Clara said, “Belle has liked Ethan for quite some time. If Ethan had any interest in her, they would have been together by now.”
Stephanie paused, surprised by this perspective. She hadn’t considered it before. Despite her young age, Clara seemed to have a clear understanding of the situation.
“But… even so, knowing Belle has ulterior motives toward Mr. Logan, aren’t you upset about leaving them alone in the office?” Stephanie asked.
Indeed, she was upset. What frustrated her more was knowing Belle’s intentions but having no reason to stop them. They had work-related interactions, and she couldn’t interfere with that.
Seeing Clara’s silence, Stephanie understood. Clara disliked Belle’s attempts to get close to Mr. Logan, but since it was for work, there was nothing she could do.
The most annoying part was Belle using work as an excuse to find opportunities to flirt with Mr. Logan.
“Madam… let me teach you something,” Stephanie said with a smile, whispering a few words into Clara’s ear.
Clara nodded excitedly, “Okay.”
“I’m off,” Clara said.
Stephanie cheered her on, “Madam, go for it. I’ll always support you.”
Clara held her head high like a soldier marching into battle and went to make coffee.
Soon, Clara prepared the coffee and approached Ethan’s office door with it. She knocked and then entered.
“Mr. Logan, I made you some coffee,” Clara said sweetly.
Ethan looked at Clara, raising an eyebrow. This was the first time in two days that she had proactively made him coffee.
On the tray in Clara’s hand were two cups: one with coffee and the other with green tea.
She placed the green tea in front of Belle and said with a smile, “Belle, I made you some green tea… I heard you like it, so I prepared it for you.”
Belle’s expression turned sour as she asked, “Where did you hear that I like green tea?”
Clara thought for a moment and replied with a smile, “I forgot where I heard it from… Do you not like green tea? Should I make you something else?”
“No need,” Ethan said calmly. “She likes green tea.”
Clara smiled and said, “Oh… I remember now. My husband told me that Belle likes green tea.”
Ethan gave Clara a long look.
Clara smiled sweetly at Ethan.
Belle was fuming inside.
Ethan said she liked green tea?
When did she ever like green tea?
Did Ethan even know what green tea implied?
“Honey… this is the coffee I made for you,” Clara said coyly, placing the coffee in front of Ethan. Her eyes sparkled as she asked him to take a sip and see how it tasted.
Ethan glanced at Clara, took a sip of the coffee, and said, “Not bad.”
Clara pouted slightly and said discontentedly, “Ah… just ‘not bad’? I thought it was really good… I even accidentally burned my hand making it.”
“You burned yourself?” Ethan asked.
Clara nodded, “Yes.”
Ethan said, “Let me see.”
Clara offered her hand to Ethan.
Ethan examined Clara’s hand; it was smooth and unblemished. He couldn’t see any signs of a burn.
Belle watched as Ethan held Clara’s hand, pursing her lips. She couldn’t see any burn marks either.
Besides… if she did get burned, it served her right. A grown woman who couldn’t even make coffee properly-what use was she?
“Is it here?” Ethan pointed to a spot on Clara’s fair hand and asked.
Clara nodded, “Yes.”
Ethan looked at Clara’s hand and then brought it to his mouth, gently blowing on it…
Clara’s hand twitched slightly as she tried to pull it back; Ethan’s breath tickled her.
Moreover… Ethan was acting even more than she was.
Her hand was smooth and unblemished-nothing like a burn. Ethan was clearly playing along with her charade.
With acting skills like his, it’s a pity he wasn’t in show business.
Perhaps if the Logan family ever went bankrupt, Ethan could consider becoming an actor. With his looks and acting skills, he’d surely be a top star.
Clara wanted to pull her hand back but held on to provoke Belle further.
“Honey…” Clara looked at Ethan with shy sweetness and said, “It doesn’t hurt anymore…”
Ethan looked up at her and asked, “It doesn’t hurt?”
Clara nodded shyly and sweetly, “No, it doesn’t hurt anymore. Your blowing made it all better.”
Belle couldn’t stand it any longer.
She couldn’t sit still anymore.
She hadn’t come to see Ethan just to watch him and Clara flaunt their affection for each other.
She knew Clara might be doing this on purpose-in front of her-but the key point was that Ethan was willing to cooperate with her.
She didn’t understand why Ethan would indulge Clara in such trivial matters.
Clearly, he wasn’t that kind of man by nature, yet he was willing to do this for Clara… Did he really like Clara that much?
If he truly liked Clara, then what about Iris?
He had once stood against all opposition to get engaged to Iris under immense pressure.
Back then, she thought Iris was Ethan’s true love. But now… he treated Clara this way while Iris seemed forgotten in his life.
“Ethan, I have something else to do. I’ll be leaving now,” Belle stood up and said.
Ethan nodded calmly, “Okay.”
Clara looked at Belle and smiled, “Take care, Belle.”
Belle nodded coldly and left.
Clara smirked triumphantly.
Hmph…
Now Belle knew she wasn’t easy to bully.
Once Belle left, Clara tried to withdraw her hand-Ethan still held onto it.
But when she tried pulling away… she found herself unable to; Ethan still had a grip on her hand.
Clara looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked at Clara and asked, “Do you need some ointment for your hand?”
Clara blushed and whispered softly, “No need.”
There wasn’t any burn; everything was fine-no need for ointment.
“Okay,” Ethan nodded and looked at Clara’s hand. “Indeed there’s no need… Otherwise, if we applied ointment, I wouldn’t know where to put it…”
Clara’s face turned even redder as she forcefully pulled her hand back. She said, “I’m leaving now.”
Ethan surely knew by now-knew that she had pretended her hand was burned on purpose.
And he had deliberately played along with her act too.
“Wait…” Ethan called out to Clara.
Clara stopped stiffly and turned back to look at Ethan-what did he want?
Was he going to settle scores later?
Ethan looked at Clara calmly and said, “Take the green tea away… I don’t like innocent-looking yet selfish and hypocritical women.”
In an instant, Clara’s face flushed bright red!
Ethan knew-he knew she was implying that Belle was like green tea: seemingly fresh and innocent but actually deceitful behind the scenes.
She thought he wouldn’t understand such things!
It seemed she had underestimated Ethan after all-he understood everything perfectly well.
With her face flushed red with embarrassment, Clara quickly took the green tea away; some even spilled due to her haste.
Clara almost fled in embarrassment.
Watching Clara’s retreating figure as she left in haste brought a smile to Ethan’s face…
The little girl had quite a few tricks up her sleeve.
Clara returned to the secretarial office with a blushing face.
Meanwhile, Stephanie had been waiting, waiting for Clara to return victorious.
After Clara carried the coffee into the office, she quietly hid by the door of the secretarial office, constantly on the lookout for Belle to come out… As she had hoped, not long after Clara went in, Belle emerged, and what’s more, she didn’t look happy at all.
Stephanie knew that Clara had succeeded.
After waiting a bit longer, Clara finally came back.
“Madam… how did it go?” Stephanie asked excitedly. Although she already knew the outcome, she still wanted to know the details.
Clara blushed and replied, “It was just how it usually is…”