Return of The Alpha Heiress-Chapter 53: Clarissa – He’s Gone

I turned around and walked away, ignoring Alpha’s furious shouts as he screamed my name with curses.

I went up to the second floor and rushed into my room. The moment I shut the door, my body collapsed onto the floor.

A month in the basement hadn’t only meant enduring the disgust of whatever lurked in the darkness.

I endured the cold, the hunger, and the pain throughout my entire body.

My shoulder was dislocated and still hadn’t fully returned to its place.

My arms and legs were covered in bruises from slamming into tables and chairs while Alpha dragged me.

I staggered to the bathroom to clean myself.

There, under the light, I could clearly see the bruises that still hadn’t faded even after a month.

Even so, I scrubbed my body harshly. As if I could erase every stain, every trace that bore silent witness to my suffering in that basement.

When I came out of the bathroom, Luna Eileen was already waiting, holding a medicine box.

I stared at her coldly.

Her watery eyes, her face begging for sympathy, and the apologies that flowed so easily from her lips.

None of it meant anything to me anymore.

"Are you done?" I asked flatly. I wanted rest, not to listen to more of her bullshit.

My cold tone made her look deeply wounded, as if I had committed some unforgivable crime against her.

"Clarissa... please forgive your foolish mother," she said through tears. "I know it wasn’t your fault. I believe it wasn’t your fault."

I let out a sarcastic laugh. "Weren’t you the one who said I did it because I wanted just once to feel what it’s like to be first place?"

She choked. Her crying stopped. Did she really think a month was enough for me to forget those words?

"That’s not what I meant—"

"Get out," I cut her off. "You all don’t want me to leave, right? Then let me rest. There isn’t even a bed in that basement."

Her eyes widened. One hand flew to her chest in shock.

When I mentioned the basement, she looked as if she were the one who had been locked inside it.

With reluctant steps, she finally left.

I pressed a hand against my tight chest. Not because I was sad, but because I was angry.

Even my tears were completely dried up. I had cried them all out during that month in the basement.

The only thing keeping my mind clear was my ambition to taste freedom.

But something inside me had changed. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t understand it myself.

My gaze shifted to the com-orb lying on the nightstand. I checked the call history from the past month.

At first, there were many calls from number nine. Richard. But after two weeks, there were none.

"Does he know I was locked in the basement...?"

I pressed the number to call him. The screen immediately returned to the home display. The com-orb couldn’t connect. Only broken com-orbs fail like that.

"Why is it broken...?" Anxiety crept into my chest.

More than that, I missed him. Desperately. I wanted to hear his voice.

Graduation for the third-year students was only a few days away. Maybe I could see him there.

...

The ice began to melt, the air grew warmer, and plant buds started to bloom.

Though, I still walked through the school corridors wearing a scarf. My arm was secured in a sling.

Only yesterday did Luna Eileen find out my shoulder was dislocated and call a doctor.

Luckily, it could be set without surgery, but the pain was unbearable.

At that moment, I thought that everyone who had done this to me deserved to feel the same pain. That thought was what kept me going.

I was forbidden from going to school today, but I wasn’t obedient like before anymore. If I wanted to go, I would go.

As a result, the wounds on my arms and legs had to be carefully hidden so no one else would see them.

There were no classes today. Only the graduation ceremony for the third-year students. First- and second-years were merely there to fill the seats.

I had been in the Great Hall earlier, but the person I was looking for never appeared. Richard.

I left the graduation in the middle of it.

My footsteps echoed through the silence of the first-floor corridor of the best class building as I walked quickly away.

When I reached the workshop, I went straight inside and headed for his room.

The door was locked and the room was empty.

Without going in, I approached the staff desk. "Did Richard Black come here today?"

The staff member looked at me for a long moment, then handed me a key.

"He came yesterday to return his room key. He said from now on this room was booked for Clarissa Green. You are Clarissa Green, right?"

My breath caught. He returned the key yesterday, that meant he wasn’t coming today.

I took the key and walked back to the room with a heavy heart.

His com-orb couldn’t be contacted, and now he wasn’t at the academy either. Were we really never going to meet again?

"But where did he actually go? Why didn’t he tell me anything? Is he okay?"

I asked the air, knowing it would never answer.

As I stepped into the workshop, which felt more like a lounge than a workspace, the heaviness in my chest rose to my eyes, making them sting.

The sofa he usually slept on was still there, clean and undisturbed.

The cupboard was filled with snacks and drinks that looked freshly stocked.

The worktable and my documents were neatly arranged.

On top of it all lay a purple envelope. I picked it up and read Richard’s handwriting. It was for me.

"FrostAe is almost finished with the production process of your device. You don’t need to worry.

And please, always be happy there, Clarissa."

"Happy...?" I didn’t even know what happiness was.

"Did he come yesterday just to prepare all of this? Then why didn’t he meet me?"

I sat down on the sofa, trying to breathe in what remained of his scent.

I was grateful for my strange sense of smell, for allowing me to catch the lingering trace of Richard in the air.

My tears finally fell. I bit my lip to keep any sound from escaping.

"But this should be a good thing, right? We were supposed to part ways when I turn eighteen anyway..."

I tried to encourage myself, but instead my heart was cut even deeper, and the tears flowed freely down my scarred cheek.

I had thought a lot in the basement, including about my feelings for Richard.

Maybe we really were fated mates, something that would be confirmed once my inner wolf awakened.

But whether that was true or not, my feelings for him were real. Feelings I had been suppressing all this time.

I thought that in the few months before I turned eighteen, I could use that time to be with Richard.

To do things I’d never dared to do before.

But he was the one who left first.

"I still wanted to tell you so many things. Would you be angry or sad if you knew what I went through in the basement? Or would you laugh if I told you about Alpha Will’s accusations... accusations I don’t even know myself?"

I could only talk to myself, hoping he could somehow hear me. But I knew it was nothing more than hope.

... 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Classes at the academy resumed as usual. Me showing up with my arm in a sling naturally drew attention.

Everyone stared and whispered.

Normally, I didn’t care. But this time, I wanted to know what kind of rumors were being spread about me.

So I approached Tessa and her friends and asked them directly. Our relationship hadn’t improved, but at least they were the only ones who didn’t avoid me.

Shannon? She would be the last to know. No one dared gossip in front of her.

"You’re curious, huh?" Mira asked sarcastically.

I nodded. Not arrogantly nor pleading. Just flat.

Mira grew irritated by my attitude, but Kellan stopped her and spoke instead.

"There’s a rumor going around that you went on vacation with the Green family to the East Region beaches. Since it’s not cold there, you decided to try surfing even though you’d never done it before. And then you got into an accident."

I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t even taken a single step outside the mansion, yet I was accused of vacationing on some distant beach.

"It wasn’t surfing," Mira suddenly added. "It’s because she was so boy-crazy."

My brows knit together. "The rumor isn’t finished?"

Mira replied immediately. "You were flirting with a lifeguard, so you tried to get his attention by surfing. Turns out you really did get rescued by him. After you got injured."

I couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore. "That’s quite an imagination."

"So your injury wasn’t because of that?" Tessa finally spoke, her voice cold. She hadn’t even looked at me this whole time.

"Even if I told you the truth," I challenged her, "would you believe me?"

Tessa didn’t answer. She just stared at me icily. Mira looked curious but stayed silent. Rylas, as usual, wasn’t particularly interested.

Only Kellan spoke again. "If you’re willing to tell us."

"Alright," I said casually. "Edwin Green slapped me so hard that I fell and hit the floor."

"Do you believe me?"

...