass away. “I don’t have much time left. I don’t ask for anything else, only that you keep your word and give Claire her freedom.” “Grandma…”

“Promise me!” She didn’t give him room to argue, fixing her cloudy eyes on him, demanding an answer.

But Felix refused to concede. He bowed his head, sinking heavily into the chair beside her bed and gripping the mattress tightly.

Old Mrs. Quigley clutched her chest in agony. “You don’t love her, so what is the point of forcing her to stay? Do you plan to spend the rest of your life as strangers sharing a bed?”

Felix’s knuckles turned white as he dug his long fingers into the edge of the bed.

It took him a long time to finally whisper, “Then we’ll be strangers sharing a bed.”

At least Claire would still be his wife.

At least she would still be in his bed.

Crash.

Furious, Old Mrs. Quigley knocked the glass of water to the floor.

The noise was so loud that the housekeeper knocked anxiously on the door. “Mr. Quigley, should I call the doctor?”

Old Mrs. Quigley sent her away.

She turned back to Felix, her voice sharp and breathless. “Are you trying to make me die with regrets?”

“Grandma, why are you forcing my hand too?” Felix’s dark eyes were brimming with desperate confusion, his voice sounding entirely broken.

“Grandpa forced me to marry her, and now you’re forcing me to let her go. Did either of you ever stop to consider what I want?”

Seeing the sheer agony on her grandson’s face, her resolve wavered slightly.

In the end, she could only curse her late husband. “It’s all that stubborn old fool’s fault! He created this mess playing matchmaker. He ruined, sweet Claire’s life, and he ruined yours.”

may

“He gets to die and wash his hands of it all, leaving this disaster for me to clean up. When I get down there swear I’ll give that bastard a piece of my mind!”

By the time Claire returned, Old Mrs. Quigley had calmed down.

But her eyes were still red and swollen; it was obvious she had been crying.

For once, she didn’t even look at Felix.

Claire wanted to ask what happened.

Felix’s eyes were red as well, his lips pressed into a hard, thin line.

Without looking at Claire, he turned and left the room.

Old Mrs. Quigley took Claire’s hand waiting a long time before she spoke. Sweetheart, he agreed to the divorce. Once the waiting period is over, you’ll be free

Her voice choked up slightly. “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself. Find

someone who truly cherishes you and live a good life.”

Under her grandmother’s hopeful gaze, Claire forced herself to nod.

Exhausted from the morning’s emotional toll, Old Mrs. Quigley closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Claire sat by her side until nightfall, but she never woke up.

Feeling suffocated, Claire finally went downstairs to get some fresh air.

Out in the courtyard, Felix had been chain-smoking for hours.

The ashtray in front of him was piled high with over a dozen crushed out cigarettes.

When he heard her footsteps, he had just finished the last cigarette in the pack.

The smoke dissolved into the biting wind, the inky darkness of the night reflecting in his somber gaze.