Chapter 197 Under One Condition
Chapter 197 Under One Condition
Puzzled, Clara frowned. "What ten years? What are you talking about? Have you mistaken me for Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.
someone else?"
"Absolutely no," Horace said quietly, "I recognized you the minute I saw the picture. I'm one hundred
percent sure that's you."
But Clara was still confused, so Horace continued to explain patiently, "Ten year ago, the suburb in
Stratmont, think harder."
Sitting on his lap, Clara tried to recollect the memories before she finally remembered something and
looked at him in shock, "That was you! You were the teenage boy!"
As it turned out, Clara had been already brought to the Middletons back then. It happened one day
when Ashlee had gone to some summer camp, and Mr. and Ms. Middleton were at work.
She was alone at home, so she secretly put on Ashlee's red dress and went out to play.
No one would care about her anyway.
She was afraid to go downtown, so she went to a familiar suburb, where she came across a teenage
boy with blood all over him.
That was Horace.
Never had seen anything like that before, she was terrified, but goaded by a sense of righteousness,
her little body generated an infinite power.
Clara carried him all the way to a hospital.
It was then Clara accidentally tore Ashlee's dress.
Fearing that she would get caught wearing that clothe, Clara soon hurried home after she had left
Horace at the hospital.
The dress was tainted with blood, which she hoped to get off by hand-washing it.
But she ended up tearing the dress. She stealthily put it back and had never talked about it to anyone.
As time went by, Clara had forgot about the incident all together.
Until Horace brought it up.
Horace tenderly kissed Clara and whispered to her ear, "I'm so glad that it was you who saved me. Our
destined encounter happened earlier than two years ago."
Clara blushed, amazed by how wondrous and beautiful fate was.
Horace's heart was melting as he looked down and saw her rosy cheeks.
How great.
The little girl who had saved him was still how he remembered her to be. Kind, and determined, nothing
like Ashlee.
His face fell as he thought of Ashlee.
Horace had mistakenly thought of Ashlee as the girl who had saved him, so he had kept refraining
himself from avenging what she had done to Clara and let Clara deal with her instead.
But since he had known the truth, he wouldn't have to feel indebted to her and rein in his hatred
anymore.
He decided to pay her back himself.
Clara asked, "What are you going to do?"
"You might steel clear of this," Horace said.
Clara didn't want to get involved anyway.
The next morning day after she had a good sleep at home, she woke up and received a phone call
from Glenn, who snarled on the phone, "Clara Selman, do you want to ruin my family?"
Clara frowned. "What's going on?"
"You are the one to ask. Just check the news."
Clara found out from the trends on twitter that the Middletons was officially broke, leaving Glenn
hundreds of millions in debt, all because of Solrace.
Glenn shouted at Clara, "You are such a traitor. You colluded with that Kirkland and destroyed us, what
do you want? Even though your last name isn't Middleton, you are still my daughter and has half of my
blood. You father and sister are suffering, and your mother is sick. Not only did you not care, you have
inflicted more troubles on us. What's your scheme? Son of a bitch, bastard, traitor..."
As every word came out ever harsher, Clara was exasperated with her hands starting to shake.
Meanwhile, Horace who had been at the bathroom freshening up before he came out and heard Glenn
yelling on the phone. He took on a cold look and then grabbed it from Clara, hanging up on him.
"Why would you do that?" Clara raised her head and asked Horace, "Why did you suppress Midland
Inc again?"
"To take revenge for you, not just over this time, but what the family have owed you and your mother
over the last twenty years."
"What did you do to Ashlee?"
"I'm sending her to a military camp in Africa," answered Horace without any hesitation.
Clara was stunned and then she soon realized what would have happened to a beautiful woman in a
camp.
She thought it would be an appalling thing to do. A tinge of pity flashed across her face, while Horace
said, "Step out of this thing. I'll take care of it.
Clara hesitated for a while before she nodded with a fatigued look.
Clare was not an angel or some moral crusader. Ashlee had more than once preyed on her, so she had
no desire to stick up for her anymore.
Everybody had their karmic debt. If Ashlee hadn't had committed so many sins against Clara, she
wouldn't have come to that place.
During the talk, some chaotic noises were heard coming from downstairs.
A help rushed upstairs, saying that Sean and Darren had come over.
Horace told Clara to rest at the bedroom while he himself went downstairs.
Clara was still so worried that she came to the top of the stair and saw that Sean and Darren's face
were red from the fight with Horace.
They wanted Horace to spare Ashlee.
She was a woman after all. Besides, she's pregnant with a Kirkland baby, so they would not, in any
way, watched her being shipped off to Africa.
Especially Sean, who was being really remorseful.
He was merciless, but he wouldn't do anything at the expense of family. The only reason he had asked
Ashlee to set Clara up was because he had thought that Horace would never hurt her for the sake of
her having been his lifesaver.
However, Clara was his bottom line, and Horace would stop at nothing to teach those who had hurt her
a lesson.
Besides, Ashlee wasn't the one who had saved his life at all.
"Can't you just let it go this time, Horace," said Sean, clenching his teeth, "All things aside, we are
family."
"Uncle Horace, please let her off, and I owe you one for this," Darren pleaded, "No matter how mad you
are at Ashlee, please spare her for the baby's sake."
"No way!" Horace, however, wouldn't relent at all. "She should have seen this coming when she did
that to Clara."
Sean and Darren were in despair.
They knew how cruelly determined he could be once he's set on something, and once he said he
wouldn't let her off, she's going to hell.
Then it was imaginable that her child would be...
Clara, who was listening to the conversation upstairs, suddenly had an idea.
Just when the father and son had lost their hope, she slowly came downstairs and said,
"Horace could let her off, but on one condition."