Chapter 46: Chapter 46: You Still Have Such Awareness
Claire Sinclair was stunned. She tried to struggle, but the man suddenly released her.
The moment he let go, she shot upright and looked down at his face.
Adrian Quincy didn’t look at her. ’It’s like that kiss meant nothing.’ He smoothly changed the subject. "Your father came to see me today. Is something wrong at home?"
’When he said home, he meant my home.’
Upon hearing this, Claire Sinclair’s expression instantly darkened. "What else could it be? It has to be Melanie Sinclair who made my dad beg you to release Logan Linden. Just ignore them."
Adrian Quincy’s cold gaze hardened slightly. "I don’t deal in favors here, only in law and justice."
"It’s good that you think that way. Just don’t do it for my sister’s sake, or I’ll lose all respect for you," she said, her tone serious.
Adrian Quincy stared at her face in silence.
"Wh-why are you looking at me like that? If I said something wrong, just tell me. Don’t just kiss me whenever you feel like it."
"You’re self-aware enough to realize that. You’re not a complete lost cause, then."
’...Seriously? How am I a lost cause???’
Adrian Quincy suddenly sat up, positioning himself beside her. "The people I put away don’t get out that easily. Go back and tell your father not to waste his time on pointless things like this again, lest he be used by someone with ulterior motives."
With that, he stood up and left.
Claire Sinclair stared at his retreating back, a pang of disappointment in her heart.
’I thought he came back to stay... just to stay. But it turns out he only came to talk to me about this.’
’Of course... this guy would never waste his time on me for no reason.’
For some reason, her heart ached with a dull pain.
...
The night passed without a dream.
When Claire Sinclair woke up, the man was already gone, as if he had never been there at all.
She shook her head, forcing herself not to think about the man who was so out of her reach.
Today was the anniversary of her mother’s death. She had to make a trip home.
Her mother had been dead for many years, and her father had long since forgotten her. In all the years past, Claire was the only one who remembered to offer incense and clean the memorial altar.
When Claire Sinclair arrived back at the Sinclair residence, the family of three was there, as if waiting specifically for her.
Peter Sinclair grabbed a broom and rushed toward her, striking Claire Sinclair’s arm with the handle. "You wretched girl! So you do know how to come home! I’m going to beat you to death, you useless thing!"
Claire Sinclair’s arm flared with pain. She instinctively raised a hand to cover it, but her father’s second strike came crashing down, landing squarely on her fingers.
A sharp pain, as if her bones were fracturing, shot from her fingers through her entire body. The girl shrieked, "Dad, you hit me one more time and see what happens! Logan Linden can rot in there for the rest of his life!"
Peter Sinclair froze, remembering what that man had said the previous night.
’If he was going to send this good-for-nothing to Adrian Quincy’s bed, leaving scars on her would definitely be a problem.’ So he threw the broom aside and started slapping her with his open palm instead.
"You useless thing, you’ve learned to threaten me now? Who taught you that! Huh? If I hadn’t given you life, do you think you’d still be alive today?"
"Trash! You useless thing! I’ll kill you!"
His powerful hand rained slaps down on the girl’s body. But through her clothes, they left no marks, only searing patches of fiery pain.
Claire Sinclair gritted her teeth, remaining silent.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Melanie Sinclair and her mother standing off to the side, arms crossed. The expressions on the mother and daughter’s faces were identical—devoid of sympathy, filled only with unconcealed glee.
This was a scene she had endured her entire life. When she was little, she had been too weak to even have a chance to fight back.