Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run
Chapter 101

The butler leaned in a bit, lowering his voice, "The cameras over at Moonlight are pretty spotty. We didn't catch anyone on them."

Nobody in the city really knew who owned Moonlight. The mysterious owner had never shown their face, but everyone knew it was a goldmine, and no one dared to stir up trouble there. It was the go-to spot for the city's elite.

Even though Walter had the means to squeeze information out of Moonlight, he thought it was beneath him. This was just a petty squabble among the younger crowd, and getting involved in such a trivial mess would be undignified.

He took a deep breath, clamping down on his anger. "Let's move up Simon and Quinn's wedding and sweep this whole thing under the rug."

Simon and Quinn's wedding plans were already in motion, but the Bradford family had set Clara up for a different arrangement. With Walter's directive, Quinn and Simon's wedding was suddenly slotted for the end of the month, which was originally Clara's wedding date.

Quinn was over the moon, gently patting her belly. "Mom, what about Clara and Nate?"

Clara was supposed to marry Nate, but now Quinn's wedding was taking priority. If Clara managed to dodge that bullet, Quinn wouldn't be happy.

"Why don't we just send Clara over to Nate's? She's been acting out too much lately; maybe she just needs a man to keep her in line."

Naomi quickly agreed. "Don't worry, once your wedding's all sorted, I'll send Clara there."

Quinn let out a sigh of relief, her grin widening at the thought of Clara being stuck with someone like Nate for life. She quickly whipped out her phone to send Clara a text.

Quinn: [You've got to come to me and Simon's wedding, Clara. Thanks for picking such a great husband for me all these years. I'm really happy with him.]

Clara saw the message and simply replied with a word: [Congrats.]

Quinn glared at the chilly response, feeling Clara wasn't nearly as upset as she should be. She called Clara right away, but Clara didn't pick up.

Fuming, Quinn sat on the couch, gripping her phone tightly, and fired off another text. Quinn: [From the day I came back to the Bradford family and saw you in that dress next to Simon, I knew you two had no future. Clara, you'll never measure up to me. Everyone around you will choose me, and they'll all turn their backs on you.]

Clara promptly blocked her, finally feeling at ease now that the wedding date was moved up. She was on the brink of shaking free from those two.

But her relief didn't last long. Simon showed up at her door. He had been tailing Clara the night before, and knew she had hung around Moonlight for quite a while. Right after she left Simon's side, his dad had an incident.

"Clara, did you have a hand in what happened to my dad?"

He wasn't sure why he suspected her, but after the chaos at home that morning, he couldn't shake the thought of Clara from the previous night. He rushed over, desperate for answers.

Clara didn't open the door, her voice calm behind it. "Do you really think I could pull something like that off?"

"Clara!"

Simon pounded on the door, trying to catch his breath. Logic told him there was no proof, and if Clara were truly involved, his grandfather wouldn't let her off the hook easily.

This whole mess was a massive hit to the Ferguson family's reputation. Just an hour ago, his grandfather had been in a rage.

He took a deep breath. "You better hope this isn't your doing. I knew you were ruthless before, and it never concerned me, but you shouldn't have messed with my family."

Clara ignored him, planning to head back to her room for a nap. It was the weekend, and she didn't have to be anywhere.

Simon suddenly blurted out, "Was it Dylan who picked you up from my place that day?"

He felt a knot in his stomach, feeling restless after seeing how Clara acted around Dylan.