Chapter 395: Dominating
Richard followed behind them. By the time he caught up, he had just witnessed Frederick announce, “We’re going home,” and sweep Claire into his arms. At that moment, there was only one word to describe Frederick—dominating. Man, Frederick was really showing his power. Antony definitely hadn’t expected Frederick to pull something like this the moment he arrived.
He watched as Frederick carried Claire toward the exit and quickly rushed after them. “Frederick, Clairey’s wounds haven’t healed yet. Where are you taking her? She can’t leave the hospital, the doctors…”
That affectionate “Clairey” made Frederick’s anger surge again. He turned around, fixing Antony with an icy stare, his deep eyes filled with a dangerous glint. “Doctors? With the Hawthorne family’s resources, what kind of doctor can’t I get? What kind of care can’t I provide? I can hire ten private nurses to watch her around the clock if I want to.”
Antony fell into silence. Claire quickly shook her head at Antony, signaling him not to follow. She’d known Frederick was furious the moment she saw those videos. The gap between Antony and Frederick’s power was just too big. There was no point in letting Antony get on Frederick’s bad side over something so small.
Seeing Claire’s warning look, Antony stopped in his tracks. He stood there, fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white, veins popping on the backs of his hands as his joints cracked audibly. “Frederick, there’s no way Claire’s going to stay with you,” Antony thought.
After Frederick and Claire left, Richard naturally followed them out. Frederick carried Claire all the way to the car, carefully settling her into the back seat. Richard hurried to get in the driver’s seat, starting up the car for their drive back to the Halfmoon Manor. An hour later, they arrived at the manor.
Frederick got out of the car and took a few steps before suddenly turning back. “Did anyone record the video of Claire and me?”
“Huh?” Richard took a second to catch on, then remembered how the earlier video had shown Antony carrying Claire. Frederick had carried her out of the hospital in exactly the same way.
“Yeah, yeah, our people were recording the whole time,” Richard quickly answered, though he was laughing his head off inside. Oh man, who knew Frederick could be this adorable? Had things really gotten to this point, getting jealous over something this tiny?
Frederick seemed to catch onto something, too. “Have all the videos of Antony and Claire edited—replace them with footage of me and her instead. We can’t afford any media drama right now, not when the presidential race is at such a critical point.”
“Oh. Right.” Richard nodded blankly, feeling a bit lost. This was weird. It really did seem like everything Frederick did was calculated for his presidential campaign. Had Richard been wrong this whole time? Maybe Frederick’s feelings toward Claire hadn’t changed at all. After all, Anna’s death was still an unsolved mystery hanging between them. Richard was utterly confused now. But he decided to let this matter go. It didn’t matter what he thought he knew or understood. His job was simple—follow Frederick’s orders and get things done.
“Head back to the Security Department and bring all the documents needing my signature to my house. I’ll be working from home for the next few days,” Frederick continued, “Also, reach out to the media for some PR. You know what narrative to push.”
After giving a few more instructions, Frederick turned and headed into the villa. “Yes, General Hawthorne. I’ll get right on it,” Richard said with a respectful nod before heading straight back to the Security Department. Claire, who’d walked ahead, was already in the villa’s living room. She’d just changed her shoes and settled onto the sofa when Frederick walked in behind her.
“Look, Frederick, it’s not what you think between Antony and me. He’s always been good to me and saved my life several times. I’m just grateful to him. I know he has feelings for me, but I can’t return them, so I see him as a brother.”
She continued, “It’s just like what I had with Harrison, nothing more. This won’t affect the Hawthorne family or your presidential campaign. I know I wasn’t being careful these past few days, but don’t worry. I’ll watch myself from now on.”
Claire explained all this because she was worried Frederick might go after Antony about what happened at the hospital. But out of everything Claire said, Frederick only latched onto one thing.
“Oh? So, you see him as a brother?” he sneered. His face was dark, and his smile dripped with sarcasm. Claire turned to meet his gaze. “Yes.”
“Claire, you really expect anyone to buy that nothing’s going on between you two? Even an idiot could see through that.”
Frederick’s blood boiled as memories flooded his mind—all those years of playing the caring brother-sister act, those intimate moments under the guise of friendship. He didn’t even bother taking off his shoes, lunging forward to pin Claire against the couch.
“Brother and sister? Real close, huh? It must have been cozy spending all those days at the hospital together. Just how many times did you sneak around?”