Regarding the campus violence incident, Tony handed the entire case over to Attorney Weiman, a heavyweight name in the legal world—one of those lawyers most people couldn't even get an appointment with.
It was admittedly strange that the chairman of Stark Industries would take a school bullying case so seriously. But Weiman asked no questions beyond the case itself and showed zero curiosity about anything outside it. That professional restraint was precisely why he had become the go-to "gold medal lawyer" for the powerful and influential.
After all, no tycoon with money and influence was free of secrets.
Knowing too much was never a good thing.
Under Weiman's full legal authority, the verdict came down within days. Everything was done strictly according to the law: Catherine was sentenced to three years in a women's prison.
Normally, given Catherine's age, she should have been sent to a juvenile detention center. However, based on evidence provided by Attorney Weiman and official records retrieved from the civil registry, Catherine had already reached the age of eighteen and therefore had to bear full legal responsibility for her actions.
Unwilling to accept the ruling, Catherine's father filed an appeal—only to discover that no lawyer was willing to take his case. Even the attorney he had originally hired treated him like a hot potato and dropped him without hesitation.
When Weiman appeared in court on behalf of the plaintiff, it was a clear signal to every other lawyer present:
this girl had offended someone she absolutely should not have.
Anyone with half a brain knew to stay far away.
After hitting wall after wall, a well-meaning lawyer finally explained the situation to Catherine's father.
"I strongly advise you to stop appealing. Your daughter was clearly in the wrong. The other side choosing to proceed strictly by the law is already an act of mercy."
"But Catherine is really only seventeen! She shouldn't be sent to prison!" her father insisted.
His objection wasn't to the verdict itself—just the age issue. A difference of one year meant an entirely different sentence. He suspected someone had bribed the civil registry.
"This isn't bribery," the lawyer said gravely. "Your daughter's birth date, school records—everything has been altered. That's not something the civil registry could do alone. Whoever has that kind of power… you can't afford to offend."
Hearing this, Catherine's father was shaken to the core. At that point, all he could hope for was that no one else would come after him.
As for Catherine—
Three years.
Perhaps prison would finally teach her how to reflect.
When Clara heard about Catherine's sentence, she merely responded with a calm, indifferent "Oh," and said nothing more.
The so-called campus violence incident was resolved swiftly. It never made the news, was never publicly disclosed, and only a handful of people at the school even knew about it. Clara's classmates were simply told that her parents' jobs had changed and that she had transferred schools.
A few friends who had been close to Clara were sad for several days—but life soon returned to normal.
The campus remained peaceful. The administration tightened security checks at the gates and increased night patrols, determined to prevent anything like this from happening again.
Jubina Loxter, who had been placed on disciplinary probation, became completely obedient. She finally understood that if she kept acting like a bully, she would eventually end up as the next Catherine.
Jeresia Jonez, who used to be inseparable from Clara, now spent her days with other girls. After an entire week of not seeing Clara, Kade Davis finally couldn't hold back and stopped Jeresia in the hallway.
"Jeresia… why hasn't Clara come to school lately? Is she sick?"
"She transferred last week," Jeresia replied. "She went to Manhattan."
The words hit Kade like a bolt of lightning. His head buzzed.
"W–Why did she suddenly transfer?"
"Ms. Daisy said Clara's parents are working in Manhattan now, so they can finally live together. I think that's great. Before, her parents were always traveling for work—I'd been to her house several times and never saw them. Now their family's finally reunited."
Kade finally relaxed.
So it wasn't his sudden confession that had scared Clara away.
Then he laughed at himself.
As if he had that kind of power.
Before meeting Clara, Kade never believed in love at first sight. The girls who cheered for him every day on the basketball court were, to him, just clueless kids.
But he still remembered that day vividly.
A careless mistake, a scraped knee, limping into the infirmary—only to run into Clara, who had come in for medicine due to a mild cold. The nurse was out on an errand. Kade grabbed iodine and tried to disinfect the wound himself, pressing too hard by accident and baring his teeth in pain.
"Let me help you. It's just a small injury—bandage it properly and it won't even scar."
Her light, clean scent lingered at his nose. Her delicate side profile carried both youthful innocence and quiet maturity. Her rosy cheeks looked like ripe apples. And her focused expression sent ripples through his heart.
From that day on, Kade's mind was haunted by the image of a smiling girl reminding him to be more careful next time.
That encounter on the sports field had been both accidental and intentional. After lunch, he'd gone for a walk—and saw Clara and Jeresia. On impulse, he followed them.
Then he heard Clara speak.
Every word struck straight into his heart.
That was the moment he rushed forward and promised her a future—one that was mature and responsible.
MIT.
Kade believed that as long as he could get into MIT, he could stand proudly in front of Clara and ask to be with her.
His fighting spirit reignited.
Jeresia wanted to tell him that Clara never planned to apply to MIT—but then she realized that Kade would just come back later to pester her about which school Clara was attending now.
So she said nothing and walked away.
Before Clara officially started at her new school, Steve Rogers returned once. After learning what had happened, he originally intended to give her a serious lecture—but Clara sat there obediently, looking like a well-behaved elementary student, leaving him completely at a loss for words.
In the end, he was simply grateful she was safe. With Tony looking after her now, he could finally focus on finding Bucky.
"So," Tony asked casually, "have you found that other ice-cold fossil like you yet?"
Tony had learned a bit about Bucky's situation. Unlike others who believed Bucky didn't age because of injected drugs, Tony suspected he'd been cryogenically frozen—thawed when HYDRA needed him, then frozen again afterward.
It sounded… pitiful.
Clara shared the same opinion, which only further convinced Sam Wilson of his theory.
Father and daughter.
Illegitimate child.
A hidden scandal of a powerful family.
A full-blown tragic drama was already playing out in Sam's imagination.
But Sam didn't ask. Seeing how naturally Clara and Tony got along, he wasn't about to go digging for trouble.
Steve declined Tony's offer to help search for Bucky. Soon after, Steve and Sam left New York again. Clara, meanwhile, began her new school life.
Aside from occasionally missing Ms. Daisy and Jeresia, everything felt much the same as before.
Living with Tony made one thing very clear: beneath all the halos and legends, this man was, at his core, a hardcore tech geek—perfectly capable of staying inside the villa for days on end without stepping outside.
Most of the time, Tony was in the workshop tinkering with armor, occasionally inventing some random gadget.
Now, Happy Hogan showed up at the villa gate every single day on time, driving Pepper and Clara to work and school. Tony claimed Happy had never been this diligent before.
Another school day ended.
Happy was already waiting at the school entrance.
"Happy! I told you, I can walk to the company by myself—you don't have to come all this way," Clara said as she jogged up to him.
Happy shrugged. "I'm free until Pepper needs the car. Get in."
"My classmates said a new barbecue place opened at the corner up ahead—it's supposed to be amazing. Let's get some to go."
"Sounds good. I haven't had barbecue in ages."
They walked out of the restaurant, each carrying a large bag of barbecue.
Then—
As they headed toward the car, Happy watched Clara vanish into a ripple of distorted air, right before his eyes.
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T/N:
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