Chapter 635: Tangled and Unresolved

Jude Grant looked like he was going mad, his eyes bloodshot.

"What about my uncle?! He’s allowed?!"

Claire Sinclair looked at Jude in disbelief, seeing the red veins in his eyes, it felt like a dull knife cutting through her heart, bringing a raw pain.

"How could you think that way?!"

Claire wanted to say that there was nothing between her and Zion Prescott, but the entangled love and hate between them couldn’t be explained away in just one sentence.

Claire could only shake her head silently.

"Jude, please trust me. I admit, I knew Zion Prescott before, but after I got involved with you, I definitely had no private affairs with him."

...

From the moment Claire met Jude, she understood that the person she truly liked in this life was a boy who could reach her heart purely, without shadows, bringing her complete sunshine.

To Claire, Zion Prescott was more like a castle in the clouds, hazy in the mist, uncertain when a breeze might disperse the clouds, but still enigmatic.

She didn’t want to live so tiresomely, simply being sincere with one person was the best.

...

Hearing Claire’s words, Jude became even more frantic.

He pounded angrily on the seat.

"Didn’t you say you never knew my uncle before?!"

One was his most respected relative, one was the lover he swore to protect for a lifetime.

But Claire and Zion Prescott had things hidden from him; worse, their relationship was so ambiguous, it was like putting a vast field of green grass over his head.

...

Claire didn’t expect Jude to lose control like this. Seeing him madly pounding the seat, she was startled and hurriedly reached out to grasp his wrist.

"Jude, don’t overthink it, really, I just didn’t want you to misunderstand at that time."

"Jude, I admit, when I first reunited with Zion Prescott, I was confused. Plus, Mr. Prescott’s attitude towards me was exceedingly harsh, so I denied it outright."

"If I had known earlier that your uncle was him, maybe we wouldn’t have so many misunderstandings today."

...

Claire’s face was sincere, her clear eyes were also red, without a trace of tears, but she was clearly frightened by Jude’s crazed appearance.

Jude looked at the girl he usually cherished most, his heart feeling as if she had stabbed a knife into it.

The knife entered white and emerged red, every bit of the bleeding wound so profound.

"Misunderstanding?! If you merely had a chance encounter, just barely getting acquainted, then why did the two of you hide it from me?"

"I..."

Claire hesitated.

Her lips moved slightly, yet she didn’t know how to explain her past with Zion Prescott to Jude.

She had always thought that as long as one’s feelings weren’t lingering, decisively rejecting one’s past, everything that happened before knowing Jude could be recalculated.

However, she hadn’t expected Jude to care so much.

...

Claire felt a pang in her heart.

Putting herself in Jude’s shoes, she realized she might not be so calm either.

"Why are you silent now, speak!"

Jude shook Claire’s shoulders frantically.

The girl’s frail figure clutched the seat in pain, letting out a slight groan.

Realizing his loss of control, Jude’s gaze darkened, and upon seeing Claire in pain, he instinctively wanted to release her hand.

Is there no hope for me?!

After being betrayed by his uncle and his own woman, how can he still feel empathy for her?!

...

Jude’s heart was in turmoil, he suddenly felt he had never been so ridiculous in his life.

He released his grip on Claire’s hand despondently, finally closing his eyes, his will devastated.

"Claire, if you truly don’t want me to be angry, then tell me everything you’ve been hiding, in full detail."

Claire bit her lip, steeling herself, finally nodding.

"Jude, I don’t know how you see me, I understand, you must think Zion Prescott and I might have done something to betray you, but we truly haven’t."

"If you have to say something, it was three years ago, I was once with Zion Prescott..."

Claire spoke hesitantly, herself becoming confused.

How should she describe her relationship with Zion Prescott?

Was he a savior, and she the saved, or were they boyfriend and girlfriend, or perhaps, like earlier, the way Howard Prescott indiscreetly called her a canary?

Claire couldn’t decide for a moment how to precisely define it.

Zion Prescott indeed liked her.

Claire knew this as well.

But her feelings towards Zion Prescott were more complicated; perhaps there wasn’t much romance, but more of fear.

...

Seeing Claire’s hesitant expression, the pain in Jude’s heart spread bit by bit.

"Claire, are you trying to say that you and my uncle were once together?"

Claire nodded unclearly.

"About this matter, you can ask your uncle."

She truly didn’t know how to describe her complex relationship with Zion Prescott, at least, they had broken up three years ago, and she had severed it cleanly.

She had left Zion Prescott, not the other way around.

The reasons might have already caused irreparable pain, and Claire was unwilling to elaborate.

...

"But later, we broke up, and it was before I knew you!"

Seeing Jude’s disbelief and deep hurt, Claire quickly spoke to explain.

A voice inside her warned her.

If she lost Jude, she would regret it.

Perhaps she had made many mistakes this lifetime, but at the very least, she hoped to hold onto the boy before her.

She truly liked him and hoped for a good outcome together.

Jude stared fixedly at Claire’s anxious expression.

"I think I did hear once, that my uncle... once went crazy for a woman, I didn’t expect it to be you..."

Saying this, Jude couldn’t help but laugh.

Not a happy smile.

But a bitter curve, every side profile full of self-mockery.

...

Seeing him like this, Claire’s guilt deepened.

"I’m sorry, I was unfair to Zion Prescott back then, I initiated the breakup, Jude, please trust me, since breaking up, I’ve never thought about rekindling with him. I understand this matter may be hard for you to accept."

"But when we were together before, I didn’t know the coincidence of your connection to him."

Furthermore, it was Jude’s influence that allowed Claire to be with him.

It was Jude’s persistent pursuit that moved her.

She couldn’t resist this boy’s passionate advances, agreed impulsively.

And now, the tangled mess cannot be easily undone.