Found Again, I Played Docile, He Went Mad

Chapter 2 Broken Beyond Repair

I went crashing down the stairs.

The marks I had scratched into my skin during my recent pollen allergy had barely healed. The impact tore them open again, sending a sharp, fiery pain through my body.

Jack stood above me on the staircase, staring down with blazing anger.

"You haven't changed one bit. You're faking all of it! You're trying to turn Dad against Vivian. I warn you. If you mess with Vivian again, I'll never call you Mom once more!"

As he spoke, his eyes landed on the crystal bracelet sticking out of my pocket.

Before I could react, he snatched it away.

"Give it back!" I forced myself upright and reached for it.

It was the Moonlight Charm my mother had left me.

Jack dangled it in front of me with a smug grin, "Every time you bully Vivian, I'll ruin something you treasure. That'll teach you not to go after her again!"

Then he hurled the bracelet onto the floor. The crystals exploded into fragments, scattering across the hallway like shattered glass.

Something inside me finally broke.

I struck him across the face, hard, my voice cold as ice, "The greatest mistake I ever made was giving you my heart. Since you care so much about Vivian, you should just let her be your mother."

Jack pressed a hand to his cheek, staring at me in disbelief.

I didn't spare him another glance. Fighting through the pain, I walked into the tiny, rundown maid's room.

I was cleaning my wounds when the door suddenly flew open with a bang.

Elias stormed inside, rage written all over his face.

"Clara, are you really going to stoop so low as to take your anger out on a child..."

When his eyes landed on the mottled wounds across my body, he went quiet at once.

"How did you end up like this?"

He crouched down and, unusually gently, began to dress my injuries. For a brief second, it felt like time had slipped backward, and my eyes burned with unshed tears.

"Clara."

Elias's gaze shifted, something dark flickering through it as he leaned in to kiss me.

Instinctively, I turned my head away from him.

He froze for a beat, then gripped my chin and forced me back, kissing me with a kind of hard insistence.

The taste of blood spread across my mouth. I stayed rigid, unmoving, while fragments of old memories flashed through my mind.

When his warm hand slid under my clothes, nausea surged up my throat.

I shoved him away and bent over the bed's edge, retching violently.

"Clara!" Elias's expression turned stormy. "Do you really hate me that much?"

I wiped my mouth, eyes lowered and distant.

"Sorry. I'm not feeling well. If you need a woman, go see Vivian."

Pain flashed in his eyes, his voice breaking.

"So you're pushing me away again? Clara, how many times do I have to say it? I've never slept with another woman since you left. I only looked after Vivian because of your father's last wish."

I met his gaze calmly.

"I believe you. Nothing is going on between you two."

The veins at his temples stood out sharply.

He kicked the table over in a rage and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Not long after, a video call request from Elias lit up my phone.

A sudden, searing pain shot through my body.

My expression shifted as I realized what it meant. I picked up the call without hesitation.

Just as I expected, the moment it connected, Vivian's ragged breathing filled the room.

On the screen, Elias had Vivian pinned by the waist in front of our wedding photo, kissing her without restraint. Vivian's hand pressed against my face in the picture, smearing it with a wet mark.

She looked straight at me through the screen, a victorious smile tugging at her lips, "Elias, go easy. Clara's still watching."

Elias deliberately angled the camera toward the bed, his voice dripping with cold, spiteful intent.

"Since you won't believe me, I'll prove it to you. Watch closely. Watch what Vivian and I do. Don't you dare hang up!"

All night long, they stayed in the master bedroom, unrestrained.

The screen was filled with things I couldn't bear to see and sounds I couldn't bear to hear.

My stomach twisted violently, leaving only a deep, suffocating wave of disgust.