Chapter 209: She wanted everyone to know I wasn’t a murderer

The next morning, Clara and Dominic woke up after a peaceful night’s sleep. Unfortunately, their morning began with Toto demanding his favorite person’s attention.

The little troublemaker had barely opened his eyes before he scrambled toward Clara, wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Usually, Clara would have heard Dominic complaining endlessly about the puppy stealing his wife. Surprisingly, however, her husband seemed rather calm today.

[I’ll let him off this time. At least he didn’t interrupt my peaceful night with my wife.]

Clara pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile.

How generous of you, hubby!

After spending some time playing with Toto, the couple freshened up and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Just as Clara was enjoying her meal, Dominic slid a thick folder across the table.

"Here. The information you asked for on Crownwell Holdings."

Clara paused, her cheeks still stuffed with food. "Hmm?"

Dominic glanced at her before continuing.

"These are the properties Crownwell Holdings has acquired over the years. Several transactions appear to involve questionable methods."

Clara quickly swallowed her food and opened the folder. "Questionable how?"

"Most of the previous owners were ordinary middle-class families. Crownwell targeted people who couldn’t afford prolonged legal battles and pressured them into accepting settlements far below their properties’ actual value."

He pointed toward several highlighted documents. "Some of them even filed complaints, but the cases never went anywhere."

Clara’s eyes brightened as she flipped through the pages. There were property records, transaction details, and even copies of complaints filed by former landowners.

She slowly looked up at Dominic. A delighted smile spread across her face.

"Hubby!" Before Dominic could react, Clara abandoned her breakfast and practically threw herself into his arms.

Dominic instinctively caught her.

[Oh! What’s happening? Did I do something particularly impressive?]

"Hubby, you’re amazing!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Dominic’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. "I know."

Clara burst into laughter. "How did you figure out that I was planning to go after Crownwell Holdings?"

Dominic gently steadied her on his lap. "Because I know my wife."

[And because she was practically plotting their downfall in her sleep.]

Clara blinked while Dominic raised an eyebrow, seeing her confused look.

"You threatened to demolish someone’s office in your sleep," he said.

"..."

Clara stared at him. "Seriously?" while pretending she never heard his mind.

"And then you called someone a shameless thief."

Clara slowly covered her face. "Oh, my goodness!"

Dominic’s lips twitched seeing her dramatic look, and he simply leaned and kissed her forehead.

"Don’t worry. I found it rather entertaining."

[Although I’d prefer it if she dreamed about me instead.]

"..."

Clara still couldn’t wrap her head around how shameless her husband could be sometimes. Yet she couldn’t deny how adorable he sounded whenever he complained about not getting enough of her attention.

"Well, thank you, hubby," she said, planting another kiss on his cheek before returning to her seat.

Dominic’s expression immediately fell.

[Why did she have to move away? She could’ve stayed a little longer.]

Clara suppressed a laugh and picked up her fork.

"But I still want you to trust me," she said, her expression turning serious.

Dominic looked at her for a moment before nodding. "I do, Clara."

And he meant it. Otherwise, he would have already gone after Dorothy and Crownwell Holdings himself, using his influence to bring them to their knees.

However, no matter how much he worried about Clara, he didn’t want his concern to become another burden for her.

After all, the people she was dealing with were her so-called family.

Dominic had always wanted Clara to recognize their true nature, especially Julianna’s. That woman had manipulated Clara, turning her against him until she had practically regarded her own husband as an enemy.

But things were different now.

Clara was finally seeing those people for who they truly were, and Dominic wanted to give her the opportunity to confront them on her own terms.

Protecting the bakery would be her first step toward defeating Dorothy’s scheme.

"Just promise me one thing," he said.

Clara looked up. "What is it?"

"If anything goes wrong, you’ll tell me immediately. No hiding things."

She smiled and nodded. "I promise."

Dominic reached across the table and gently squeezed her hand. "Then I’ll trust you to handle it."

[But if anyone dares hurt her, I’ll personally make them regret it.]

Clara chuckled inwardly.

Of course you will, hubby.

***

Meanwhile, Hannah arrived at her office, but the moment she settled into her chair, her thoughts drifted back to the unexpected question Grace had asked her at breakfast.

Are you dating someone?

Even now, Hannah couldn’t believe how casually her mother had dropped that question in the middle of their meal.

She had nearly choked on her coffee!

"Seriously, Mom. Couldn’t you have given me a little warning?" she muttered, leaning back in her chair.

Ever since she and Mark had started dating, Hannah had been extremely careful to keep their relationship a secret. Clara was the only exception, and even she had found out under rather unexpected circumstances.

Hannah had no intention of telling anyone else just yet.

It wasn’t that she was ashamed of Mark. Quite the opposite. She genuinely liked him and wanted their relationship to work.

But she also knew how intimidating her family could be, especially Dominic.

The poor man already looked terrified whenever Hannah mentioned the possibility of introducing him to her brother.

She could only imagine what would happen if Dominic suddenly discovered that his trusted assistant was dating his little sister.

Hannah chuckled at the thought.

"Poor Mark. He might actually faint."

However, her amusement quickly faded when she remembered the rest of their breakfast conversation.

Apparently, her parents were considering arranging blind dates for her.

"I never knew Mom and Dad were so determined to get me into another relationship," she sighed.

She understood their concern, of course.

After everything that had happened with Eric, Grace had begun worrying that Hannah was keeping too much to herself.

Her mother had even admitted that she felt guilty for not noticing how badly the breakup had affected her.

But Hannah had never blamed her parents.

If anything, she blamed herself.

She had been so hopelessly in love with Eric that she had believed every excuse he made, overlooking the warning signs that now seemed painfully obvious.

She had mistaken his indifference for being busy and his dishonesty for harmless misunderstandings.

And whenever something felt wrong, she had convinced herself that she was simply overthinking.

"How stupid was I?" she murmured.

Hannah lowered her gaze, absentmindedly fiddling with her pen.

She didn’t want to repeat those mistakes with Mark. This time, she wanted to build a relationship based on trust, patience, and genuine understanding.

And if that meant giving him a little more time before facing her family, she was willing to wait.

Still, there was one problem.

"How am I supposed to survive Mom’s blind dates until then?"

She groaned and dropped her forehead onto the desk.

"Mark, you’d better gather your courage soon!"

***

[Bakery]

The little bell hanging above the bakery’s entrance chimed as Gen stepped inside.

The moment she approached her friends, Lily and Silvia froze.

Their eyes widened as they stared at the award in one of Gen’s hands and the beautiful bouquet in the other.

"Holy shit! Madam wasn’t lying after all!" Lily exclaimed, covering her mouth in disbelief.

Silvia immediately abandoned what she was doing and hurried toward Gen.

"Wait a minute! Is that an actual award?"

Gen glanced at the plaque in her hand before smiling awkwardly.

"Unless the police have started handing out fake ones, I’d say yes."

Lily gasped dramatically.

"Oh, my goodness! Our Gen is officially a hero!"

"Please don’t start," Gen warned.

But it was already too late.

Lily snatched the bouquet from her hands and examined it with exaggerated admiration.

"Flowers! An award! A personal invitation from the police! Gen, are you sure you didn’t secretly join the force without telling us?"

Silvia burst into laughter.

"Forget joining the police. At this rate, they’ll be asking her to solve their next case!"

Gen rolled her eyes.

"Can you two stop exaggerating? I only gave them some information."

"Some information?" Lily repeated incredulously. "You helped expose the Morritte Clan and brought their illegal activities to the police’s attention! That’s hardly a small favor!"

Gen had recently received official recognition from the police for providing crucial information that helped uncover the Morritte Clan’s criminal operations.

Although she had never expected anything in return, the officers had insisted on presenting her with an award and a bouquet to acknowledge her contribution.

Still, Gen found the attention rather embarrassing.

"Madam exaggerated everything," Gen murmured, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

She had only entered Crescent Crest to investigate her father’s activities. It was Clara who had uncovered the clan’s illegal operations, yet she had refused to take any credit, allowing Gen to receive all the recognition instead.

Lily and Silvia exchanged concerned glances as Gen’s smile slowly faded.

"Gen, what’s wrong?" Silvia asked gently.

Gen lowered her gaze to the award resting in her lap.

"She did all of this just to clear my name," she whispered. "She wanted everyone to know I wasn’t a murderer."