Shattered Rose He Held On Tight novel Chapter 255

Shattered Rose He Held On Tight

Chapter 255 Stay With Me

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47 04 И

Finished

When Claudia jolted awake from her dream, she realized someone was holding her hand.

The curtains were shut, the room dim enough that she couldn’t tell if it was day or night.

But the warmth beside her felt so familiar that for a second, she thought she was still dreaming.

“Sterling?”

Her fingers brushed along his sharp brow.

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Hey. You’re awake. Are you hungry?”

Claudia shook her head and slipped her arms around his waist. “What are you doing here?”

He pushed back the damp strands of hair that her nightmare had left clinging to her cheek, his knuckle gently tracing her skin.

“Just felt like you needed me here.”

She gave a small laugh, her voice muffled against his chest. “Yeah… I do.”

The world could be noisy, cruel even–but he was the one thing that always stayed steady.

Sterling didn’t say a word, just held her tighter.

He was glad he’d jumped on that flight to Marvonia the moment Preston said he was going to spill Zoey’s secret.

He knew Claudia was tough. Even if he hadn’t come, she would’ve found a way to deal with it.

But seeing her curled up in bed, tears slipping down her face as she cried in her sleep–it tore something inside him. He wanted to dig Zoey out of the ground just to make her pay again.

His rosebud. She was meant to bloom in peace, in soft soil and sunlight, not be crushed under someone else’s selfishness.

Zoey, her daughter, and the whole Lancasters–they all owed her a debt.

After a full night’s rest and a little more time in Sterling’s arms, Claudia finally felt like she could breathe again.

“That crash from years ago,” she said quietly, playing with one of his shirt buttons, “is it hard to dig into?”

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16:30 Tue, Oct 14 B.

Chapter 255 Stay With Me

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Finished

“Yeah.” He brushed a hand over her hair. “Everything leaves a trace. Zoey might’ve covered her tracks, but no one’s perfect. The only reason she got away with it was that people took her side emotionally, not because she was that smart.”

He kissed away the faint trail of tears still on Claudia’s cheek. “When you go back home, all the truth will be waiting for you.”

Florence’s project still wasn’t done, and Sterling knew Claudia wouldn’t just drop a promise halfway through, no matter how anxious she felt.

But she wasn’t that helpless six–year–old girl anymore.

She had her own world to manage now–and he’d make sure to uncover everything that had been buried in her past.

Claudia smiled softly, her eyes shining. “Sterling.”

She tilted up and kissed him. “Out of all the bad things that ever happened, meeting you was the best one.”

He smiled and kissed her back. “Same here.”

Their eyes met, and they both laughed quietly before wrapping each other up in a tight hug.

“Wanna get up?” he asked, worried she’d get a headache from sleeping too long.

But she looked up at him instead. “When are you leaving?”

She knew he’d been swamped dealing with the Lloyds lately. The fact that he’d flown all the way to Marvonia just to see her meant he’d carved that time out of nothing.

Sterling buried his face against her neck, breathing her in deeply. “The flight’s in eight hours.”

Claudia brushed her thumb under his tired eyes. “Then I don’t wanna get up. Stay and nap with me?”

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