Flash Marriage: Slow Down Mister novel Chapter 80

When Ashlee was taking a bath in the bathroom, Darren was standing on the balcony, smoking. Not aware of the passage of time, he had already smoked a whole package of cigarettes.

It was the first time that he had ever been attacked by feelings of regret.

He regretted leaving Clara without saying goodbye two years ago; he regretted his engagement with Ashlee; and what's more, he regretted his tricks on and insults to Clara.

It was he himself who drove his beloved one away. Therefore, he could blame no one for this.

More importantly, now, Horace has already been with Clara.

When he thought about Horace, he could not help clenching his fist and smoking much more heavily.

He remembered that when he showed those photos to Horace, the latter chose to believe in Clara's innocence without hesitation.

Horace trusted her, probably because he had already known the truth. No matter whether he knew the truth or not, he did not hurt Clara after all.

Compared with Horace, Darren felt himself a coward and a loser. Such a comparison made him irritated.

The thought of those photos reminded him that there were still several of them kept in his phone which he forgot to delete.

At that moment, he felt that those photos hurt him a lot and he only wanted to delete them right now.

When he was deleting the photos, he suddenly noticed something bizarre.

Hold on.

Why did these photos look different from the ones that he had projected on the screen at the Kirkland family's dinner party?

Although he did not try to remember all that about Clara, he found that all the details about her were deeply printed in his mind and he could recall every detail.

Of course, he could definitely remember those photos at the dinner party.

The photos on his phone were almost the same as the photos projected on the screen at the dinner party except for one of them where Clara lay on the bed with her hair loose and scattered on the pillow.

Suddenly, Horace found it hard to breath.

Why…

He remembered that Ashlee told him that all the photos displayed on the banquet came from his phone. But why was there an extra photo projected on the screen?

Did that mean that…

One possible explanation occurred to Darren, which startled and even scared him. However, before he could ponder on it, a soft and tender voice rang behind him--

"Darren?"

He was brought back to reality by the voice. He turned around to find Ashlee Kirkland staring at him intently and quizzically with her hair dripping wet.

He found that Ashlee's face, which was similar to but more beautiful and flirting than Clara's face, made him scared and gave him goose bumps.

"Well, Ashlee," he involuntarily stepped back and said, "I had a call from my office. Something happened and I have to handle it. Don't wait for me. Take a rest."

Before Ashlee could say a word, he went straight towards the door.

"Darren…" Ashlee was stupefied by his words and when she wanted to stop him, he had already left the house.

Ashlee stood in a frozen manner, lost in thought.

"Why does Darren leave in such a hurry? Is he going to meet Clara?"

The thought of Clara and what she had learnt from the call made her pale.

She had sent someone to contact that old man and now she was told that the old man did not rape Clara two years ago and it was someone else who had done that.

What shocked her the most was that her boy could not find out any information about that mysterious man, which meant that this mysterious man was more powerful than her.

Who was that mysterious "rapist" two years ago?

...

In the morning, when Clara woke up, the first thing that she saw was Horace's handsome face which was so close to her.

It was so close that she went blank for a few seconds before she could realize that they were lying in the bed in her little apartment.

She wanted to get up immediately, but Horace's hug stopped her. His eyes were still closed and when he realized her intention of getting up, he tightened his hug and said, "Be quiet. It is only 7 o'clock now and we can sleep a bit longer."

It was unexpected for Clara that Horace was actually awake. She was frozen by his hug and words and she could do nothing but lie still. However, she found it impossible to fall asleep again.

As time passed, she grew more and more nervous and the bell rang before she almost sweated. Horace opened his eyes slowly and then stared at Clara intently.

"Good morning, Clara," he whispered hoarsely. His voice was soft like a feather and could give everyone goose bumps.

Such a morning greeting made Clara blush, "Good morning."

Clara got up and prepared a clean towel and toothbrush for Horace. After cleaning herself up, she helped her mother wash her face and brush her teeth. Then, Isaac came with the breakfast prepared by Martha. There was, of course, breakfast specially prepared for Helena.

Seeing the substantial breakfast on the table, Clara could not help whispering to Horace, "It is unnecessary to trouble Martha."

"It is fine. It will just take a little more time." Horace took a sip of the porridge and said, "But, if you still insist on living here, it will trouble Martha much more."

Startled, Clara ventured, "You don't mean that you still want to stay here for another night?"

"Well, if you still want to stay here," Horace answered casually, "then I will ask Martha to bring me my pajamas. Your clothes are too small for me."

Clara was made speechless.

She now admitted that Horace was a smart, high-handed man. He never shouted at her or forced her, but he could always, in a smart way, make her compromise.

Clara now realized that he was exactly a better game player.

"Fine," she lowered her eyes, "I will be back tonight."

A shade of smirk appeared on Horace's face, "You can bring your mother with you."

"My mom won't come with me. She has already gotten used to this house."

"Then I'll find you a nurse to look after her."

Knowing that her refusal wouldn't work, Clara nodded her head and acquiesced.

After breakfast, Horace drove Clara to work. She remembered that she had a morning meeting to sit that day, so she went straight to the public meeting hall above her office.

It was unexpected for her to see Darren sitting in the meeting hall alone, preparing for the meeting.

Noticing her arrival, Darren was shocked and asked, "Clara, didn't you receive an email about the half-hour delay of the meeting?"

Clara felt frustrated. Horace's arrival yesterday upset her plan, which made she forget to check her email.

"I forgot. I am sorry." she wanted to disappear immediately, "I'll leave now."

"Wait."

Before she could leave, Darren stopped her.

Eyebrows knitted, Clara asked, "Director, what can I do for you?"

"I have a question for you." Darren stood up slowly. Compared with the former guy who had been mean to her, now he spoke so gently, just like the mild young man he was back in the old days. He asked, "Do you love Horace?"