Chapter 110: The Wolves

Frederick was momentarily speechless. He suddenly stood, towering over Claire, and pressed her firmly against the couch.

“What now? You claim you disgust me, yet you’re throwing yourself at me again?” she sneered. Claire’s heart pounded, but she met his gaze with a mocking smile.

“Do you think it’s your face that mesmerizes everyone? Or do you think you have a one-of-a-kind body?” Frederick spat, releasing her chin with a harsh shove before storming out. “Go back!”

Claire followed him. “Let’s hope you keep that distance from me,” she muttered. Years of love and heartbreak had hardened her. She wanted nothing to do with Frederick anymore. Being near him terrified her. She feared that if they had one more moment of intimacy, her resolve would crumble, and she’d fall for him again.

She quickened her pace to catch up, climbing into the car beside him for the ride home. Neither of them spoke as the car sped along the quiet road. Midway through, Caroline’s call broke the silence.

“Frederick, what’s going on with you and Claire? It’s all over the internet. There’s no issue, right? I’ve been busy studying for exams, and I just saw it,” Caroline said sweetly. Caroline was just pretending to care. Ever since Christmas Eve, Caroline had believed Claire was dead. She thought she was drowned in the icy lake. She and Diana hadn’t bothered to investigate further. But when news broke of Frederick and Claire in the slums, she panicked. She hurriedly called Diana, and Diana was also confused. By the time Diana uncovered the truth, Caroline was furious. But she knew she had to stay calm. This morning, Diana informed her that Frederick had taken Claire to the Hawthorne Manor. Even Nathan seemed to have tacitly approved of Claire’s presence. After what had happened four years ago, she thought Claire had no chance of being accepted by Nathan.

Yet now, a single trending headline had shifted everything, and Nathan actually acquiesced to Claire and Frederick being together. No matter whether Claire and Frederick could get married in the end, Nathan’s attitude had already made Caroline panic.

“Someone caught us on video, that’s all. Nothing major,” Frederick said indifferently. His tone was dismissive, as if Caroline didn’t matter.

“Oh, alright,” Caroline replied, though her hand gripped the phone tightly. Since Frederick said so, there was nothing else Caroline could say. She hung up the phone.

As soon as the call ended, her facade crumbled. She erupted in a storm of rage, smashing and throwing anything within reach.

“Why? I’ve worked so hard for four years to stand by Frederick’s side! Why does Claire get everything handed to her just because of one headline? She even gets Nathan’s approval! What was the point of all my effort? What was it for?” Caroline was smashing and shouting madly.

Frederick didn’t know that. He thought Caroline might still have a grudge against Claire because… He knew nothing about Caroline’s feelings for him. To him, his concern for her was born out of years of obligation. Her sister Anna had died, and her brother had sacrificed himself for him, and Caroline’s troubled family had earned her his protection. After all, Caroline’s father, Kestan Beaumont, was a gambler, and her mother, Fife Beaumont, disappeared without a trace because of events surrounding the Prescott family that year. But he had never loved her, not the way he loved Anna. He looked after her as if she was his sister. It was nothing like what he had with Anna. Frederick’s strong feelings for Anna stemmed from when he was a child and Ama risked her life to save him. He had always remembered clearly over the years what had happened in that cold cave. He had injured himself, and Anna, though young, had been taking care of him. She had almost been devoured by wolves that day.