Female Novel
Chapter 369
Two people were in the middle of a verbal tussle when a familiar voice suddenly pierced the air fromoutside. "Ian, Clara, get your butts out here!"
At the sound of that voice, everyone turned their heads toward the door. Paolo stormed in, his facea thundercloud of fury.
Seeing Edwin and Ian practically hugging it out, he spat out angrily, "Edwin, do you have any ideayour sister's been roughed up in jail, beaten black and blue? And it's all thanks to Ian's goons. Yethere you are, playing buddy-buddy with him. How can you look Heidi in the eye after playing theprotective brother for over twenty years?"
Edwin's previously amused eyes turned ice-cold in an instant. His lips curled into a sneer. "Ifsomeone hadn't switched her out, she wouldn't even have the right to call me 'brother'!"
"It's not her fault, though. She knew nothing about that mess. Why make her carry the blame?"
"I didn't want her to carry it. She brought it on herself. If it weren't for her, Clara wouldn't have beenin danger time and time again. Do you have any idea how bad it would have been if Clara had beenin that car that day?"
Hearing Edwin defend Clara so passionately, Paolo's face turned beet red with anger.
Pointing an accusing finger at Edwin, he bellowed, "So you’d throw Heidi to the wolves for somerandom dame? What's so special about Clara that you'd all go to the mat for her? No wonder theBell family can't stand her. Just like her mother, she’s a man-eater—a regular femme fatale. Anddon’t you forget, she's Ian's girl. No matter how nice you are to her, she won't leave him for you."
At these words, Marian, who had been sitting quietly on the couch, suddenly darkened with rage.She marched up to Paolo and slapped him squarely across the face. Her voice was venomous,
"Paolo, who the hell do you think you are to talk about Clara like that?"novelbin
Paolo, who had never been hit before, was about to explode in anger when he was met by Marian'spiercing glare. He stared at her in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"The day I found out you betrayed May, I lost a son-in-law. If you slander Clara again, believe me,I’ll have someone break your legs!"
Paolo, bewildered, stared at her. "Even if Heidi isn't a York by blood, she's called you 'grandma' forover twenty years. How can you all just turn your backs on her like that? Do you know how muchshe's suffering? She thinks about ending it all every day."
"That's on her," Marian responded sharply. "If she hadn't been so vile, I might have overlookedeverything for the sake of her calling me 'grandma' for so long. But she's cold-blooded, cunning, andevil, even to the point of murder. Doesn’t someone like that deserve to face the law? Paolo, if youkeep messing with Clara, I wouldn't hesitate to use the York family's power against you. If you don’tbelieve me, just wait and see!"
Marian spoke with such finality that it left no room for argument.
Paolo looked at her in disbelief. "Why are you all protecting Clara like this? For her sake, you’dignore whether Heidi lives or dies. Who is she, to make you, who usually stay out of worldly affairs,call upon the York family's influence?"