Chapter 6 Fainting (Part One)

Despite the huge event Claire had been involved with, no one seemed to care about her. No one even asked how she was feeling.

Life went on for Claire, as if nothing happened at all.

Therefore, Claire just spent her time working overtime, and didn't come home until her family was all asleep. She always got up early in the morning and took the subway to reach her workplace.

No matter how hard she tried to avoid encountering her family, it didn't bring her complete peace.

"Claire, are you so busy with work now? You leave so early and come home too late. We don't see you at all." It was obvious that Mia was faking her kindness as she spoke to Claire while they were having dinner.

They rarely ate dinner together, let alone talk together as a family. Claire felt that Mia was just being sarcastic, so she just ignored her and took a mouthful of food.

Because of this, Linford dropped his chopsticks on the table. "Do you think I want you to stay at home? I just don't want you to go out and let us get humiliated." It seemed like he was utterly disappointed in Claire.

It had been a month, but her father was still angry. Claire didn't know whether she should be glad or worried. On the one hand, she should be glad that her father was angry but he still treated her as his daughter.

After all, no matter how hard Mia and Fiona tried to sow discord between them, he had no intention of driving her out of the house.

On the other hand, she was sad because Linford still didn't believe her.

All of a sudden, Fiona picked up a piece of braised pork into Linford's bowl. "Don't be angry at Claire, Dad. She has grown up and has her own ideas now. I actually envy her because I have always been thoughtless and can't live without you and Mom."

It sounded like Fiona was defending Claire, but Linford only got even angrier. While glaring at Claire, he replied, "Yes, you're right. She is grown up now." But when he turned to his little daughter, his eyes softened and his lips formed into a smile. "My Fiona is the best. If you can't live without us, then just stay home and be my sweet daughter forever."

This scene put a sad smile on Claire's lips. This often happened before, but at that time, she thought it was just because she didn't know how to communicate with her father. Now she had realized that she was just never as good as Fiona in her father's heart.

Not wanting to quarrel with these people at the table, she wolfed down her meal and excused herself to take a walk outside.

They hardly talked to each other, and she had never heard such sweet words from anyone in her family. It had been like this for the past month. No, it had been like this since time immemorial.

Looking up at the windows of their house from the outside, Claire thought of how much she wanted not to go back to this so-called home.

However, she had no other choice but to stay. After all, considering her salary, she couldn't afford to rent an apartment in J City. It already took her several month's savings to buy this new phone.

'Forget it. One should be more thick-skinned to live better.' Wait, what did she mean by thick-skinned? It was not as if she did anything wrong. In the first place, this had always been her home.

While Claire was busy with her thoughts, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket so she stopped walking. She took out her phone and was stunned to see Lucas's name on the screen again.

Since that incident, Claire had been wondering whether she should tell him the truth or not. She had also thought of breaking up with him directly. It was because she loved him so much that she didn't want to make things difficult for him.

But then again, they had been together for so many years, so how could Claire be willing to do that? That was why even after a month, she still hadn't made up her mind.

In the end, she sighed and pressed the answer key. "Hello, Lucas."

"Claire, you finally answered your phone! What happened?"

The moment she heard her boyfriend's voice, the defense line in her heart seemed to break in an instant.

It was just a simple question, but it brought up what happened a month ago. So tears fell down from her face like pearls with broken threads.

Holding back her sobs, Claire simultaneously bit her lip and gritted her teeth. "Lucas, I'm fine. I just lost my phone a few days ago, so I wasn't able to contact you."

To be honest, Claire had bought this phone a week ago, but she didn't know how to face Lucas, so she used this as an excuse to avoid him.

After a moment of silence, Lucas replied, "Claire, are you hiding from me? I haven't seen you since I came back."

If only he knew how she had been looking forward to his return every day and night when he was away. There was never a time that she didn't miss the man she loved.

But as soon as he came back...

Alas, she really didn't know what to do now. "No, I didn't..." Maybe it was because she was crying or because she was nervous as she remembered what happened last month that she found it hard to explain. "I..."

To her surprise, Lucas suddenly chuckled. "Don't be silly. I was just joking. I'll visit you in your company to bring some food for you and then leave."

This was probably the warmest words Claire had heard this month, and these words made her heart ache more.

"Lucas, we..." What she meant to tell him was that they should break up, but Claire swallowed the words back because she didn't really want to leave him. "You must be very busy since you just came back.

Wait for me instead.

I'll come to visit you once I'm done with everything."

"Okay, I'll wait for you," said Lucas in a gentle voice. As soon as the call ended, Claire couldn't help bursting into tears. There was no one on the road anyway, so she let herself cry her heart out. It was against her will to sleep with that man. She would never want to hurt her man, nor humiliate herself.

Thinking that Lucas loved her so much, Claire thought that maybe he could understand her. Their love for each other was so strong that no one could tear them apart, wasn't it?

But at the thought of how her family, who she used to think loved her most, treated her after knowing what happened, how could she believe what she thought? They said blood was thicker than water, but her family didn't support her. Therefore, it was impossible that Lucas would understand her, right? With a sigh, Claire decided to just let it be. Things might go on as time went by, wouldn't they?

Thinking of this, Claire stood up and wiped her tears. 'Yes, take your time. You have to go to work tomorrow, just go back first.'