He Paid Me To Strip So I Smashed His Head Instead Chapter 19

He Paid Me To Strip So I Smashed His Head Instead Chapter 19

Woke up again. In the hospital. Opened my eyes. Saw Chloe looking… complicated.

“Hey.”

I greeted her politely.

Her eyes were a mess. “I didn’t think you were actually sick.”

I nodded.

“Yeah. Me neither. Turns out, I just got sick. Ugh.”

“Life’s full of surprises, huh?”

Chloe hesitated.

“Just say it.”

She stayed silent for so long I nearly fell asleep again.

Finally, she spoke up.

Her voice was rough. “Do you… hate me?”

I shook my head.

Chloe didn’t believe me. “How could you not? I… I took so much from you.”

I shook my head again. “What’s mine can’t be taken. What can be taken was never really mine.”

I stated the obvious.

Chloe was stunned.

Thinking of something, she lowered her head.

“Do you remember? Our first meeting.”

I shook my head honestly. “Don’t remember.”

Chloe was stunned again.

Gave me a glare, then continued slowly. “When I was five, my dad took me to your house for the

first time.”

You came down the stairs in a pink princess dress, wearing a delicate crown. Head high, proud as a

swan.

Chloe kept her eyes down. “The moment you appeared, everyone stared.”

“It was like you were born to be the center of attention.”

“The world just… revolved around you.”

“I…”

Chloe paused. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. “I was jealous.”

“So, so jealous.”

A whisper.

Barely there.

After that, Chloe seemed to unlock something. Her words flowed easier.

“Later, when your family went bankrupt, I felt this weird sense of relief.”

“Look. The high and mighty princess has to become a mortal too. Just like me.”

“After that, I tried to take your place.”

“I tried to become the next Serena Sterling.”

“To be adored. To be liked as a matter of course.”

“I did it. I took everything you once had.”

“But… I don’t think I was as happy as I imagined.”

Chloe sounded confused. “Seeing you so easily hated by them, I felt this weird sadness for my own

kind.”

“Seeing you become unrecognizable, the satisfaction in my heart disappeared.”

“It feels like I shattered some priceless artwork I used to yearn for.”

She rambled on. I listened quietly. She talked for a long time, not needing a response-like she was

talking to herself.

“Until yesterday. When you started coughing up blood.”

Chloe’s face paled. “That’s when I realized… I guess I don want an’tything bad to really happen to

you.”

“Serena Sterling shouldn’t be like this.”

Chloe repeated it. “Shouldn’t be like this.”

“She should be bright. Arrogant. She can be loud, look down on anyone. She can be selfish, cold,

cruel, scheming. Not care about anyone.”

“Always strutting around. Always on top.”

“But not… fading away. Withered.”

Chloe paused. Her voice was a sigh. “Then… dying bleakly.”

After that, Chloe was silent for a long time.

Then she spoke softly. “I’m sorry.”

This time, I stayed silent.

Forgive her? But who forgives the Serena Sterling who’s already gone?