When Clara died, the system came and spoke to her. So, she seized the opportunity to strike a deal with it and exchanged her soul for a chance to bid farewell to Ian. It gave her a time limit of seven days.
As she sat in silence, Clara gazed at the clock on the table. If Ian had looked closely earlier, he might have noticed something unusual about it.
The clock only had seven-time markers.
She reached out and pushed the hand forward by one notch while whispering softly, "Six days left."
Early the next morning, Clara went out to go to the crematorium to purchase a burial plot and an urn.
Her death had been sudden and someone had to take care of her affair after her death.
At the crematorium, when the staff learned that she was buying a burial plot for herself, they jokingly remarked, "You're so young, so why are you thinking this far ahead already?"
Clara forced a wry smile on her face, "Well, there are six days left for me."
Hearing this, the staff cast a sympathetic glance at her. He mistakenly thought that she had a terminal sickness.
However, there was not any ripple in Clara's heart. All she thought about was settling her affair as quickly as possible so she would not be a burden to anyone. Then she could say her final goodbye to Ian properly.
When she returned home, she saw Ian and Rea standing at the entrance of the house. They were welcoming guests as if they were the masters of the house.
The moment Rea spotted her, she eagerly stepped forward and said warmly, "Clara, you're finally here! I've been waiting for you!"
She naturally linked her arms with Clara's, then feigned surprise as she asked, "Oh? Don’t you know that today is my promotion celebration party, so why are you wearing all black?"
Clara froze and glanced down at her clothes. She was momentarily at a loss for what she was supposed to say.
However, before she could respond, Ian's sharp voice cut through the air. "No one forced you to come. If you're unhappy, you can leave."
He assumed she was deliberately causing trouble. After all, having attended countless banquets as the Cumberland Family's adopted daughter, Clara should have known the basics of proper etiquette.
Under his icy glare, Clara sighed and lowered her head, then took the initiative to apologize humbly, "I'm sorry. I was in a rush today and didn't have time to change my clothes."
She was so obedient and her action made Ian and Rea feel somewhat shocked. In the past, Clara had never apologized to Rea, especially in front of Ian.
"Oh, there's no need to apologize! I know you didn’t do it on purpose," Rea said with a bright smile and a flicker in her eyes as she expertly smoothed over the awkwardness.
Ian followed behind them. His gaze lingered on Clara’s back with an unreadable expression.
The atmosphere of the celebration was lively. Most of the guests were Ian’s friends. Since they knew Rea was his cherished girlfriend, they were eager to acknowledge her.
Although Clara stood quietly in the corner, oddly enough she did not feel out of place.
As the evening wore on, the guests raised their glasses for a celebratory toast.
Rea remained warm and welcoming. She even pulled Clara to the center with her. With a beaming face and laughter, she actively clinked glasses with others. "Clara, I’m so happy you came to celebrate with us! To be honest, I'm surprised you're able to come."
Clara hesitated as she stared at the clear liquid in her glass because although her body looked intact, her body remained in the condition of her death. Since her internal organs had been shattered in the accident, what kind of excruciating pain might she feel if she drank the wine? So, she just stood there motionless and she was unwilling to raise the wine glass in her hand.
The surrounding guests exchanged awkward glances and their expressions subtly changed.
When he saw the embarrassment in Rea's face, Ian's face turned cold and he looked at Clara with a warning in his eyes.
"Rea offered you a drink and you refuse to accept it?"
The cold voice rang in her ears and it made Clara's whole-body shudder. Finally, she lifted the glass and downed the clear liquid in one gulp.
The burning liquid scorched her throat and an unbearable pain tore through her insides. Her already broken body screamed in agony, her face turning deathly pale. Unable to endure it, she shoved past the crowd and rushed to the restroom.
She barely made it before collapsing in front of the toilet. She violently vomited out every drop she had just swallowed.
When she heard the retching sounds from the toilet, Rea’s face turned pale, her voice carrying a trace of grievance sounded, "Clara … do you hate me that much?"
The moment those words left her lips, Ian's face darkened. He gently patted Rea's hand, his gaze firm as he reassured her, "That’s impossible. No one would hate you."
With that, he turned and strode toward the toilet to check what it was all about.
Inside, Clara clutched the porcelain bowl as her body trembled. Through the haze of pain, she saw something unsettling come out from her. There were streaks of blood mixed with unidentifiable fragments of flesh. Her limbs throbbed with a twisted ache and cold sweat broke out across her forehead.
As a result of drinking the wine, the damage from her death was becoming impossible to hide. Blood seeped through her pant leg and dripped onto the floor.
With great effort, she stood up and adjusted her clothes to smooth out any visible wrinkles. As she stared at the ghostly pale reflection in the mirror, she let out a bitter chuckle.
Should she consider herself lucky? Since her black outfit managed to conceal the blood well enough.
After she composed herself, she opened the door to slip in without the crowd noticing. However, as soon as she looked up, she was met with Ian's piercing gaze.
For a brief moment, she wondered if he was actually worried about her. A trace of hesitation flickered in her eyes before she decided to be honest and told him, "I feel terrible. May I be an excuse to go upstairs to rest?"
She thought it was a simple request, one that needed no explanation.
Unfortunately, Ian’s expression darkened further, his voice laced with anger. "I thought you had finally learned some manners when you apologized earlier for your inappropriate attire. However, in the end, you’re still causing trouble on purpose as you usually did. Did you refuse to drink Rea's toast just to embarrass her?"
Clara froze and the pain in her chest intensified even more. For a second, she couldn’t even tell if it was her broken body or his words that hurt her more. She forced a smile and tried to explain, "I do feel unwell."
"I don’t care if you’re truly sick or just pretending," he cut her off coldly. "Rea offered you a drink. You will finish it."
Without giving her a chance to refuse, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back toward Rea.
"Clara realized she was being rude earlier, so she came back to apologize with a toast," Ian announced, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Stunned, Clara looked up at him. Her gaze met his sharp, warning gaze.
Swallowing back the bitterness rising in her throat, she turned to the glass in her hand. A faint, resigned smile touched her lips as she slowly brought it to her lips and drank it all down.
The pain exploded in her body like a detonated bomb and scattered her consciousness into pieces.
By the time the banquet ended, she had barely regained her senses.
Once the guests had all left, Rea lingered behind. Ian didn’t even hesitate before he made a declaration, "From now on, Rea will be moving in with me."
Then, he turned to look at Clara, eyes sharp, as if expecting she would make trouble or a fuss.
However, the pain was so overwhelming that Clara did not have any energy left to utter objection or make trouble. She just simply said, "Okay."
She felt she had given the correct answers but Ian frowned and there was confusion in his eyes.
Just then, Rea playfully nudged him and grinned. "Dear Young Master Cumberland, which room am I staying in?" She then blocked Clara from his view.
Ian stunned for a while before chuckling and affectionately tapping her nose. Then, he pulled her into his arms and said, "What do you mean which room? Of course, you’re staying in mine."
“You’re so annoying.”
A flush of red crept up Rea's cheeks as she playfully collapsed into Ian's arms. Their faces drew closer until their lips met and their kiss deepened with every passing second.
Clara clenched her teeth and forced herself to stay silent. Her heart had already died, so why did it still hurt?
The three of them headed upstairs together.
As soon as Rea sat down on the sofa, her gaze landed on a peculiar clock. Curious, she reached out to touch it.
“This clock is so strange," she said. "Why does it only have six markers left?”
“Don’t touch it!” Clara yelled. She couldn’t hold back her panic. She lunged forward and snatched the clock into her arms.
Her reaction was so extreme that Ian instinctively frowned, his expression darkened with irritation as he scolded, "It’s just a clock. If Rea likes it, let her have it. You can always buy another one.”
However, this clock represented her remaining days in the world. Each mark was a day of her life ticking away and this was not something she could explain easily. So, all she could give was some random excuses, "It was a gift for winning a speech competition from my school. It has sentimental value for me."
“I’ve never seen you care about silly trinkets before,” Ian scoffed, his tone dripping with disdain as he frowned.
“Alright, if Clara doesn’t want me to touch it, I won’t.” She turned to Ian with a sweet smile. “Ian, do you have time to show me your room?”
Rea immediately changed the subject and changed Ian's attention.
"It's just like you spoil her rotten. It's just some stupid broken clock and isn’t worth this much fuss. I’ll take you shopping tomorrow and buy you whatever jewelry you want.”
Clara stood frozen in place, her heart sank into a pool of bitterness. In the past, she was the one Ian had spoiled, now he reserved that tenderness to someone else.
Taking a shaky breath, she pulled out the clock and turned the dial down by another mark.
It did not matter anyway. She was already dead. So, when she truly left this world, Ian wouldn’t grieve for long. Rea would be there to comfort him.
The next morning, Clara went to her university to finalize her withdrawal papers. Just as she was about to leave, she ran into her best friend, Sally Hansen.
She excitedly came over and bumped Clara's shoulder.
“So?” Sally grinned. “How’s it going with that guy? Did you two finally get together?”
“He has a girlfriend. Don’t bring him up again.” I said calmly.
Sally was dumbfounded. She asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"
When she saw Clara was holding a withdrawal application form in her hand, her eyes widened. "Wait, what? Don't tell me you are dropping out of school because of this?"
Taking a deep breath, Clara forced herself to smile and said, “What are you thinking? My IELTS results came out. My family decided to send me abroad. I’m leaving in five days.”
"That's too sudden!"
Before Sally could say anything else, Clara suddenly reached forward and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for everything,” she whispered. “We’ll see each other again someday.”
When Sally heard the shaky word that Clara said, unexpectedly Sally felt tears start to gather in her eyes. Sniffing, she muttered, “Ugh, what are you saying? You make it sound like we’re never going to meet again.”
She added, “Just you wait. As soon as I finish my exams, I’m coming to find you! You’re stuck with me for life!”
For life, huh?
Clara froze for a moment before she abruptly turned away to hide her tears that were about to fall and waved dismissively. With a nonchalant manner, she said disdainfully, "Forget it! I don't want to be stuck with you."
Please, Sally… forget about me. Just enjoy your life.
After finishing the paperwork, Clara returned home. She didn’t expect to find Ian waiting in the living room with a package in his hand and a frosty expression on his face.
