Back From Prison, Built For Revenge - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Chloe stared at the snapped pearl necklace. Her hand froze midair.
After a long moment, Chloe reached out with a trembling hand toward the gift box. The instant her fingertips touched the pearls, their icy coldness pierced her heart like a dagger.
Her hand paused, and Chloe stared at the scattered pearls with a complicated gaze, as if looking at shattered fragments of her past.
Demi stood rigidly to the side, her expression unreadably complex. After several hesitant moments, she finally managed to utter, "Ms. Quinn?"
"Is this sent by Mrs. Stone?" Chloe's voice came out in a hoarse whisper, each word seeming to be painfully wrenched from the depths of her throat.
Demi gave a soft nod, then quickly lowered her head, unable to meet Chloe's eyes. "Yes, she said this is your tenth birthday gift. S-She hopes you can forgive her."
Chloe let out a low, icy laugh that sent chills down one's spine. She echoed that grating word with biting sarcasm. "Forgive?"
Chloe lifted her head, fixing Demi with a frosty stare. "Do they really think a broken necklace is enough to make up for everything I've lost?"
Demi opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she just sighed. There was no point in saying anything.
Demi knew all too well that the Chloe standing before her was no longer the little girl who would so easily trust and forgive others.
Chloe lowered her lashes, gazing again at the necklace in her hand. The pearls were flawlessly smooth, yet they had cruelly snapped into several pieces, like an irony.
Chloe stared at them, her voice low and cold. "She put the necklace on me."
No sooner had her words left her lips than Chloe slowly closed her eyes, as if trying to suppress the tumultuous emotions swirling within her.
Yet memories came flooding back like a dam bursting, utterly unstoppable.
Ten years ago, it was a bright, sunny day. A gentle spring breeze drifted through the Stone Villa's garden, filled with colorful balloons and fresh flowers.
Ten-year-old Chloe stood at the heart of the garden in a white lace dress, her face beaming with childish delight.
Surrounded by smiling guests who had come to celebrate her birthday, everyone cheered and offered their warm wishes.
At that moment, Chloe was the undisputed center of the universe.
Phoebe gently squatted down and fastened the pearl necklace around her neck, her voice as soft and coaxing as if she were soothing her little princess. "My little princess, this is my birthday gift for you. May you always be happy."
"Really, Mommy?" Little Chloe tilted her head, gently stroking the necklace around her neck with her small hand. "Then I'll never take it off."
Phoebe smiled and nodded, then hugged Chloe close.
Back then, Chloe truly believed she was the happiest little girl in the world. Little did she know, this happiness would prove so tragically brief, lasting even less time than a dream.
"Ms. Quinn?" Demi called softly, her cautious voice pulling Chloe back from her memories to the present.
Chloe opened her eyes. The youthful innocence and vibrancy that once filled her deep gaze had long since vanished, leaving only boundless coldness and detachment.
With crisp finality, she placed the necklace back in the gift box and snapped the lid shut, her movements decisive, utterly devoid of any lingering sentiment or nostalgia.
"It's raining," Demi said hesitantly. "Mrs. Stone is still waiting for you outside the hospital room. She wishes to apologize to you in person."
"Apologize to me?" Chloe let out a derisive laugh, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Does she really think a mere apology is enough to make up for all the suffering I've endured these years?"
Demi lowered her head and fell silent.
As an outsider, Demi knew all too well what Chloe had endured over the years, abandoned by her mother, treated as a burden by the Stone family, and locked away in a dark room to suffer cold and hunger alone.
Even if Phoebe were to beg for forgiveness, those scars could never be erased.
At the end of the corridor stood a gaunt, haggard figure, Phoebe. Wearing only a flimsy coat, her rain-soaked hair was plastered to her face in wet strands, making her look utterly wretched.
Her hands kept clenching and unclenching, as if she were desperately trying to contain the churning anxiety within her.
A hospital security guard approached and quietly advised, "Mrs. Stone, it's quite late now. Perhaps you should head back for now. Ms. Quinn needs her rest."
"No." Phoebe shook her head, her voice so resolute. It was less a reply to persuasion than a solemn vow to herself. "I must see her. I must apologize to her."
The security guard scratched his head helplessly, sighed, and could only turn away.
Suddenly, a black car came screeching to a halt at the corridor entrance. The doors flew open as two figures rushed out, Hayden and Yolanda.
"Mom?" Hayden hurried over to Phoebe, his face dark. "What do you think you're doing here in the dead of night? Aren't you ashamed of making a scene like this?"
"Hayden, don't talk to Mom like that," Yolanda said, grabbing Hayden's arm and glancing worriedly at Phoebe. "Mom, let's just go home for now. Chloe needs her rest. She's not up for visitors right now."
"Leave me alone." Phoebe shook off their hands, her voice thick with stubborn determination. "No matter what, I must see Chloe today."
"Mom?" Hayden snapped in a low voice. "That's enough. Don't you realize you're just making us a laughingstock?"
"Making a laughingstock?" Phoebe suddenly turned to face her son, her bloodshot eyes brimming with fury and sorrow. "If it weren't for your mistakes back then, would I be the one forced to grovel for forgiveness now?"
Those words landed like a stinging slap across Hayden's face. He froze, utterly speechless for a long moment.
"Mom, we really can't go in," Yolanda pleaded, trying to hold her mother back, but Phoebe roughly shook her off.
"Get out of my way," Phoebe roared, then stormed straight to the ward door and banged on it with all her strength.
Chloe was reclining against the headboard with her eyes closed, in quiet repose. At the sound of a knock on the door, she didn't open her eyes, but asked indifferently, "Who is it?"
From outside the door came a voice both achingly familiar and painfully distant. "Chloe, it's me. Could you let me in, please?"
Chloe opened her eyes, a fleeting flicker of complexity crossing her impossibly cold gaze, only to be instantly suppressed.
"Tell her," Chloe said to a flustered Demi standing nearby, "I'm already asleep and won't see anyone."
Demi hesitated briefly, then nodded and walked to the door. Addressing Phoebe outside, she said politely, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Stone, but Ms. Quinn has just fallen asleep and is not receiving visitors at this time."
After a brief silence outside, Hayden's voice suddenly erupted. He banged on the door and shouted, "Chloe, what the hell do you mean? Why won't you even see my mom?"
In the ward, Chloe let out a cold chuckle. "It's quite interesting," she muttered to herself, then raised her voice and retorted, "Now you remember to care about me? Where were you all this time?"
No sooner had her words faded than a sharp clatter rang out from within, the broken pearl necklace had been raised high, then violently hurled to the ground.
"See this?" Chloe's voice was icy. "This necklace, just like our relationship, can never be put back together."
Outside the door, a deathly silence fell once more. After a long moment, Phoebe's voice, choked with sobs and utter despair, finally broke through. "I'm sorry. I know I was wrong."
"No need," Chloe leaned back against the headboard, her gaze shifting to the night outside the window. "You all killed the innocent Chloe. The person standing before you now is a brand-new me, with no ties to the past."