CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: I JUST SAW YOU AND THOUGHT OF MY SISTER

"Clara, don’t be angry. I didn’t mean any harm," Anabelle looked a little helpless. "I just saw you and thought of my sister..."

Speaking of her sister, Anabelle’s eyes turned red at the corners.

"I have a sister who is two years younger than me. When I was very young, my parents divorced. Mom took my sister and left me with Dad."

At this point, Anabelle’s eyes misted up, and her voice carried a bit of a sob.

"I meant no offense to you. It’s just that the first time I saw you, I had an inexplicable feeling of familiarity and affection. Don’t you think our eyes look alike?"

Clara pulled out a tissue and handed it over, "I see, I can understand you."

"Thank you." Anabelle took the tissue and wiped her tears.

All these years, she had always missed her mom and sister.

She never gave up searching for them.

Dad never remarried.

Anabelle knew that, like her, Dad had been waiting for Mom to come home.

In Dad’s study and bedroom, there were photos of Mom from when she was young, as well as family photos of the four of them from when they were little.

Every time Anabelle saw those family photos, she couldn’t help but cry.

As a child, she once asked Dad why he divorced Mom and why Mom didn’t want her.

Dad patted her head and said, "Dad and Mom didn’t divorce. Dad made some mistakes, so your mom got mad and took your sister away. Dad’s been looking for her."

Little Anabelle’s big, round eyes shimmered with tears, and she pouted pitifully, "Why did Mom take my sister and not me?"

Dad’s eyes dimmed, "Because Anna did something that upset Mom."

Little Anabelle rubbed her eyes, full of confusion, "What was it?"

Dad’s eyes were filled with sadness, and he spoke very softly, "It wasn’t Anna’s fault, it was Dad’s."

...

Clara looked at the teary-eyed Anabelle, and the slight annoyance of feeling offended vanished.

She sighed and said, "Anna, I understand your eagerness to find your sister, but your sister definitely isn’t me. My father passed away when I was very young, while your father is still alive, so..."

"I know," Anabelle wiped her tears. "I just suddenly remembered some sad things. It’s okay, you don’t have to bother with me. I’ll be fine in a moment."

Clara nodded.

A moment later, Anabelle looked up, slightly apologetic, "Clara, please don’t be mad at me. I really just felt inexplicably close to you, which is why I asked so much about your family."

"It’s okay, I’m not mad."

"That’s good."

After clearing things up, Clara finally understood why Anabelle was so interested in her family’s situation.

With the mystery cleared, Clara no longer found Anabelle strange and stopped guarding against her.

Anabelle sincerely expressed her desire to be friends with Clara, and Clara agreed. Their relationship moved a step forward.

In the afternoon, Julian Hawthorne called Clara to the office.

"There’s a report that needs to be organized. Give it to me before the end of the day." Julian pushed a document in front of Clara.

Clara picked it up and flipped through it, "Okay, President Hawthorne."

She casually flipped through a few pages and suddenly paused, frowning slightly, "President Hawthorne, there’s a problem with the data here."

She laid the document flat on the table, pointing to the problematic area, "Here, the result calculated from the above data shouldn’t be like this."

Julian looked over to where she pointed, "What should it be then?"

Clara gave a number.

Julian raised his head to look at her, his eyes showing surprise, "You found a miscalculation in the data with just one glance?"

Clara nodded, "It should be wrong. You can have them recalculate."

"Okay."

Julian immediately sent a message for the person who submitted the report to come to the office.

The person who came was Liam Lynch, a team leader in the technical department.

Julian told Liam the correct answer that Clara had provided.

Liam lowered his head, frowning as he reviewed the report, mentally recalculating.

A few minutes later, Liam looked up, "It was indeed calculated incorrectly. Assistant Sterling’s answer is the correct one."

Julian was slightly surprised, and his gaze at Clara grew more appreciative.

Smiling slightly, he gently said to Liam, "You all need to be more careful with your work. Assistant Sterling just flipped through the report casually and spotted the error."

Liam was quite shocked, "Assistant Sterling found the data error with just a casual look?"

"Yes," Julian said. "I just gave her the report, and she immediately noticed the data was wrong and provided the correct answer."

Looking at Clara again, Liam was filled with respect.

After Liam left, Julian and Clara were the only ones left in the office.

Clara spoke, "Then, President Hawthorne, I’ll head out now."

"Wait a moment," Julian called her back, "When are you planning to resign?"

"End of June," Clara replied, "two more months."

Something flashed in Julian’s eyes briefly and disappeared.

He nodded, "I’ll have HR find someone to replace you, so the special assistant position won’t be considered for you."

"Okay."

Clara turned and walked toward the door.

Julian’s gaze followed her until she left the office and closed the door, before he retracted his gaze.

...

After work, Clara went to the hospital to handle the discharge procedures for Yvonne Sterling.

Silas Sheffield had notified the hospital in advance, and both the attending physician and the director came to the ward in person. After confirming Yvonne’s health condition, they instructed someone to complete the procedures, so Clara didn’t have to do it herself.

After completing the procedures, Clara took Yvonne back to Prospect Hill Villa.

After getting out of the car, Yvonne looked up at the mansion in front of her and frowned, "Clara, this is?"

Clara replied, "This is where I live now. You can stay here too; it’ll be convenient for me to take care of you."

Yvonne asked, "Is this Silas’ house?"

"Yes."

Yvonne was somewhat puzzled, "Didn’t you say you’d move out after starting work? Why are you still staying at the Sheffield family, disturbing them?"

"Sophie and Silas weren’t comfortable with me renting a place alone, so they let me stay here."

Actually, this was not a lie.

She had previously mentioned to Silas her intention to move out, but Silas wasn’t comfortable with her living alone outside and didn’t agree.

Yvonne suddenly asked, "Clara, how much did you borrow from the Sheffield Family for Mom’s medical expenses?"

Clara didn’t expect her mom to ask this suddenly.

She paused, then asked in return, "Mom, why do you ask this all of a sudden?"

Yvonne said, "Mom has some money here. You can use it to repay the Sheffield Family. After all, borrowed money has to be repaid."

Clara thought that her mom was referring to the money she had saved over the years from running her restaurant.

"Mom, you don’t have to worry about the money. I know what to do." She still didn’t want to tell her mom that she and Silas were already married, not wanting her to know that her marriage was just a transaction.

Yvonne looked at Clara, hesitating to speak.

After a long time, she finally sighed and said, "Clara, there’s something Mom has to tell you."