Right now, the quickest solution was to find someone for a marriage of convenience, adopt Lulu, and then get a divorce.

But she didn't know the backgrounds of the people in town. If she ran into trouble, she wouldn't even have time to escape.

Clara thought long and hard and finally thought of one person—Ethan.

She didn't know if he had a partner, but he seemed like the responsible type.

But how could she bring it up?

Clara walked through the vegetable market holding Lulu’s hand, her mind still preoccupied with this question, completely failing to notice the two people coming toward her.

"Clara?"

Arthur looked at the woman who had vanished two months ago in utter disbelief.

He had turned the world upside down and finally found her current address through her email logs.

But who was she holding?

The little girl was bright-eyed and looked about the same age as Leo; she couldn't be Clara's child.

Arthur felt slightly relieved and quickened his pace.

The moment Clara saw the two of them, her heart sank.

Lulu noticed her unease and worriedly gave their joined hands a little tug. She looked up, confused, and called out, "Mama?"

Arthur, having just reached them, caught that single word: "Mama!"

His footsteps jerked to a halt. He couldn't believe his ears.

In just two short months, she had already started a new family?

Leo, hearing a stranger call Clara "Mama," also felt a surge of resentment. He shouted, "That's

my

Mama!"

The overbearing voice snapped Clara back to reality. She immediately picked Lulu up and turned to leave. "They're strangers. Don't speak to them if you see them again."

Lulu nodded obediently, clinging to Clara’s neck. In her heart, she felt a flicker of fear, worried that her Mama might be stolen away.

Leo, possessing the typical temperament of a young master, had never been treated this way. He chased after her, screaming, "Stop right there, Wicked Witch!"

He ran up and grabbed her clothes, refusing to let her go, shouting, "How dare you let someone else call you Mama! I won't allow it! I won't!"

Two months later, and Leo was still just as insufferable.

Clara pulled her skirt from his grip and stared at him indifferently. "Who are you? I don't know you."

Leo was stunned.

He never expected his mother would actually ignore him.

In the past, no matter how outrageous he was, Clara would always do exactly as he commanded.

Clara raised her eyes to Arthur and got straight to the point. "There is nothing between us anymore. Please stay away from me and stop interfering with my life."

Arthur stared blankly at her familiar yet foreign face. Those eyes, which used to be filled only with him, were now cold and clear, reflecting nothing of his image.

He hadn't spent two grueling months searching just to hear this.

"Clara, stop playing around. I was wrong this time. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Whatever you say, I’ll do it."

He had lowered his stance so significantly—did Clara still intend to be so difficult?

But he didn't see the softening or forgiveness he expected in her eyes.

She only looked at him with indifference, mixed with a hint of pity. "Then never appear before me again. I feel sick just looking at you now."

Arthur didn't believe it. How could someone who loved him so much turn into this?

He reached out to grab her, but Clara dodged instantly, as if terrified of even a second of contact.

A woman nearby noticed the commotion and stepped forward. "Miss, do you need help?"

Clara nodded. "Please call the police."

The police arrived quickly and took Arthur and Leo away on grounds of harassment.

No matter how many times Arthur insisted they were husband and wife, Clara’s answer remained the same: "He's lost his mind. We are not married."

As night fell, Clara coaxed Lulu to sleep and sat alone by the door, lost in thought.

Why had Arthur found this place? What was his goal?

Did he still think she was the same person who would return to him with just a bit of sweet talk?

Her gaze drifted until she saw a familiar figure across the road.

"Clara, we need to talk."

Arthur stood on the other side of the path, his voice earnest.

After being detained at the station for a day, he had finally calmed down.

A conversation was inevitable.

Clara stood up and walked over, maintaining a significant distance. "Speak."

Her distant attitude left Arthur unsure of how to begin.

He had never been so hesitant.

She looked at his disheveled, unshaven state with a sense of daze.

There were so many times in the past when she had dreamed of Arthur being this desperate for her. Now the dream had come true, but it was far too late.

"Clara, I was wrong. I shouldn't have had anything to do with Mia."

"I saw the things you sent. I really didn't know she was saying those things about you behind your back. If I had known sooner..."

Clara cut him off. "If you had known sooner, you would have just given a half-hearted apology and considered the matter settled."

"I know you too well. If you're just here to say these useless things, then forget it."

"If you're here to convince me to go back, forget that too. My life here is wonderful and free—far more peaceful than it ever was by your side."

"Being by your side is a cage, a grave."

"Arthur, you make me feel like I’m suffocating."

She had said these words in her heart countless times, but out of consideration for her crumbling marriage, she had swallowed them. Now, she could finally speak them without hesitation.

Arthur listened to her accusations in a daze, speechless.

Was being with him truly that painful for her?

He had been so smugly satisfied with her endurance and tolerance, taking her for granted.

Clara crossed her arms and looked at him coldly, delivering her final ultimatum. "Don't come back. I have no expectations of you, and we have no future."

She turned and closed the door, shutting Arthur out.

Arthur stood on the deserted road in the dead of night, feeling the piercing wind. Scenes of Clara’s coldness today clashed with memories of her former tenderness.

He was the one who had, bit by bit, destroyed the person who once lived and breathed for him.

This was his own doing.

Arthur reflected on how they had reached this point and realized everything started with Mia.

Ever since Mia returned, he had been like a man possessed, completely neglecting his home.

His mind flashed to the night Clara was bleeding from the stab wounds.

He had clearly seen the blood gushing from her abdomen. He could have called an ambulance first, but because Mia said she felt dizzy, he simply ignored Clara.

When he heard the doctor say she could have died from the hemorrhage, he had gone cold.

Yet, even then, he had left Clara alone in the hospital for half a month. Knowing she could barely move, he hadn't even hired a nurse for her.

He didn't know how she had survived those days alone.

Nor did he know what she was thinking that night as she fought off that man.

Looking back at everything, Arthur realized how foolish and cruel he had been.

If Mia hadn't distracted him, if Mia hadn't kept saying Clara’s wounds were superficial and not a big deal, would he have ignored her over and over again?

It was all Mia!

His phone rang.

Mia’s voice came through, soft and fragile. "Arthur, where are you? I wanted to bring you some late-night snacks, but no one is home."

Arthur’s eyes darkened. "I’m coming back now. Wait for me at the door."

Although the drive back would take at least three hours, for Mia, this was only the lightest of punishments.