Chapter 236

• Claire's pov
• I walked back into Nathan’s mansion that night, the air feeling heavier than usual, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of the exhaustion weighing on me or the burden of what had just happened. The cameras, the flashing lights, the Carrington name being linked to mine—all of it felt like chains tightening around my chest. The entire city knew now. Claire Shaw no longer existed. I was Clarissa Carrington, heir to an empire I had never asked for, one that would bind me to people who never came looking for me until now.
• The guard at the door nodded respectfully as I entered, and I almost laughed at the shift. Not long ago, I was just Nathan’s wife in name only, a woman being humiliated, questioned, and dismissed. Now everyone looked at me as if I was suddenly untouchable. Rich blood. A title that didn’t feel like mine.