All But a Dream

After Brett's “passing”, Claudia was the one who took to the news the hardest.

Even though Phillip also grieved Brett’s death, the first thing he did was offer advice to Claudia.

Seeing as Claudia was still young, he encouraged her to make a new life for herself now that Brett had passed.

He tirelessly advised her to leave the family and find a good man to marry. He wanted nothing more than for her to get over the devastating loss.

Claudia understood that Phillip was only looking out for her but she had turned down the suggestion without any hesitation at the time.

She could not possibly move on from Brett and would not leave his family where his only remnants could be found. She was fully prepared to become a widow for the rest of her life.

That was until she found out that Brett had been lying to her since the beginning.

The past five years were nothing but a mirage, there was no love to speak of!

She no longer saw any reason to stick around.

Phillip was not aware of all the underlying nuances. Regardless, he was glad to see Claudia having a breakthrough.

He helped her up to her feet and there were tears in his eyes.

“Claudia, you finally figured it out. You are a sweet child and I have watched you grow into a woman. I want you to live a good life, since the world is for the living and not for the dead.

“Listen, I will give you half of the family’s share, that should be enough for you to start a new, easy life. My child, don’t come back to us again and forget about Brett, make sure you take care of yourself.”

Tears swirled in Claudia’s eyes when she heard this.

Her parents never loved her but they adored Fione more than anything else.

Her ex-fiancé, Arthur never loved her either and was fixated on Fione.

Even Brett, who she thought loved her had betrayed her and was in love with Fione the entire time.

Ever since she was a child, Phillip was the only one who truly, sincerely cared for her.

She nodded, “I will. I’ll do it for you, Grandpa, I will make a new life for myself.”

Everyone adored Fione and nobody cared for Claudia.

In that case, the only thing left to do was to love herself and cut off all these horrible people who had nothing of value to offer to her!

The next day, she woke up at the break of dawn and approached an organization.

“Hello, I’d like to buy an island isolated from the rest of the world, do you have anything like that?”

After she briefly explained her intention, the agent presented her with a booklet and proceeded to elaborate on the list of options for her. She was starstruck by the mass of islands that came in different sizes and eventually, she picked one of them at random and settled the payment with a lump sum.

“Miss Hepburn, the arrangements will be sorted out within a month and after that, you can begin to assume your residency.”

With that, the agent walked her out with a beaming smile before briefing her on some particulars.

Claudia nodded, “Alright, got it.”

When she got home, she started to pack.

She never had much belongings to bring with her when she married into the Maxwells because her family never paid much attention to her needs. Although she shared a large bedroom with Brett, most of the items were gifted by him.

There were a lot of picture frames hung on the wall and some ornaments that came in pairs set on the cabinet. In the past, the sight of these memorabilia would fill her with joy but it was now replaced by the irony of how Brett’s love was nothing but lies.

She proceeded to stuff all of them into a cardboard box. It did not take long before the box was filled to the brim with the countless sentimental pieces she shared with Brett.

Then, she walked out with the box and dumped all of its contents into a trash can without a second glance.

Right after she threw them away, she looked up just in time to see Brett approaching her.

He hardly even bothered to greet her until he happened to notice what she was doing.

A deep look came upon his eyes, then he frowned gravely.

Claudia pretended not to notice his look and prepared to turn away.

Brett managed to call out after her just in time.

“Why did you throw them away, Claudia? Aren’t those important memories you shared with my brother?”

Claudia stopped short and felt a swell of spite rising inside her. She turned to him and stated in an eerily calm voice, “It’s been long enough. I figured it’s time to move on.”

“Move on?”

Brett’s expression changed the moment he heard the statement. He reached forward and grabbed her hand tightly, “What do you mean by that?”

“Let go! You’re hurting me!”

Claudia frowned and shrugged his hand off when she felt the strength of his grip. She massaged her hands which had become slightly sore and red.

Brett realized he may have overreacted. He remembered he had to play the persona of his brother, Arthur Maxwell.

He tried to suppress the raging emotions inside him but still could not hold back the urge to ask, “You’re leaving?”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Claudia's sharp look penetrated the depths of his soul.

At that moment, he had a lurking suspicion that Claudia knew.

He brushed off the suspicion as soon as it hatched.

It was impossible, Claudia loved him too much, and there was no way she would react so calmly if she found out about the truth.

With that in mind, he calmed down.

“Don't listen to what Grandpa has been telling you. Our family can take care of you. I promised Brett that I would take care of you too, I won’t let you leave.”

Claudia broke out into a sardonic laugh at his words.

She could not figure out what Brett wanted.

It did not make sense considering he would have gotten everything he wanted if she was out of the picture. He got to spend the rest of his life with Fione and did not have to worry about being constantly on guard to hide his secret from Claudia.

Why did he seem so unwilling to see her leave?

Brett felt something stir inside him when he noted the way Claudia reacted. Just as he was about to speak, the phone in his pocket started to ring.