Chapter 24
She paid the compensation, covered the fines, and even
apologized to the victims‘ families.
The officers, watching the legal wife handle everything so
calmly, couldn’t help feeling surprised.
Clarinda caught on and explained without hesitation. “We’re
already divorced. The only thing missing is the paperwork.”
One officer whistled in admiration. “An ex–wife who can do all
this, rare indeed.”
Clarinda didn’t reply.
She thought to herself, “It’s fine. I’m being paid.”
She was simply earning her money by fixing someone else’s
mess.
It was Cecily who’d sent her here, and she was still waiting
outside.
Once Clarinda wrapped things up, she didn’t bother speaking to
Corbin again. She just walked out of the station.
Chapter 24
Unlike the sunny morning, the sky had turned heavy and dark,
though it was only just past three.
A light rain was falling, the chill wind driving the damp straight
through her clothes. Clarinda felt cold down to her bones.
Corbin followed her out, calling after her. “Don’t let Grandma
and the others hear about today!”
“Okay!”
Clarinda nodded, agreeing without hesitation. “I know.”
With the Alden family’s influence, this mess was easy to cover
- up.
The only reason Corbin hadn’t used his family’s connections
was that he didn’t want them to find out. Once they dug deeper,
they wouldn’t spare the real culprit.
He was shielding Adrienne. Clarinda understood that.
Corbin’s gaze never left her, and he asked with a faint smile,
“Are you angry?”
“I’m not.”
“Really not?”
Chapter 24
“Really not.”
Corbin searched her face for signs. “Then come on, I’ll drive you
two home.”
You two.
He’d once promised Adrienne would move out.
Clearly, he’d broken that promise.
Clarinda was almost glad that ever since discovering his affair
with Adrienne, she hadn’t once thought of trusting him again.
Trust, to her, had always been a luxury.
She’d given it to Corbin once. There wouldn’t be a second time.
Corbin’s gaze swept past Adrienne behind him, his voice calm.
“No need, Cecily’s waiting for me.”
“Clarinda-”
Sensing something was off, Corbin caught her wrist. “Wait!”
Clarinda tried to pull free, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he
turned back to Adrienne. “Go wait in the car.”
“Alright. Talk things through with Clara.”
Chapter 24
Adrienne kept her composure, but her fists clenched tight.
Before getting in the car, she shot Clarinda a sharp glare.
Corbin’s thumb brushed the inside of Clarinda’s wrist. He
hesitated, then said, “About the hospital last time, you injured
Adrienne. She agreed not to press charges, to let it go. I also
promised her we’d hold off on the moving situation.“”
It was clearly just payback in kind, but now he was acting as
though Adrienne were generous for not pursuing it.
And as though he himself were reluctantly compromising for
Clarinda’s sake, forced by circumstance to let his lover stay on in
their home.
As if they were all paying the price for Clarinda’s so–called
impulsiveness and troublemaking.
“What if I want to press charges?”
“What?”
“I was shoved down from that height, cracked my head open,
bled all over, and I can’t go to the police?”
Clarinda’s gaze stayed steady on him. “If I had reported it that
day, what would you have done? You’d only have been
thinking about how to clean up Adrienne’s mess, right?”
Chapter 24
What she’d overheard on the hospital balcony still struck her as
almost ridiculous.
She had been that badly hurt, yet her husband’s first instinct
was to worry about another woman.
A flicker of shock crossed Corbin’s face. Clarinda caught it,
unsurprised, her voice even as she laid it bare.
“As long as you wanted to, even if she had called the cops, you’d
have a hundred ways to shut it down. You’d make sure it
amounted to nothing. The reason you agreed to let her keep
living here wasn’t because of me. It was because of you.”
He wanted this. He was happy to share his roof and his days
with his lover.
So why force her to carry the blame?
At five foot four, Clarinda didn’t quite measure up to him, but
she stood her ground. Her voice was steady, almost detached, as
she simply stated the truth.
Corbin couldn’t summon a single rebuttal. For a moment, he felt
disoriented. The well–mannered woman he knew had suddenly
turned sharp–tongued and unflinching.
If it had been anyone else, he would have brushed it off. But
Chapter 24
faced with Clarinda’s clear, steady eyes, he couldn’t bring
himself to lie.
The rain came down harder. Corbin walked to the car, pulled an
umbrella from the trunk, and pressed it into her hand.
“Give me some time. I’ll take care of Adrienne.”
L
Clarinda knew exactly what she was asking. She only smiled
faintly. “Can you really cut her off completely?”
Her relentless questioning sparked something in him, and
Corbin’s temper flared. He frowned and snapped coldly, “Clara,
she’s my sister–in–law, my nephew’s mother. How could I
possibly sever ties? Not everyone grows up without family-”
He stopped halfway.
Without family what?
Clarinda’s pale, slender fingers tightened around the umbrella.
Her lashes, damp with rain, lifted slightly as her voice caught.
“Not everyone’s an orphan without blood ties, right?”
While Corbin stood in silence, Clarinda no longer cared for his
answer. She bent down, set the umbrella by his feet, and walked
toward Cecily’s car.
Chapter 24
Watching her slim figure retreat, Corbin felt a sudden panic, his
anger dissipating in an instant. “When are you coming home?”
Clarinda paused, but didn’t look back. “Later. The clinic’s been
too busy lately.”
She had no intention of going back.
After all, Corbin was always occupied. The days she’d been
overseas, he hadn’t even noticed she hadn’t returned home
once.
Lateefa Khanam is a spirited writer who finds freedom in horse riding. She cherishes her mare and the newborn foal, calling them her little happy family.
