Chapter 218 Come Clean

Norah sampled the cake with just two bites before setting her spoon aside. Only a small portion had been eaten, leaving the majority untouched on the plate.

"Aren't you going to finish it?" Sean asked.

"It's overly sweet for my taste," Norah replied.

Sean slid a freshly poured glass of lemonade toward Norah, a drink he had ordered as she sampled the cake. "This should help cut through the sweetness."

After a couple of sips, the tart lemonade mingled with the residual sweetness in Norah's mouth. She paused and then indulged in two more sips.

Despite its sweetness, dessert had a way of lifting spirits.

For instance, it was in this lighter mood that Norah could casually gesture toward the bag under the table and deliver chilling news in a steady voice. "Sean, ever wonder what's inside there? It's fingers. This bag holds the fingers of four men."

Shę meticulously counted out the twenty fingers.

Norah's expression remained stoic, her voice steady and unemotional as she disclosed such

gruesome details.

Sean stared at Norah, stunned. Could she really be telling the truth? He frowned and wondered what she meant by fingers.

Sean vividly recalled the scene outside the deserted factory where Norah, overwhelmed by the seeming guilt of inadvertently taking a life, wept miserably.

Given her previous fear and timidity toward violence, the idea that she could possess a bag of human fingers seemed unfathomable.

"Norah, you can't be serious, right?" After a brief pause, Sean's gaze moved from the bag to

lock with Norah's eyes.

"I'm not joking. With minimal words, Norah cleared the table, placed the bag on it, and opened it without hesitation.

As soon as she did, the pungent scent of blood wafted out, revealing a grotesque collection of human fingers.

The cuts were clean, evidently done with a knife, and every finger bore the same precision.

"I returned to Alice's ward at noon to discover Alice had been tormented. They had removed her IV and used it to harm her, so I retaliated with iron wire from a construction site. They tore at her clothes and aggravated her injuries, which led me to sever each of their fingers."

Norah -observed Sean's increasingly rigid expression, her gaze dropping as she let out a scomful laugh. "Those men were cowards, thinking they could escape after merely intimidating me. But escape was futile. A simple slash across their throats was all it took to end their lives."

Her voice was chilling and tinged with derision. "Sean, here are their fingers. Now do you believe me?"

Norah knew that this incident might cast her in a merciless, unfeeling light in Sean's eyes. Yet, what did that matter? If her actions could serve as retribution for Alice, any sacrifice was justified.

When Norah raised her head, she found herself enveloped in a comforting embrace.

"You should have told me about this," Sean chided gently.

He caressed her back tenderly and added, "Do you really think so little of me? Facing those

men alone must have been terrifying for you."

As he absorbed the details of Norah's afternoon ordeal, Sean wasn't just contemplating her drastic change. He was also concerned about the fear she might have felt in such a harrowing situation.

Resting against his shoulder, Norah looked up at him. "Sean, do you see me as heartless?"

Previously, she had acted like she had a fear of violence around him. But now that she had opened up to him, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Though she felt at ease, the weight of the situation now rested on Sean.

Sean surveyed the contents laid out before him. Familiar with such sights, his reaction was composed. "As long as you're unharmed and well, whatever path you choose, you'll have my backing. I'm with you all the way.”