Chapter 42 Clara Bennett, Don’t Go Too Far

The officer responded calmly, "We’re just following standard procedure to cooperate with the investigation. Please understand and cooperate positively." Unfortunately, after a prolonged period of patient questioning, no valuable leads emerged. When Samuel Grant returned home, he felt increasingly uneasy the more he thought about it. Especially when he recalled the people he might have recently offended, only one name kept lingering in his mind - Clara Bennett. This woman usually acted decisively and ruthlessly, making it very plausible that she would do something like this. A sudden thought crossed Samuel’s mind: Could it really be her who sent someone to do this? With this suspicion, Samuel quickly picked up his phone and dialed her number, hoping to extract some clues from her. The sound from the other end of the line shattered the night’s silence as Clara, who was reading a book, contemplated ignoring the call. However, realizing the caller was persistent and refused to give up, she finally answered, unable to withstand the vexation. She clearly understood that this friend had something in mind again, and if he dared to spread rumors or provoke her without reason, she intended to give him a good thrashing tonight. A voice roared from the other end: "Clara! Are you the one behind someone roughing me up?" It was obvious that the caller’s emotions had reached a boiling point, every word brimming with anger. Hearing this, Clara was momentarily stunned, then showed a surprised but slightly curious expression, softly responding, "Oh? So you really did get hit?" Samuel continued to describe his ordeal agitatedly, "Yes! I was randomly slapped for no reason!" His words carried boundless grievance. Clara’s voice slightly raised, "Then tell me, did they hit you hard?" Her words seemed to carry a hint of teasing. Samuel paused for a bit, puzzling over whether this woman actually cared about him. He couldn’t help but secretly feel a little pleased, "Hmph, you’re good at keeping calm. Why do you care so much about me? Could it be that I still hold a place in your heart?" His tone carried a teasing note. Faced with such an unreasonable suspicion, Clara rolled her eyes dramatically and replied, quite impatiently, "Please don’t overestimate yourself. I’m just inquiring about the severity of your injuries, as it might help with my future plans. If it turns out to be really bad, I’ll set off fireworks in celebration. If it’s not too serious, I’ll silently thank the kind soul who helped you, because of them, the world has a bit more positivity. Ah, it truly is a case of ’evil meets evil, and karma ensues’!" Every word she uttered sounded utterly sincere. Samuel getting beaten up was no surprise at all. After all, there’s an old saying that goes: ’Good brings good, evil brings evil.’ This time, the lesson he received seemed like he had brought it upon himself, digging his own grave. If it wasn’t for revenge, then the person meting out punishment was either a warrior speaking out against injustice or a philanthropist usually accumulating good deeds. Imagine Samuel unexpectedly assaulted while walking peacefully down the street. Clearly, this was the result of his past transgressions igniting public resentment and anger. Frustration and anger filled every cell in Samuel’s body, making it feel difficult even to breathe. Especially when a slip of the tongue worsened the pain in his facial injuries, causing him to be enraged: "Clara! I’m not blind; I know it was you who instigated others to teach me a lesson! You had someone else give me a hard time! I’ve already explained everything as per your request, isn’t that enough for you?" After hearing this outburst of accusations, Clara displayed a triumphant smile. Clearly, Samuel’s outburst was due to this incident. She grinned maliciously as she said to him, "Oh, so you did get slapped, huh? This really has nothing to do with me, so don’t accuse others at random. If I was involved, I’d definitely admit it. But honestly, isn’t it possible that you’ve been saying too much crazy stuff and someone finally couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to teach you a lesson?" "Clara! Don’t go too far!" Samuel stomped anxiously, his face turning bright red, his eyes almost spitting fire. Seeing him so furious made Clara feel even more satisfied. She smiled smugly and teasingly said, "I like going too far, so what? What can you do about it, Mr. Grant? You seem to be wandering outside still, right? Do you know the saying? ’A mouse crossing the street gets everyone to shout and chase it away.’ Since you’ve been taught a lesson, why not roll back home and hide quickly? Oh, did you still hang around the streets like a dog today?" This hit the most sensitive nerve in Samuel. He involuntarily recalled the humiliating scenario of himself begging William Foster for money like a dog, the feeling of shame and disgust making him tremble all over. Even worse, at this moment, he redirected this resentment toward William Foster. Clara bringing this up was practically rubbing salt into his wounds, driving him to the edge of breakdown. In a burst of anger, Samuel cursed, "Clara, you’re asking for it..." However, his threat was cut short as the call was abruptly ended. The other end unceremoniously added him to the blacklist. Who would want to listen to a madman roar? After hanging up the phone, Clara went back to studying her script with focus. Her fingers gently flipped through the pages, and she couldn’t help but wonder who had actually been so ruthless. She quickly speculated that it might have been William Foster’s doing. During the day, he had mentioned wanting to teach Samuel a lesson. He also said he would follow her advice, but that’s no guarantee he wouldn’t secretly take revenge. In fact, Clara didn’t want William Foster to make enemies because of her, especially with someone like Samuel Grant. She furrowed her brow slightly, considering the already complicated situation; reducing unnecessary enemies would be much safer, especially given their family’s already difficult position. Moreover, after the three-year contract ended, they could go their separate ways, never disturbing each other again. At that time, pursuing their own lives would be the way to go. With that, she decided to call William Foster to probe the matter. As soon as the phone rang, it was answered. Answering in a particularly cold tone, "Hello, who is this?" The strangers’ tone was so unfamiliar, as if he didn’t recognize the caller ID at all. She didn’t expect William Foster to answer calls from strangers in such a manner. Their previous interactions involved him contacting her actively, treating her very kindly and tenderly.