Clara didn’t understand what ‘no big deal’ really meant.
“They have gotten back together so I have no chance now. Moreover, I think Marshall may not be the
right one for me.” She looked at Charlie.
Without waiting for his reply, Clara kept saying, “Marshall is a married man with a baby. I will be
aggrieved if I marry him and become a stepmom no matter how much I like him.”
She stared at Charlie and said, “There are other men in the world. I can find a better man than Marshall
if I want.”
Looking at Clara, Charlie sighed a while later and said, “I know. You are good enough to find a better
man but Clara, your grandpa and I can’t wait that long.”
“After Jakub was gone, my condition was poorer and poorer. I know it well. I feel tired these days when
I come back to the company and deal with business. I have to face the fact of aging. I want to give you
more time to find the right one but I get scared that I won’t last long enough for you to find your
Mr.Right.”
Clara pursed her mouth and said after thinking for a while, "uncle can help you with the business."
“I don’t mean to disparage him but he is indeed incompetent. He and I have worked for the company all
these years so I know what he is. He is not good enough to manage our company which would have
collapsed without me and your grandfather." Charlie sneered.
Charlie had experienced hundreds of negotiations.
He was a master of debate.
It was impossible for Clara to beat him by debating.
Hence, Clara kept her mount shut and listened.
Charlie felt sorry for her.
He said, “Clara, you can do whatever you want when the company prospers in the future. You know
sometimes we must suffer loss under our nose for the things we want. Besides, you don’t sacrifice
much since you like Marshall, don’t you?”
Bullshit! However, Clara didn’t want to discuss it with him. She just pursed her mouth without answering
him.
Maybe Charlie was tired. He kept saying, “Think about what I said. Sometimes you have to make a
choice.”
Then he turned around and got out of her room.
Clara was not in a good mood. She sat on the bed for a while and then got up to open the door. Taking
a look at the corridor, she found no one.
She crept out and went to Lily’s room directly.
Lily had fallen asleep. She may have cried just now and still held a photo album now.
After taking away the photo album and putting it away, Clara stood beside the bed staring at Lily for
quite a while. She didn’t know what to do about her. Then she turned around and got out of her room.
Then she headed to Charlie’s room.
The door of Charlie’s room was not locked probably because he thought it was so late that no one
would walk in the corridor.
Hence, Mr. Anderson，Charlie and Grandpa Henderson, Ryan didn’t pay much attention to the slightly
open door.
Clara stood not far from the door and eavesdropped.
Ryan said that he was going to underground casino and checked it with Charlie the next day.
Charlie was pacified that he should take is easy since men there knew him.
Clara frowned and thought for a moment and then hurried back to her room.
She held the phone and hesitated for a while. She wanted to tell Marshall about it.
However, She was suddenly discouraged by the message sent by Marshall previously.
She hesitated for quite a while and didn’t send any message to Marshall at last.
She put her phone aside and lay on the bed with her mind blank.
Why did her life get worse and worse and out of control?
She lay on bed and dropped off to sleep with sleepy eyes. Then she woke up suddenly in the middle of
the night.
It was dark in the room and for a moment she did not realize what was happening.
She lay on the bed for a while with her eyes open and then sat up slowly.
She didn’t get changed or take off her makeup.
She kept sitting for a while and then felt upset.
She wanted to cry but fought back the impulse.
She had never felt more sorry for herself than the moment.
Emotions seemed to pop up all at once.
If no one cared about her for the rest of her life like the moment, she got nothing to expect in her life.
Clara wiped her face and then went to the bathroom. She turned on the light and stood in front of the
sink, staring at herself in the mirror.
The makeup on her face was a little dirty because of her crying but she was not ugly. However, the
terrible makeup made her look distressed and haggard.
She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. ‘Poor thing’ she thought.
She realized how pathetic she was for the first time.
It’s not possible for her to sleep anymore so she went out of the room and wanted to go downstairs to
get a bottle of wine.
As she reached the landing on the second floor, she stopped.
Someone was coming into the main building.
She paused and then hid herself reflexively.
Someone came into the living room and stood there for a while before turning on the light of the living
room.
He didn’t go upstairs immediately but sat down on the sofa.
Clara stretched out to take a look only to find that it was her dad.
He was in a tracksuit and looked a little younger than usual.
Still, the gray hair on his head showed that he was no longer young.
Sitting on the sofa with his hands on his knees, Charlie was in a daze for a while.
And then he took the phone out of his pocket.
He didn’t make a call and looked like he was texting.
Clara frowned. She really didn’t figure out what her dad did by going out in the middle of the night!
Charlie fiddled with his cellphone for quite a while and finally stood up.
Clara took a look at him but dare not go downstairs so she hurried quietly back to her room.
Clara did not close the door, just leaning against the crack of the door and listening to the outside.
Charlie went to Lily’s room first and stayed there for a few minutes and then got out.
He made so much noise that Clara could hear him even in her room.
She knew he was in a bad mood. There was no one in the family feeling good.
But when some tragedies happened there was no way to reverse the tide so one had to try to accept
the fact.
People alive should try to live a good life but not wallow in self-pity.
Charlie went to his room and closed the door.
Clara opened the door and looked outside.
In fact, she felt bad. She didn’t really want to give the evidence to Marshall.
Her ultimate goal was not to save herself but the whole family. If the family fell apart, Lily would
certainly go mad.
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