The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 36

The rain was pouring even harder on the drive back.

The windshield wipers swept back and forth relentlessly, groaning like an exhausted sigh.

Inside the car, the silence was deafening.

Annelise leaned against the backseat window, not speaking a single word.

With the side of her face pressed against the cold glass, her hollow gaze watched the rain-blurred scenery flying past.

Her eyes burned with a dry, scratching pain, like two barren wells entirely drained of tears.

Harriet sat in the driver's seat, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel.

She didn't dare turn around. She could only steal quick, terrified glances at Annelise through the rearview mirror.

The face reflected in the glass was pale, gaunt, and completely devoid of life.

That sight was somehow far more heartbreaking than any loud, hysterical sobbing could ever be.

Harriet's tears fell silently. She bit her lip so hard she nearly drew blood, terrified that making even the slightest sound might shatter the girl who had sunk entirely into her own mind.

Inside Annelise's head, an old film projector was violently rewinding, playing back every single moment she had shared with Clarissa over the last decade.

So, it had been a lie from the very beginning.

A massive, meticulously woven trap constructed over god knows how many years.

And she, Annelise, had been the most crucial—and most idiotic—pawn on the board.

Amid the chaos and agonizing pain, her thoughts suddenly sharpened with terrifying clarity.

She began to mentally trace the timeline of Clarissa's life, piece by piece.

Clarissa had been her best friend since childhood, the only person she considered family after her parents passed away.

The year they graduated college, Clarissa was the one who introduced her to Elias Lehman, who was serving in the military at the time.

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