The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 185

Then, she stumbled onto an online gambling site.

Initially, she only wagered a few hundred and actually won a little.

Then she got bolder, throwing in more and more cash until she had drained every last cent of her savings.

Desperate to win it back, she turned to loan sharks.

The interest compounded until it ballooned into an astronomical figure she could never repay in her lifetime.

The debt collectors tracked her down to her hometown, found her parents' house, and spray-painted vicious threats all over their front door.

She could no longer stay in that city.

“I asked around through so many people to find out that... that you were in Oslo,” Clarissa murmured, her head hung low in utter shame. “I brought him on a twenty-hour budget flight... they didn't even serve food... just to find you here.”

“Anne, I know I was a monster,” she finally confessed her true objective. “I'm begging you. Help me... just this once.”

After listening to the entire monologue, Annelise finally reacted.

She raised her eyes to look at the emaciated woman.

Then, she asked a question Clarissa had never anticipated.

“How much do you need?”

Clarissa froze.

She had expected Annelise to curse her out, humiliate her, or kick her out on the street.

She never imagined she would be so direct.

Like a drowning woman grabbing a lifeline, a burst of ecstatic hope ignited in Clarissa's eyes.

Her lips trembled as she hesitated, before blurting out a number.

It was exactly the amount needed to clear the principal on her loans.

Hearing the figure, Annelise shook her head.

“I'm not giving you the money.”

The wild hope on Clarissa's face instantly shattered.

She stared in disbelief, as if she had misheard.

“It's not because I hate you,” Annelise said, her voice terrifyingly steady. “To be honest, I don't hate you anymore. You are no different from a stranger to me.”

“I'm not giving you the money because it won't solve your problem.”

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