Iris felt a twinge of unwillingness in her heart but forced a smile and said, “I’m relieved to hear that… How is Ethan treating you?”
She looked at Iris.
This was awkward.
How was she supposed to answer?
Her sister was Ethan’s ex-fiancee.
How could she answer? If she said Ethan treated her well, her sister might worry, feel guilty, and think Ethan was treating her poorly because of her.
Should she say Ethan treated her well?
No normal woman could accept her ex-fiance treating another woman well, right?
“He’s… okay,” Clara hesitated.
She couldn’t lie and say Ethan treated her poorly.
Honestly, Clara felt that while Ethan wasn’t exceptionally good to her, he wasn’t bad either. At least he didn’t bully, hit, or scold her.
In fact, she thought Ethan treated her quite well.
If he didn’t treat her well, would he buy her so many clothes and such an expensive diamond ring?
Iris detected the reluctance in Clara’s tone.
She thought, Ethan must be treating Clara poorly, and Clara was too embarrassed to say so, hence the reluctant “okay.”
Maybe because Ethan treated Clara poorly, Clara deliberately wore expensive clothes and flaunted the expensive diamond ring to show off to her.
Iris felt reassured.
It made sense.
How could Ethan possibly treat Clara well?
“Clara, I’m sorry,” Iris apologized to Clara. “It’s all my fault. It’s because of me that you’re suffering like this.”
She didn’t want to come back because she didn’t want to face such a sister.
Such a sister left her at a loss for words.
Her sister indeed owed her an apology.
But now that things had happened, saying sorry was useless and wouldn’t change anything.
“Clara, don’t worry,” Iris said firmly. “I’ll convince Ethan to let you go. This is between him and me. It’s my fault. If he wants to punish or take revenge, it should be directed at me. You’re innocent.”
How should she respond?
Should she say yes and wait for her sister to save her from this situation?
Or should she say no, that she felt quite good living with the Logan family now?
Neither answer seemed right.
So… silence was better.
As Clara remained silent, Sophia pushed the door open and walked in.
As soon as she entered, she looked at Clara with cold eyes.
Naturally, she saw the diamond ring on Clara’s hand.
“Did Ethan buy you this diamond ring?” Sophia asked directly.
Clara nodded. “Yes.”
Sophia frowned and glared at her with displeasure. “Did you ask Ethan to buy it for you?”
Clara: “… No.”
She would never do something so shameless.
“Then did Ethan buy it for you on his own?” Sophia asked.
Clara nodded.
Sophia’s gaze suddenly sharpened. “Didn’t you take my words to heart? Did you ignore what I said?”
Clara: “What words?”
“I told you not to seduce him. He’s your brother-in-law,” Sophia said angrily.
Clara also became angry.
She had always felt guilty towards her mother.
Because of her birth, her mother had injured her womb and could no longer have children. As a result, her grandparents had scolded and insulted her mother. When she was young, she had witnessed countless times how her grandparents insulted her mother.
She felt it was all her fault, so no matter how her mother treated her, she loved her mother.
But why couldn’t her mother see her love? Why couldn’t she see her forbearance?
Didn’t her mother understand?
The reason she agreed to marry Ethan was because she didn’t want to see her parents sad and troubled.
Otherwise, what normal girl would marry a man who was supposed to be her brother-in-law under those circumstances?
She was a girl with a sense of shame.
Because of marrying Ethan, didn’t her mother know what she had endured?
The unpleasant rumors at school-didn’t her mother know without even thinking about it?
She felt sorry for her mother. For the sake of her parents, sister, family, and the Everett family, she sacrificed herself. Why couldn’t her mother see her sacrifice?
Was her sacrifice really worthless?
“Mom, do you think… this is something I can control?” Clara asked Sophia in return.
“Do you think seduction means that on the wedding night, Ethan slept with me? Do you think I could resist? If I could resist, if I dared to resist, I would have resisted during the wedding,” Clara said.
“You…” Sophia glared at Clara angrily.
She felt that Clara had grown wings.
Because she married Ethan and might have gained his favor.
So she had grown tough.
In the past, she wouldn’t have dared to talk to her like this.
“Are you talking back to me?” Sophia asked angrily. “Do you think just because you married Ethan and have someone backing you up, you can talk back to me? Let me tell you, no matter who you marry, you are my daughter, and I can still discipline you.”
Clara pursed her lips and looked at Sophia defiantly.
Clearly, she was innocent. Clearly, her sacrifice was the greatest.
Why didn’t anyone feel sorry for her or consider her feelings?
“Do you think Ethan married you because he loves you? Dream on, Ethan married you to get back at your sister, to make her sad and unhappy. The person Ethan truly loves is Iris,” Sophia said, “Just wait, one day Ethan will be back with your sister, and then you’ll be left alone.”
“If I’m left alone, would you be happy, Mom?” Clara asked, unable to hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes.
“You deserve it,” Sophia replied.
They say that some children are born to repay kindness, while others are born to seek revenge. Sophia believed that Clara was born to seek revenge.
Because of Clara, she could no longer bear children, and because of Clara, she had endured years of verbal abuse and strictness from her in-laws. Even more so, because she couldn’t give birth to a son, William had felt free to seek companionship outside the marriage without her daring to ask about it.
Every time she inquired, William would say he wanted a son, a proper heir to carry on the Everett family name.
And she couldn’t give him that.
Unable to bear a child, he naturally had to find other women.
Was she supposed to let the Everett family line die out?
Was she supposed to let the family business fall into the hands of an outsider?
William wouldn’t stand for it.
Neither would she.
Clara looked at Sophia and finally couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Mom,” Iris said, disapprovingly looking at Sophia, “This isn’t Clara’s fault, it’s all my fault…”
She reached out and gently wiped away the tears on Clara’s face, saying, “It’s okay, don’t cry. Your make-up will run if you keep crying. I believe you, I know you didn’t seduce Ethan, you’re not that kind of person.”
Clara nodded, tears in her eyes.
“You just protect her,” Sophia said to Iris in a tone of frustrated disappointment, “You treat her like a sister, love her, protect her, and feel sorry for her. But does she treat you like a sister? If she did, she wouldn’t have coveted your man.”
Clara remained silent.
Iris said, “Mom, please don’t say that. I trust Clara is not that kind of person. Clara…”
Clara looked at Iris.
Iris said to Clara, “I admit I was wrong. I really was wrong in this matter, and I have wronged Ethan…”
“But…”
Clara had an uneasy feeling.
Iris continued, “I really love Ethan. I… just lost my head for a moment, I don’t know how I could have been so foolish to do such a thing. It’s my fault, but I love Ethan so much. Ethan is so angry now, he won’t even listen to my explanations. Clara, can you help me?”
Clara looked at Iris.
How could she help her?
“Can you talk to Ethan for me and make him forgive me?” Iris looked at Clara with hope.
Was she supposed to go and talk to Ethan?
If she went to Ethan and convinced him to forgive her sister, her sister and Ethan would reconcile and live happily ever after.
What about her?
What was she supposed to do?
“Sis…” Clara looked at Iris and asked, “Sis, what about me and Ethan… we’ve been intimate. Can you still accept him?”
Iris was taken aback.
It seemed she hadn’t expected Clara to ask such a question.
She fell silent.