But Claire’s silence only fueled Yara Quincy’s rage.

In a fit of fury, Yara slammed Claire Sinclair against the wall and slapped her hard across the face.

SLAP—

Claire’s ears rang, and the world seemed to spin.

Seeing how pathetically weak Claire’s struggles were, Yara’s confidence surged. She slapped her again, her voice growing more belligerent. "You’re not going to talk, are you? Well? Are you going to talk!"

Claire Sinclair clenched her jaw. Stubborn as ever, she refused to make a single sound.

She was filled with anger and despair.

’Last time it was his mother, and now his sister.’

’Heh... Enough!’

Claire suddenly ducked her head and bit down hard on her attacker’s arm.

"AHHH—" Yara shrieked. Furious and frantic, she started pummeling Claire’s head with her free hand. "Claire Sinclair, let go! Let go of me!"

’Let go?’

’Not unless she begs for mercy.’

Claire latched onto her hand like a leech, refusing to let go.

’Just because she was weak didn’t mean she was a pushover. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t fight back!’

The harder Claire bit down, the more frantically Yara pummeled her head, but Claire refused to release her grip.

Yara felt as if Claire was about to tear a chunk of flesh from her arm. Enraged, she acted on pure impulse, brought up her knee, and drove it hard into Claire’s lower abdomen.

"Ugh..." A muffled groan escaped Claire. Her head was spinning from the blows, and a sharp, twisting pain erupted in her abdomen. It was too much to bear. Her body went limp, and she crumpled to the floor, all her strength gone. Her vision flickered in and out of focus.

’She felt as if... something was draining away...’

Yara stepped over her body, then spun around and kicked her in the back for good measure. Stroking the bloody bite mark on her hand, she snarled, "You damn bitch, you dare to bite me? I’ll kick you to death!"

With that, she kicked her in the back again.

The next moment, a red liquid began to seep out from between Claire’s legs, quickly soaking her pants.

The blood flowed faster and faster...

When Yara saw this, her crazed fury vanished, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.

’Did I just do something terrible?’

She cautiously crouched down and reached out to touch Claire’s body. "Hey, are you okay?"

The girl on the floor didn’t respond.

"Doctor! Doctor—"

Terrified, Yara scrambled to her feet and ran to find a doctor. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A short while later, Claire was rushed into the emergency room.

Yara stood frozen outside the emergency room, the image of Claire bleeding between her legs replaying in her mind. A dawning, dreadful realization made her heart pound with increasing fear.

’That woman... she couldn’t have been pregnant, could she?’

’If she was, that was my brother’s child...’

’I just kneed her so hard in the stomach and made her bleed so much... could the baby possibly survive?’

’If the baby doesn’t make it, I’ll be the one who killed my own nephew or niece. When my brother finds out, he’ll kill me!’

’No, I can’t let my brother find out about this!’

Yara ran back to the scene, found a mop, and cleaned the blood off the floor. Then she rushed to the hospital’s security office and deleted the surveillance footage of the assault.

After covering her tracks, Yara returned to the emergency room. The light above the door was off, and Claire was no longer inside.

Yara’s heart clenched, and a fresh wave of anxiety washed over her.

’Please don’t let her be pregnant. Please, no!’

...

Claire awoke on a snow-white bed, her body limp and her mind a complete blank.

There was someone else in the room.

Yara stood to the side with an odd expression on her face. The way she looked at Claire was strange, and her voice sounded strange, too. "The doctor said you just got your period. I changed your pad for you. I also bought you some food. Eat it if you’re hungry. When you’re done, get out of here. And you’re forbidden from visiting my grandfather at the hospital ever again!"