Chapter 18 – An Unexpected Ally
The next morning, Clara went for a walk in the garden, desperate for air and space that didn't smell like judgment. She was surprised to find someone already there — Uncle Gerald, sitting under a tree with a book.
"Oh," she said awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your reading."
He waved her over. "You read?"
"Own a bookshop," she said, smiling faintly.
"Ah. So you're the reason my nephew keeps pretending to like novels now."
Clara blinked. "Ethan? Reads novels?"
"Mostly business reports disguised as novels," Gerald said dryly. "But lately he's been quoting things. Sentences. Odd for him."
She sat down beside him. "He quotes books?"
Gerald glanced at her, a knowing look in his eyes. "He's changing. A little. Don't underestimate that."
Clara tilted her head. "You don't hate me."
He chuckled. "I don't see the point. I've lived long enough to know love doesn't always come in the right packaging."
Her cheeks warmed. "It's not love. It's… a contract."
Gerald smiled faintly. "Of course it is."
He returned to his book, leaving her with a strange, comforting thought — maybe not everyone in this family wanted her gone.
Later, when she passed Ethan's office, she paused at the door. He was standing by the window, phone in hand, tension in every line of his body.
"Yes," he was saying. "I know. Just find her."
Mia again, she thought. Always Mia.
She stepped back quietly, guilt curling in her chest. She wasn't supposed to care this much.