Rebirth Into My Second Chance

In the end, I never got to taste Max's barbecue ribs.

Because I fled. My heart was wrestling with itself, torn between fear that Max was truly Maximilian, and the dread that he wasn't. How was I to find the real Maximilian? So, I made up an excuse and left early.

Wandering aimlessly through the streets alone.

When I longed for home, the orphanage had undergone a complete makeover.

When I missed my parents, not even a memorial stone was to be found.

No wonder in my past life, even in death, I was a restless spirit with nowhere to go.

I looked up, hoping to see the moon, but it was obscured by clouds.

After aimlessly wandering for a while, I returned to the base of my apartment building and instinctively looked up at Max's apartment. No lights were on; he sure went to bed early. Stepping out of the elevator, I saw Claude standing at my door, no longer needing a wheelchair after a few days of recovery.

"What are you doing here?"

I immediately pressed the elevator button, ready to jump back in if he tried anything funny.

"Claire, let's talk," he said, moving closer, causing me to step back.

"Claude, what's there to talk about? We have no feelings, no complications between us. We're strangers now."

"No feelings? Who have you given your feelings to? Maximilian? When did you meet him? Tell me!"

He pinned me against the elevator doors, his eyes blazing red.

"I don't know him."

"Don't know him? Then how did he take you away from my villa!"

From Claude's words, I realized that was indeed Maximilian who had rescued me from the villa that day.

"So, even if I did know him, what's it to you?"

"You can like anyone, be with anyone, but not him." Claude grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the corner of the wall. I watched the elevator doors open and close again, frowning in displeasure.

QUMS

"Claude, you have no right to control me!" I struggled to free my wrist from his grip.

"Why have you become a different person? You used to love only me. Is it because you met Maximilian? Do you only like people with power and despise me?" The Claude I knew had made a name for himself in the legal world from scratch.

But this was the first time I saw his insecurity.

It turns out his father's poverty had left him feeling inferior all this time.

"Let me go, and then we can talk." I feared he might do something drastic, so I decided to play along for now.

But he let go with a cold laugh.

"Claire Floyd, a man like Maximilian

is never going to marry an orphan like you. How about I buy you a mansion in Elmwood Springs and you move out of here? I'll come visit whenever possible."

Elmwood Springs was Claude's father's hometown, where he once said he'd settle down.

"So all your plotting was just to turn me into your mistress? A caged pet hidden away in another city?"

His feelings for me were nothing but a twisted possessiveness.

"You can't let go of Maximilian?"

I scoffed. "Is Max really Maximilian?"

My question made him frown in displeasure. "Who's Max?"

Clearly, he was unaware that my current medical mentor was named Max.

"Claude, let's let each other go. Look at the wound on my forehead. Just a few days ago, I was kidnapped, and today, I was in a car accident. Getting close to you guys only speeds up my demise. Keeping me in Elmwood Springs, have you considered how much easier it would be for those who want me

dead? Let me go. I might live a bit

longer."

It was as if he only just noticed the bandage on my forehead.

A look of pain spread across his face, and he reached out to touch my forehead gently. "A car accident? Did you find out who did it?"

"If someone arranged a car accident, how could I possibly find out who it was?"

"I'll talk to Kate. I'll tell her not to hurt you anymore." He thought Kate was behind it.