"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.

"Why did you buy a burial plot and an urn?" he asked.

Clara's pupils shrank in shock. She had no idea how those things had ended up in Ian's hands.

She blinked rapidly, her mind racing for an explanation before she stammered out a response, "I... I’ve been planning to relocate my grandmother’s grave. You know there’s no one else in the family but me."

It was a reasonable explanation.

Ian hesitated, his unease was still lingering, but eventually he nodded and said, "Then I’ll take the day off tomorrow and go with you."

"There's no need. You should focus on work and spend time with Rea. I’ve grown up now. I can’t keep clinging to you and being a burden. I’ll handle these things on my own in the future."

She meant every word she had just said.

However, there was a flicker of surprise in Ian's eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Clara had already turned and walked away.

Watching her retreating figure, he murmured under his breath, "You were never a burden to me."

The next day, Clara visited Mrs. Cumberland grave alone. She carefully wiped the dust from the tombstone, placed a bouquet of fresh flowers that she had bought at its base.

Gazing at the gentle face in the photo, her heart twisted painfully. She went closer and sat next to the tombstone.

"Mrs. Cumberland, this will probably be my last visit. I wonder if you’d blame me for being so reckless, trading my soul for these seven extra days."

"I finally understand now that my feelings were nothing but a burden to Ian. He’ll have his own family one day. It was foolish of me to think I could stay by his side forever."

"This life has been full of suffering for me. That’s why I don’t regret my decision, Mrs. Cumberland. This world is too painful for me so I won’t come back in the next life."

Clara sat there for a long time as if she wanted to pour out everything in her heart in front of Mrs. Cumberland.

After she left the cemetery, Clara cashed out all the properties under her name and transferred all the money into one card. She would give this money to Ian as compensation for her harassment of him over the past few years.

As for this jade bracelet ...

Clara raised her hand in a daze. Under the light, the bracelet looked translucent and delicate. It seemed very valuable.

"This is my heirloom jade bracelet for my future daughter-in-law. Clara, I’m leaving Ian in your care in the future."

Mrs. Cumberland's final words echoed in her mind.

Clara took a deep breath and let out a bitter laugh. It was better to leave the bracelet with Ian, along with the money.

By the time she returned to the villa, it was already late at night. The entire villa was eerily quiet. It seemed no one was home.

This was good. It was easier for her to move out of the house.

She walked into the study with the bank card and the jade bracelet in hand.

This was Ian’s private space. He was always meticulous, but tonight, the study was in disarray. It was a sign that the owner was restless and bored. It seemed her presence in this house truly frustrated him.

Clara blew resigned breath and went to his desk then pulled the lower drawer opened. She placed the card and bracelet deep inside. Just as she was withdrawing her hand, her fingers accidentally brushed against a small, ornate box.

The lid popped open and revealed a glint of cold metal.

Clara froze, her breath caught as she hesitantly reached inside. It was a pop tab ring, the handmade grass rings that she had given Ian over the years,

Hadn’t he said he threw them all away? Why are they still here?

Her gaze shifted to the final object in the box. It is a diamond ring. Did Ian buy it?