"I'll relay your decision to Dr. Sterling Senior."
Noah knew exactly what Harrison was doing.
He was sacrificing Reggie to make amends with the esteemed doctor.
It wasn't that they feared offending a young girl, but rather that wronging her had directly provoked Dr. Sterling Senior's fury.
And Dr. Sterling Senior was a man who had the ear of the most powerful politicians in the nation.
"Noah, you're a remarkably smart kid. I only hope the Darwin family doesn't become a chain around your neck."
Noah remained silent.
The Darwins would never be a burden to him.
Because he couldn't care less if the family burned to the ground.
Seeing the boy's silence, Harrison could easily guess what was running through his mind.
But what could Harrison possibly do?
He was old and dying; he couldn't micromanage everything anymore.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sterling Senior arranged for a driver to take Claire home. Before leaving, he promised her that Reggie would face consequences.
"Don't worry, Claire. Harrison still has an iron grip on his family. He won't let you suffer any indignity."
"I wasn't wronged," Claire replied, utterly unfazed by a trust-fund degenerate like Reggie.
As long as someone wasn't holding a gun to her head, she always had a way of destroying them.
She was only concerned that Harrison might ultimately shield his own blood.
"Rest assured, Harrison knows what's at stake. He absolutely will not protect that idiot."
"Okay."
Claire simply brushed it off.
If it came down to Reggie actually facing severe consequences, would Harrison really stay completely impartial?
If he were truly unbiased, the Darwin family wouldn't have decayed to this pathetic state in the first place.
Once Claire got home, she removed her makeup and immediately crashed onto her bed.
She had barely settled in when Dane called.
"You home?"
It was as if Dane had security cameras monitoring her every move.
"Just got into bed." Exhaustion laced her voice.
Dane noticed immediately and told her to get some rest.
"I'll pick you up at noon tomorrow. Sleep in as long as you want."
"Sounds perfect," Claire agreed without hesitation.
She was thrilled at the prospect of not setting an alarm.
"Goodnight." Knowing she was fading fast, Dane didn't keep her on the line.
Claire ended the call quickly.
Performing the intricate acupuncture had completely drained her energy. She slept straight through until eleven the next morning.
If her alarm hadn't finally gone off, she probably would have kept sleeping.
Eleven wasn't early by any stretch; it was basically rolling out of bed at noon.
Claire rubbed her empty stomach, feeling ravenous enough to eat an entire horse.
She had just finished freshening up when Dane's call came through.
"Hello?" Claire answered while slipping into fresh clothes.
Dane's voice was warm. "Are you up?"
"Yeah, I'm changing. I'll be down in a minute."
"No rush, take your time. I won't be
for
ten minutes." Svels het
You garage for andet
Dane said that, but in reality, he was already pulling into the complex.
He waited patiently in the garage for minutes before carrying
exactly
breakfast up to her door
He rang the bell just as Claire finished styling her hair.
"Coming!"
Claire sprinted to the door in her slippers and yanked it open.
"Why did you come all the way up?"
"I could have just come down." Claire felt terrible making him come to her door.
Her apartment wasn't exactly spotless.
She didn't stay here often, and the housekeeper only cleaned once a week.
She hadn't bothered tidying up during her brief stay over the past two days.
Dane didn't mind in the slightest.
In families like theirs, there were
always housekeepers to handle the
chores so manual labor was expected.
never
Even if Dane and Claire got married, he would never expect her to do housework.
He was a billionaire; why would he ever force his wife to scrub floors?
What was the point of making all that money if he couldn't provide a comfortable life?
"I figured you'd sleep in and skip breakfast, so I brought you something."