Chapter 23
Without hesitation, Claude dropped to his knees.
His knees hit the floor with a loud thud, and he looked up at Aaliyah with hopeful eyes.
Aaliyah let out a bitter laugh and turned to leave.
“But I’m not the kind of person who gets satisfaction from hurting others, Claude. When I say I don’t love you anymore, I mean it.”
She walked away without looking back, crushing the hope that had just risen in Claude’s heart.
“Aaliyah!”
He didn’t care about his dignity anymore, scrambling to his feet to grab her wrist.
“Don’t go, don’t go. There’s one more thing-just look at one more thing…”
He begged, his voice breaking with tears. Anyone who saw this pathetic man on his knees would never believe he was Claude Preston.
Aaliyah didn’t speak, but she didn’t leave either. She followed Claude.
They went to the third floor, where no one lived-only an isolation room.
Aaliyah’s expression grew confused, but Claude didn’t hesitate, directing his assistant.
“Open the door. Get her out.”
Soon, Aaliyah understood what Claude meant.
The person locked in the isolation room was actually Caroline! And her mental state was obviously terrible. Several bodyguards dragged her out of the room, and suddenly exposed to light, Caroline screamed and covered her face.
When she saw Aaliyah outside, she crawled over like a madwoman and clung to her legs, breaking down in tears.
“Aaliyah, it’s you, it’s you! I was wrong before-I wronged you! Claude never liked me. He’s always loved you! I was wrong. I shouldn’t have framed you. It’s all my fault!”
She kept talking while kneeling on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, not caring about dignity or face anymore. She bore no resemblance to her former glamorous self. Caroline now looked completely insane.
It wasn’t hard to imagine what methods Claude had used to drive Caroline to this state.
Aaliyah felt no satisfaction from this revenge-only horror.
But Claude was pleased. He’d kept Caroline here all this time for this day, to have her personally admit her wrongs in front of Aaliyah.
He smiled. “Aaliyah, are you happy?”
Aaliyah’s gaze moved from him to the trembling Caroline.
“Let Caroline go.”
At these words, Claude’s expression immediately became confused. He didn’t understand why Aaliyah wasn’t happy. Caroline had been bullying her all along-didn’t she want revenge? Didn’t she want to see her in this miserable state? Claude had prepared this carefully for so long. He thought doing this would make Aaliyah change her mind.
But she still had no reaction, as if all of this had nothing to do with her anymore.
His heart trembled, suddenly not knowing what to do, what else he could do to win Aaliyah back.
He was panicking, grabbing Aaliyah’s hand.
“Why? Don’t you want to get back at her? I already punished her for you. Aaliyah, please just look at me?”
Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He’d found her, she was standing right there in front of him, yet Claude felt like he was grasping at smoke-she was a
Chapter 21
world away, unreachable.
He couldn’t understand it.
But Aaliyah laughed, her eyes full of pity.
“In your mind, was Caroline the only one who hurt me?”
Claude opened his mouth, but before he could say anything. Aaliyah spoke coldly.
“No, Claude. All along, the one who hurt me was you.”
The man’s face went pale. He wanted to explain, but Aaliyah continued calmly.
“To satisfy yourself, you filed for divorce so many times just to force me to beg you. Before, to keep you from divorcing me, I gave up all my dignity, even risket my life. I gave you everything I had, and you? You just enjoyed it all. Claude, you were the one hurting me all along. I decided to leave after I discovered this was how you expressed your love.”
He was speechless, only his eyes turning red.
Aaliyah walked away again, right in front of him, but he no longer knew what reason he could use to make her stay.
In that moment, he finally understood-from the moment he decided to test her love with divorce threats, it was already over between him and Aaliyah.
As she passed by him, he suddenly said through his tears.
“Aaliyah, you used to say you wanted to be with me forever, never to be apart.”
Aaliyah didn’t turn back, didn’t even pause. Her voice drifted softly on the wind.
“You were the one who left first.”
