Semua Bab Reborn Heiress: Claiming Power And Pleasure : Bab 1 - Bab 8

Clara, there's something we've been meaning to tell you... it's been on our minds for a long time."You're actually not our biological daughter."In the sleek living room of the Bennett family villa, Clara Bennett sat calmly on a luxurious Italian leather sofa.Across from her, Vivian Thompson set down her fine bone china teacup and dropped a bombshell.Before Clara could say anything, Robert Bennett spoke up with a heavy tone from the other side of the sofa."Yeah. The hospital messed up years ago. We just found our real daughter, Rachel. She's been struggling in the countryside all this time."He paused, eyes narrowing as he looked straight at Clara. "Now that Rachel's back, it's only right you return to your birth family."Robert studied her carefully, expecting tears, panic, maybe even begging.But Clara just sat there, quietly listening, not the slightest change in her expression.Vivian got a little anxious seeing her so calm. She quickly added, "Sweetie, don't blame us for bein

Nancy led Clara into the inner room a bit nervously, lifting the old but clean curtain. "Clara, this is your dad."Then she turned to the man lying in bed and added gently, "Honey, this is our daughter... Clara."The dim light flickered softly, casting shadows over the thin man propped against the bedframe, a light blanket covering his lower body. His face was pale, but his eyes—despite the years of illness—were unexpectedly clear. The moment he laid eyes on Clara, a light sparked in them. "Good... You're back, that's all that matters. Sorry I look like this, hope I didn't scare you."Clara's heart clenched a little at his plain, heartfelt words.Without any hesitation, she walked up and sat by the bed."Dad," she said naturally, like she'd called him that a thousand times before. "Can I take a look at your leg? I've studied a bit of medicine."Her words left everyone momentarily stunned—Sean, her father; Nancy; and even her older siblings: Michael, David, and Emily, who'd just gotten

The registrar's office had moved over summer break and nobody had updated the school website. Clara found this out after climbing to the fourth floor, being told by a bored work-study student that it was actually on the seventh now, climbing three more floors, and arriving at a frosted glass door with a sign that said *Enrollment & Records* and a waiting area with four chairs and a number machine that printed numbers on the kind of thin thermal paper that curls at the edges.She took a number. Sat down. Opened her folder.She'd had the documents notarized twice because the first notary had stamped the wrong field. She'd caught it herself, gone back, gotten it fixed without making a fuss. That was three weeks ago. She'd been carrying the folder since then, checking it occasionally the way you check your pockets for your keys — not because you think they're gone, just because the cost of being wrong is too high.Number seven was being served. She was fourteen.She settled in and waited.

Chapter 7Nicholas didn't go looking for information on Clara Howard the night of the reception.He waited two days. Which, for him, was unusual.He was not someone who let things sit. When something didn't add up he dealt with it — pulled the thread, found the end, moved on. It was how he'd run Evans Group since he was twenty-eight and it was how he ran most things in his life. Loose ends made him uncomfortable in a way he'd stopped apologizing for.Clara Howard was a loose end.He knew it the second she'd said *correcting something* and walked away. The way she'd said it — easy, clean, no drama behind it — like she was describing something as simple as returning a library book. But her eyes when she said it were something else entirely. Settled in a way that didn't come from nowhere. The kind of settled that comes after a decision has already been made and the only thing left is execution.He'd watched her work the Donwell rep from across the room. Fourteen minutes. The man had come