Chapter 209: Chapter 209

The sun rose as usual, and after a night of turmoil, the Smith Family mansion remained engulfed in a somber atmosphere. Maxwell sat on the bed, eyes wide open, unable to sleep. With Mrs. Smith's consent, Darren gave him a sleeping pill.

This tactic proved effective; Maxwell soon fell asleep, entering a deep slumber until the sunset.

Upon waking, Maxwell's gaze was sharp. His first command to Darren was, "Go and bring Flora back."

Darren thought he might be delirious from sleep, cautiously saying, "Big Young Master, Miss Flora... she's already..."

"Even if she's dead, bring her back!" Maxwell roared, abruptly sitting up from the bed. The sudden burst of anger startled everyone present!

Even in death, he wanted Flora back by his side. They had promised not to part in this lifetime, yet she left him just days after making that promise. She was his wife, forever!

"Maxwell..." Mrs. Smith comforted him by patting his shoulder. "The dead cannot come back to life; don't be like this. Flora is no longer your wife, and her body cannot belong to you."

"Go quickly!" Maxwell shouted at Darren again. He didn't care about these explanations; he just wanted Flora back. To be his rightful wife, enshrined in the Smith Family ancestral hall!

Darren stood still, not moving. Just as Maxwell was about to explode again, he murmured with moving lips, "Big Young Master, Miss Flora's body was found in a desolate wilderness, reported to the police, and the White Family has already claimed Miss Flora's body."

Maxwell was stunned, staring at him incredulously. "What did you say? The White Family?" It must be Henry White who claimed her body. He didn't agree! Absolutely would not agree to let Flora go back to Henry!

"Yes, the White Family is Miss Flora's legal guardian, so we cannot get her back," Darren answered helplessly. He handed the newspaper from the tabletop to Maxwell.

The headline reported the discovery and claim of Flora's body by the White Family, making it hard to doubt.

Maxwell quickly scanned the newspaper, then angrily tore it into shreds, shouting, "I don't care if Henry agrees or not! Bring Flora back immediately!"

"No," Darren urgently shook his head, advising, "Miss Chiyoko has cleaned up the evidence of Miss Flora's murder thoroughly. If you intervene now, the police will suspect you of killing Miss Flora. Also... things done to Miss Flora in the past will be brought up, and then you will surely not escape the authorities' sanctions..."

"I don't care!" Maxwell interrupted him. Did he care about his own safety at this moment? Discard Flora to avoid legal repercussions? He couldn't do it! Regardless of the cost, he had to bring Flora back!

"Maxwell, calm down first. This is not something to be taken lightly!" Mrs. Smith added her voice of reason.

Maxwell pushed his way through the crowd, striding towards the bedroom door. He wanted to personally go to the White Family and bring Flora back! Regardless of what others said, he couldn't listen to Darren and Mrs. Smith's advice.

"Maxwell! Where are you going!?" Mrs. Smith rushed forward, grabbing his arm.

Darren quickly stepped in and locked the bedroom door, determined not to let him out.

"Get out of my way!" Maxwell shouted in frustration, forcefully pushing Mrs. Smith aside. He then raised his fist and struck Darren hard in the face. "Get lost! Don't block me! I have to bring Flora back myself!"

Darren, knocked down to the ground, quickly got up and once again spread his arms to block the door, yelling back, "No! You can't show up in front of Henry White, especially not in front of the police!"

At this point, he didn't care about being a boss or subordinate anymore. He just wanted to hold him back and prevent him from leaving the bedroom. Maxwell lost his rationality; he couldn't afford to lose it too!

Killing Chiyoko had already brought him potential trouble. If he continued to act recklessly, who knew what kind of trouble awaited him next?

Maxwell didn't want to waste time arguing with him. Angry and impatient, he focused on using force, thinking that physical confrontation might be the only way to break through Darren's resistance. Both Maxwell and Darren were agile and skilled, and for a while, the bedroom was filled with intense fighting.

Mrs. Smith, frightened by the scene, kept retreating and crying out, "Maxwell! Darren, stop fighting! Don't use violence!" How did things escalate to this point? The more she watched, the more anxious she became.

The fight continued, with neither giving in until both were bruised and battered, collapsing weakly on the ground. Mrs. Smith urgently called for Doctor Alan, signaling him to administer a sedative injection to Maxwell.

Under the influence of Doctor Alan, Maxwell once again lost consciousness. Only in this state would he become calm and quiet.

Three days later, in the cemetery of the southern district of City W.

Henry knelt in front of Flora's tombstone, silently gazing at the frozen smile on her face, filled with sadness.

Next to him, Mrs. White had been grumbling incessantly since they entered the cemetery. Seeing Henry's dumbfounded expression, only infuriated her further. She angrily scolded, "I never welcomed her into the White Family when she was alive. Yet, after her death, you brought her back. Are you trying to drive me crazy? Henry, I warn you, if you dare bring this outsider into the White Family ancestral hall after I die, even as a ghost, I won't spare you!"

"Mom, can you please stop talking? At least don't say such things in front of Flora!" Henry retorted to Mrs. White. He had grown tired of her constant berating of Flora.

If it weren't for Flora's sake, he would have never gone through all the trouble to bring her into the cemetery. But from the very beginning, Mrs. White had been opposed to it. And now, with the tombstone already in place, she still wouldn't stop her incessant rambling!

"Why should I keep quiet about her? After raising her all these years, can't I even speak?" Mrs. White's voice grew louder, angrily complaining, "Even if the White Family is wealthy, it doesn't mean we can raise such a bastard child, right? What benefits did the White Family gain by raising her? Once she grew, she just disappeared. Did she ever think about repaying the White Family for their care?"

Henry suddenly stood up from in front of the tombstone, glaring at Mrs. White as he countered, "How else do you expect Flora to repay you? For the sake of power and influence, you arranged her marriage to Joshua Smith without her consent. When the Smith Family Group collapsed, you canceled the engagement without her consent. Is that not enough exploitation?"

Mrs. White paused momentarily, then resumed her defense, "High-profile marriages are built on mutual benefits. Besides, her marriage to Joshua Smith and entering the Smith Family, what's wrong with that? With her wretched fate, being able to marry into the Smith Family is a blessing she accumulated in her past lives!"

Henry felt that he could never communicate with Mrs. White, so he stopped arguing with her about this matter. He stubbornly spoke up, "I love Flora. Can't she enter the White Family under the identity of Mrs. White?"

"Are you daring me?!" Mrs. White became furious and smashed her sunglasses onto Flora's smiling face. She grabbed Henry's arm and dragged him towards the exit of the cemetery, scolding him along the way, "I think you've been bewitched by ghosts! Leave this place and go home immediately! If you dare to speak nonsense again, I'll have her tomb flattened!"

"Mom! When will you ever be reasonable?!" Henry shouted in frustration. To avoid security guards misunderstanding that he was mistreating an elderly person, he reluctantly followed her footsteps towards the gate of the cemetery.

They left, their figures disappearing completely from the cemetery entrance. At the other end of the cemetery, a man in a black suit and sunglasses walked slowly, his expression filled with sorrow, holding a champagne rose in his hands as it swayed in the wind.

Maxwell gazed quietly at Flora's tombstone, fixating on her radiant smile etched into the stone. The scars on his heart bled again, making it painful to breathe.

Bending down, he placed champagne roses in front of her grave. His slender fingers gently traced her face as he uttered hoarsely, "Flora..."

He didn't know what else to say to Flora. It seemed like nothing had meaning anymore. The promises he made to her vanished with her departure, and the commitment not to harm her again... failed.

Now, even the right to possess her had been stripped away. He regretted not marrying her sooner, legally making her his wife.

Maxwell picked up a shard of glass shattered on the ground, clenching it tightly, even as the glass cut into his flesh. Numbness enveloped his heart, spreading to his body, rendering him insensible to the pain.

Previously, Flora had occasionally mentioned her unhappy life in the White Family, but he hadn't imagined it was this tragic. Just hearing Mrs. White's words a moment ago made him regret to the point of nearly fainting.

Canceling the engagement had nothing to do with Flora, and yet, he had used such a cruel method to torment her, subjecting her to hardships. In the end, she paid with her young life. He truly deserved to die!

Kneeling at the tombstone, Maxwell painstakingly collected the glass shattered by Mrs. White at the foot of the gravestone. Flora loved cleanliness; she wouldn't want her territory to be dirty. He wanted to tidy it up for her.

Half of the glass shards were embedded in his flesh, but he still felt nothing. Using his injured hand, he caressed the words 'Flora White' on the tombstone, touching her smile. He murmured, "Flora, no matter where you're buried, no matter where you're taken, you will always be mine, Maxwell's wife. Remember that?"

A tear fell from his eyes, landing on the marble grave, and no one could fathom the pain in his heart. It was a bone-deep, perennial ache.

Could he forget her in this lifetime? Would he be willing to forget her?

Large raindrops fell from the sky, obscuring the solitary tear on the cemetery ground, dampening his hair and black attire. Darren stood with a black umbrella several meters away, hesitant to approach, afraid of disturbing him.

At this moment, Maxwell allowed no one to disturb him. Rainwater washed over his hands, and as the drops rolled onto the ground, they turned a rosy hue — his blood, continuously carried away by the rain.

Was even the heavens shedding tears for him? Perhaps. Because he had lost too much, more than the entire world.

The chilly rain soaked him, cooling the heart that was no longer warm. It seeped through his veins, gradually swallowing his senses.

Then, without mercy, awareness was drawn from his mind. His robust body finally gave in, slowly collapsing in the rain...