When Liam saw her, he stopped abruptly, a look of obvious surprise flashing across his face. Then, almost instinctively, he quickly pulled Vanessa behind him, standing between her and Clara in a protective posture, as if Clara were some kind of dangerous monster.
Seeing his subconscious, defensive movement, Clara felt as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart, followed by an overwhelming sense of bitterness and self-mockery. She forced a pale, bitter smile and slowly raised her hand, which was wrapped in layers of gauze and looked unusually heavy.
"Thanks to your sister Lila, she gave me such a 'gift' at my birthday party." Her voice was eerily calm, devoid of anger or resentment, only as still as stagnant water.
Looking at Clara's tightly bandaged hand, Liam's brows furrowed, a complex emotion flashing across his eyes, as if he were momentarily stunned. He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing, perhaps wanting to ask "How serious is it?" or perhaps wanting to explain something, but all his unspoken words were interrupted by a soft, weak voice beside him.
“Clara,” Vanessa peeked out from behind Liam, her face showing just the right amount of worry and a hint of disapproval. Her voice was gentle, yet every word pierced the heart, “This is where you went wrong. Lila is young and doesn't understand things. She was probably just playing around and lost her sense of propriety. As her sister-in-law, you should be more magnanimous and more tolerant of her. How could you hold a grudge against her? And end up like this…”
Listening to Vanessa's condescending and distorted words, Clara felt a surge of absurdity. She was only a year older than Lila! Since Lila was always a "child" in their eyes who needed to be tolerated, what right did they have to demand that Clara be infinitely tolerant according to adult standards? This double standard was truly disgusting.
“Miss Vanessa,” Clara said coldly, her gaze sweeping across Vanessa’s pitiful face like an icy blade, finally settling on Liam’s hand that was still tightly holding Vanessa’s. Her tone was utterly indifferent, “What does what’s between Lila and me have to do with you, an outsider?”
She had no interest in watching the couple's display of deep affection any longer. After saying that, she turned and walked around them, wanting to leave this suffocating place.
However, just as she brushed past them, her uninjured left wrist, hanging by her side, was suddenly gripped tightly by Liam! He squeezed so hard that her wrist bones ached.
"Clara!" Liam's face was grim, her voice icy and piercing, filled with barely suppressed anger, as if she were the unreasonable and irrational one. "What kind of attitude is this? Apologize to Vanessa immediately!"
Clara was forced to stop, slowly raising her eyes to meet Liam's now icy, frosty gaze. Once, even the slightest tenderness in those eyes could have made her happy all day. But now, seeing the clear anger and protectiveness towards another woman within them, her heart remained utterly still, as calm as a deep well.
It turns out that when a heart is broken and completely dead, it is truly possible to stop loving and stop feeling pain.
"Why should I apologize?" she asked, enunciating each word clearly, her voice low but carrying an undeniable firmness.
“What did Vanessa say wrong?” Seeing her so “stubborn,” Liam’s anger intensified. He tightened his grip on her wrist, his eyes blazing with fury. “Lila is just a child, naturally lively. Why are you arguing with her? It makes you look petty! Besides, what was that tone you used? Vanessa just got back to the country and was harassed at the airport. She was frightened and hasn’t fully recovered. Now you’ve spoken to her so coldly. How upset she must be! You should apologize to her, both morally and logically!”
It turns out that Vanessa was harassed at the airport. That's why he was so anxious and even went so far as to fight back, getting injured himself in the process, all to protect her.
Clara turned her head and looked at Vanessa, whose eyes were already red and about to cry, as if she had suffered a great injustice. She smiled coldly to herself, a smile that was desolate and sorrowful.
Look at the stark contrast. His beloved was only harassed, and he was on high alert, extremely nervous, wishing he could take her place; while his wife, through his schemes, was almost sent to another man's bed, was pushed down in public at her birthday party, covered in bruises, and had to treat her wounds alone, only to be questioned by him about why she didn't apologize to the person who pushed her, or to his beloved!
It turns out that love and not love can be so vastly different, so cruelly and bluntly defined.
Without any further hesitation, Clara clenched her fist tightly and, with all her might, swung her hand away from Liam's grasp, breaking free from his hold! The movement was so forceful that it aggravated the wound on her right hand, and blood was faintly seeping through the gauze, but she didn't care at all.
“Liam,” she looked at him with an unprecedented distance and indifference, as if she were looking at a stranger, “you should take care of yourself first and go see the injuries you got while trying to be a hero and save a damsel in distress before you talk to anyone else.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't look at them again. She straightened her back, which seemed to bear a thousand pounds of weight, and resolutely turned around. Step by step, she walked firmly into the night outside the hospital gate, leaving behind the couple behind her and all the unbearable past.
