Rebirth Into My Second Chance

"But he ordered the driver, 'Head to the Hilton Group."

I grabbed his sleeve, tugging him back. "No need. Just drop me at the hospital. I need Max to give me a straight answer."

No matter what Richard said, I felt both sides deserved a shot to lay it all out on the table, honestly.

"Don't you ever suspect that all of this is Max's doing? He's the one deceiving you." When Richard said this, I wasn't shocked, nor did I believe him.

Because I knew Max had been reincarnated too, just like me.

And Richard, unaware of our reincarnations, probably wanted to pin the blame on Max as a way to use me against him.

"Richard, what you're after is the entire Hilton family's acknowledgment?"

"Yes, I want the Hilton family, every last one of them, to recognize me. Why should Max be the only true heir? Those old fools in the Hilton family only see Max."

I remembered the ringleader, Kearney, barking the loudest. Was it all an act?

Yet, when Richard claimed Max wanted me dead, I couldn't bring myself to believe it.

"Why would Max want to kill me? Give me just one reason."

"Because you pose a threat to him." Richard looked at me earnestly, not seeming to lie.

"But you were the one who led me into Max's room. Weren't you also using me, hoping the child I'm carrying, Max's illegitimate child, would be your weapon against him?" Richard was using me too, hurting me. In both lives, it was him, yet he kept silent, always deceiving me.

"So, how about we end this now? I was wrong, and I regret it."

Looking at him, I finally understood why, in my previous life, I had been kidnapped. Richard had allowed Kate to make my child's death seem like an accident.

I suddenly had an epiphany...

"Richard, a child is a life too. Let go of this obsession. Tell me, what did those girls in the orphanage do wrong? They were pregnant, yet you wanted them burned..."

"I didn't, Claire, believe me, I didn't want to burn them!"

He suddenly embraced me, losing control. "Just this one thing, believe me, I had no part in that!"

I broke down, sobbing. "If not you, then Max? Can you ever speak the truth?"

But he still tried to shift the blame onto Max. "It's all Max; he's sick, wanting to kill everyone."

"That's not possible; he's someone who would even save a murderer. It can't be him." I argued back, my voice hoarse.

"So you believe him?" Richard's expression turned fierce.

"I just want the truth!" My voice was cold and firm.

"If the culprit was someone you

deeply cared about, would you hate that person?" Richard asked, hinting that the culprit was someone close to me.

"Richard, in this world, you were the one I cared about most, before the lab explosion..." Saying this, my heart felt torn, bleeding with pain.

"What could be more important than

you? When I found out you were behind my murder, I was

devastated. Now tell me, who should I care about? Everyone I cared about is gone, leaving only you."

Who could understand this heart-wrenching pain?

He seemed reluctant to speak.

"Claire, just help me this once. Help me against Max, and I'll give you all

the truths you want. Once Ma

out

of the way, everything will be ours."

Richard's words made me sneer.

"So, Max hasn't done anything wrong, yet he has to bear all your accusations?"

He couldn't meet my gaze and turned away.

"Richard, we could have lived a simple life. What's it all for? Is the Hilton family really that important?"

"Important, for both me and my mother, it's a lifelong grudge!" Richard's eyes shimmered with desperation. Today's shock was more than a lifetime's worth.

"Your mother? The headmistress?" I couldn't believe it and turned to look at him incredulously.

But Richard remained silent.

I shook his arm, asking, "The headmistress is alive?"

He wouldn't speak.