Crushed Affections (Dominic and Bella)

At the Clarke residence, Rosa stepped out through the front door with her suitcase, lost in despair. The designer clothes she wore failed to give her any semblance of dignity. Seeing lan's car parked not far away made her eyes well up with tears.

lan leaned out of the car window. "Get in. I'll give you a ride."

Rosa remained silent, but tears started to stream down her face.

Once inside the car, lan handed her a box of tissues. "Where to?"

Rosa shook her head. "I don't know. My family hasn't cared about me for ages. I have nowhere to go. Just drop me off at any hotel."

lan complied and started driving. "How much did my dad give you for the divorce?"

Rosa managed a bitter smile. "Two million dollars. Pretty generous, isn't he?"

lan didn't respond. Given the power of the Clarke family, two million dollars was hardly more than a handout. It felt more like an insult. But in this situation, it was hard to say who was truly insulting whom.

After a moment, Rosa finally stopped crying. "It's funny. You were the reason I joined the Clarke family, and now, it's also you who's driving me off. Just the thought of having no ties to you for the rest of my life makes me feel so sad."

lan pressed his lips together. "Remember how you begged me to let you go when we broke up? You probably forgot how careful you were when you first asked if I would leave you. I let you go, but you never let yourself go."NôvelDrama.Org owns this.

Rosa's tears, which had just begun to subside, flowed freely again. She was sobbing now. "lan... I'm so sorry... I messed everything up. I'm really sorry..."

lan offered a bitter smile. "It's okay. What do you plan to do about the baby?"

Rosa hated the child growing inside her. From the start, she had just seen it as a mere tool. She had no reason to keep it.

"I'm getting rid of it. I have no reason to keep it. You asked me before who the father was, right? I don't even know. It was just a one-night stand."

Rosa thought the result of a

moment of impulse in a bar could be used as the heir to the Clarke family. With such a simplistic mindset, it was no surprise she couldn'treach the end of her plan.

When they arrived at the hotel, lan helped Rosa with her luggage. "Go on in. I'll be leaving."

Rosa watched him, her gaze filled with the same fiery affection and reluctance she had when they first fell in love.

lan chose to look away. Without a second's pause, he got back into the car.

As Rosa peered through the window, she asked, "Can you wait until I go in before you leave? Let's make it a final farewell."

lan nodded. Smiling, Rosa walked into the hotel with her suitcase in hand.

After estimating that she had made

it to her room, he prepared to leave. Suddenly, a loud bang erupted nearby, and blood pooled on the ground in front of the hotel

lan's breath caught in his throat when he saw Rosa collapse into a pool of blood.

Everything around him erupted into chaos. Hotel security scrambled to call for an ambulance and the police, but lan couldn't bring himself to step out of the car or move an inch

closer.

en

Years ago, his mother had ended her life the same way, right in front of him. The scene felt eerily familiar and hit him with immense force.

The tragic irony was that the deaths of the two most important women in his life were somehow linked to Steven. This was why he could never go back home.

As the last person to see Rosa alive, lan was summoned to the police station.

He stayed silent in the face of intense questioning.

This incident threatened the reputation of the Clarke family, and it wasn't long before Steven rushed over.