Laughter echoed through the empty corridor. In a dimly lit prison, a woman was seen lying on the cold floor, looking lifeless. Her pale complexion made her appear as though she were already dead, if not for the slight movement of her chest, indicating that she was still breathing.
"Hehehe, Sis, I've come to see you!" The door was pushed open, and the owner of the laughter walked in. The woman who entered was dressed in gorgeous clothes with heavy makeup. She looked at the woman lying on the floor with mockery in her eyes.
Although the woman was pale and skinny, her beauty was still evident.
"Anna, at this point, why are you still pretending to care?" As the woman spoke, Anna's footsteps came to a halt. Then she burst into laughter, as if she had heard the biggest joke of her life. The smile was vicious.
"Well, since I'm the owner of the company and have won many awards, a useless person like you has no value to me. It's your stupidity that always made you treat me like a beloved sister, yet you still didn't realize I was deceiving you."
At these words, Claire could only move the corners of her lips numbly and said in a painful voice, "Before, I thought it was only because you were over-pampered by your family and hadn't faced any difficulties yet. I cared for you and always thought of you in a positive way. But it wasn't until you deceived me, framed me, and put me behind bars that I realized you never saw me as family."
"A family?" Anna chuckled, as if she had heard a joke. "How could we be a family? When Dad brought you back from the countryside, he said you were my vessel and substitute! Do you think referring to me as your sister will change the fact that you were never part of the Smith Family? Even our plants back home are more important than you."
At this moment, the pitiful and obedient expression on Claire's face disappeared, replaced by disdain and disgust, as though being near her was an insult.
Claire couldn't help but feel terrible and heartbroken as she listened to her beloved sister reveal the truth. But being awake for so long had made her unable to express her deepest emotions. Her eyes opened and closed, unable to digest what she had just heard.
"Since I have done so much for you, can you please allow me to see Tristan one last time?" They had injected her with an unknown poison and thrown her onto the cold prison floor, and she was close to death. Before leaving this world, she just wanted to see the only person who had given her warmth.
"Oh, you mean my fiancé, Tristan Grey?" Anna was enjoying the torment Claire was going through, evident in her lifeless appearance. "Oh, I forgot to tell you—he came with me today."
Not long after, the sound of footsteps was heard outside the door, and a man entered. As soon as he walked in, Anna hugged him by the neck intimately and acted coquettishly, saying, "Tristan, you finally came. Sister has been waiting for you for a long time."
Finally, Claire was able to make some movement. Then she heard the voice she had been longing to hear—the voice of the person she loved deeply. It was that same cheerful voice from ten years ago when she first met him. It was the memorable voice she could never forget; it was printed in her memory.
"Anna, don't say that—you know I only liked you from the beginning." However, at that moment, the man's words made Claire question herself, wondering if this was really her Tristan from ten years ago.
Claire suddenly stood up from the cold floor, slightly shaking from the shock of Tristan's words. "Tristan Grey, why?!" she demanded. "Why did you betray me?"
She could see that the young man she had known was no longer her Tristan. He had even betrayed her with her own sister. Tristan looked at the pale and skinny Claire with disgust and said, "I only played with you back then—I didn't expect you to take it seriously. I just needed your talent to groom my company, since you were good in business and medicine. Otherwise, with your identity, which man would like you? You aren't even qualified to attend events with me."
"Otherwise, how could you have stooped so low that we used you like this?" Anna answered without any sympathy. "Are you a saint that you sacrificed yourself for me and the Smith family? You really make me laugh." As she spoke, she leaned on Tristan's chest and laughed out loud.
Claire sat back down and stared at an empty corner in front of her, thinking to herself, Yes, I was really a fool to love and trust you like my own family.
After showing off enough in front of Claire, Anna said impatiently, "Alright, you can continue with your research here so that you can cure yourself. No one will disturb you. You can even kill yourself if you're tired of living."
Upon hearing this, Claire maintained a calm expression and calmly asked, "Can I have a glass of water?" Anna was in a hurry to leave, so she didn't stop her. "Sure, go ahead—it seems you don't want to die just yet." The room was empty except for a small table that held a water dispenser.
The water dispenser was designed to both freeze and boil water. As Claire reached for the water, she asked Anna if she knew that water could take many forms. Anna was taken aback by the question, sneering and saying harshly to her sister, "Water is just water. Don't try to teach me anything here—you can't even survive on your own."
She thought Claire was deliberately trying to make fun of her and didn't pay much attention to it. She and Tristan got ready to leave. Then, out of nowhere, a hand gripped Anna's neck, followed by a sharp pain in her throat, making her scream in horror.
"Ah!" Before Tristan could react, he also felt a sharp pain in his chest. When he raised his head, he saw that Claire had stabbed him in the heart, a hint of coldness in her eyes.