Chapter 103
After Max stormed out with Ronald, my apartment felt eerily silent. Having finished their duties, the cleaning crew lined up beside the couch, awaiting my orders. It felt odd being waited on like this, so I suggested, “Maybe you guys can head out? I think I’ve got everything
covered
here p>
They exchanged puzzled looks before one of them informed me with a polite smile, “Mr. Collins instructed us to stay with you at the apartment p>
I frowned slightly, uncomfortable with the arrangement, but decided to change clothes and head out anyway.
“Ms. Floyd, where are you going?” one of them dared to ask.
“What, did Mr. Collins send you to keep tabs on me? Do I need to report my whereabouts now p>
I had planned to visit Gabrielle to discuss some matters concerning my parents. The servants didn’t dare respond. However, as I opened the door, I found Gabrielle standing there, looking as if she was on the verge of falling apart.
“Claire, I’m so sorry.” She pulled me into a hug. “I just found out what Claude did to you, and I’m here to apologize on his behalf, okay p>
I stayed rigid in her embrace, not moving or speaking. Knowing Claude, she wouldn’t have told Gabrielle about last night. How did Gabrielle find out?
“Claire, I know I pushed you to marry Claude, and I was wrong.” Her tears were worrying, so I led her inside to sit down.
Gabrielle continued, “Claire, I know Claude has wronged you, but please don’t punish him. His law firm is facing a huge crisis. If he can’t get through this, all his years of hard work at establishing Crestview Metropolis’s top law firm will have been for nothing. Do you understand how hard it was for him to build that from the ground up p>
I looked at her, my brows furrowed, as she seemed to come to ask for my help for her son.
But what could I possibly do?
“Mrs. Hart, his firm’s troubles aren’t because of me.” I tried to pull away from Gabrielle’s grasp, aiming to sit further away, but she clung tighter.
Gabrielle blurted out, “The Hilton family p>
I was confused. “The Hilton family? I have nothing to do with them p>
“No, you do, Claire. The Hart family
has been hiding something from you
for years. Gabrielle added, “When t
Alan was alive, he left 2% of the sharesto me, asking me to adopt you into the Hart family name p>
QUMS
I was getting more confused by the minute.
“When I recklessly married Claude’s father, who had nothing, and Claude was born. When Claude was fifteen, the Hilton family came for us, wanting to separate us, and sent your parents to fetch me. As they were taking me away, Claude’s father chased after us, and there was an accident. Being the good souls they were, your parents tried to save Claude, which led to an explosion. Claude survived, but your parents and Claude’s father did not p>
My heart stopped for a moment. So, everything Claude had said was true.
“It was a huge scandal at the time, and wanting to avoid fallout, the Hilton family gave me 2% of the shares, claiming your parents were just bodyguards for the Hart family unrelated to the Hilton family. We were too grief-stricken to consider the impact on you, so you were left in an orphanage until the media found out and blasted the Hart family for being ungrateful. Claude was starting his career at
twenty-two, so we had no choice but to bring you, a ten-year-old, back to the Hart family p>
I struggled to breathe, fighting back tears. I was completely overwhelmed by the shock and horror of it all.