I Married the President

After bidding farewell to the two men, Claire Sinclair took several bodyguards and headed straight for the hospital.

Along the way, Claire Sinclair passed a congee shop and picked up an order of lean pork congee to go.

When she arrived at the door to room 605, two burly, plainclothes bodyguards were standing outside.

Seeing Claire Sinclair arrive with her own people, the two bodyguards merely glanced at her. They didn’t ask any questions and let her right in, as if Ethan Kingsley had already given them instructions.

Inside the room, Ivy Tanner was hugging her knees, her melancholic gaze fixed on the gray, hazy sky outside. She didn’t even glance over when someone entered, as if completely detached from her surroundings.

Claire Sinclair walked up behind her and said softly, "Third Miss Tanner."

Ivy Tanner froze, then whipped her head around and stared at Claire’s face in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

’I thought it was one of Ethan Kingsley’s men.’

Claire Sinclair placed the congee she’d brought on a table, pulled up a chair, and sat by the bed before finally speaking. "Tell me your story."

Ivy Tanner was silent for a long time, for what felt like an eternity, before she finally spoke. "I don’t have a story. I’m just trapped here, with no way out."

"I can’t help you if you won’t say anything," Claire Sinclair said bluntly.

Ivy Tanner gave a bitter laugh. "I thought about it all last night. Even if I leave this place, they won’t let me go. I might as well just go back. Living like this... it’s no different than being dead anyway."

"You’re giving up on yourself," Claire Sinclair pointed out.

Ivy Tanner seemed unfazed. "In order to get my inheritance, those people have tried to kill me time and again. I tried to escape once, but they caught me and dragged me back. After that, I didn’t see the sun for four or five years."

Claire Sinclair’s heart clenched unexpectedly. "What inheritance?" she asked.

"Before my grandfather died, he left his entire inheritance to me, and not a single cent to them. So, they’ve been trying every trick in the book to steal the money. But because I’ve been feigning insanity, the courts have invalidated every contract they’ve forced me to sign. This time, they’ve lost their patience. I don’t think I have much longer to live."

"Those people are monsters," Claire Sinclair said, gritting her teeth.

But Ivy Tanner seemed to have accepted her fate. "The biggest regret of my life was going back to that place with my mother. They already killed her. Now I have nothing left to tie me here."

Claire Sinclair frowned. "If you have nothing tying you here, why did you call me last night?"

"Last night, I wanted to live. Today, I suddenly don’t."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"There’s no one in the world who loves me. I can’t even love myself. Tell me, what’s the point of someone like me going on living?"

Claire Sinclair felt an urge to shake her. "Everyone’s life has value," she said, her tone sharp with frustration. "You’ve endured so much humiliation just to stay alive all these years, and now you suddenly want to give up? Are you really going to let it end like this?"

Ivy Tanner fell silent.

’She’s right. I’ve endured years of humiliation just to prove a point, haven’t I?’

’But now, I’m so tired I don’t even have the energy for that fight anymore.’

"Whether I can accept it or not doesn’t matter anymore. Claire Sinclair, I really envy the love you and Young Master Quincy share. A lot of people say you’re not good enough for him, but I think you’re a perfect match. No one in the world is better suited for him than you are. The two of you are so powerful together... you’re like a beacon of hope for everyone. Ethan Kingsley won’t be able to defeat you."

Claire Sinclair glanced at her, curious. "What makes you say that?"

Ivy Tanner’s gaze drifted back to the window. "Ethan Kingsley’s eyes see only personal gain," she said nonchalantly. "His heart is devoid of love. A man like that is incapable of caring about anything greater than himself."