Chapter 788: Love May Not Necessarily Bring Happiness
Chapter 788: Love May Not Necessarily Bring Happiness
Eric's mind was in complete chaos — he couldn't make sense of what Edward was saying at all.
"Edward, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mr. Clark! This is bad!" Glenn shoved his phone at Eric with trembling hands, his voice panicked. "Someone... someone leaked a video of Mrs. Wellington's episode online. It's going viral right now — the repost count has already hit two hundred thousand!"
In an instant, Ellen's face went white as a sheet. The crutch holding her up clattered to the floor.
Eric stared at the screen, his eyes wide with shock, a storm of red rage churning behind them. Every muscle in his body was pulled tight, trembling.
Edward's furious voice cut through the air, but Eric's mind had gone completely blank — the words felt like they were drifting in from somewhere far away.
"Why did Molly have an episode? Who filmed that video? Who put it online? Didn't you say you'd take care of her? Didn't you have people watching her every second? Eric, what the hell is wrong with you? Have you gotten so drunk on power that you've forgotten about the woman you keep saying you care about most?"
Eric felt like his throat had been knotted shut. The taste of blood soaked the tip of his tongue.
"Say something! You're going to play deaf and dumb right now?" Edward's voice cracked as he roared.
No matter how furious he was, no matter how badly things had gone, Edward couldn't bring himself to say those cruel words — to tell them to break up. He'd been through it himself. He knew Eric loved Molly the way he loved Evelyn. He understood that kind of pain all too well — the agony of separation, like being slowly cut apart every single day, the bleeding never stopping, the wound never healing.
But right now, even Edward didn't know what the right answer was.
Molly and Evelyn were so different. Evelyn was a fighter who could stand beside him in any battle. She had a powerful background, a warm and loving family. She could hold her own and wasn't afraid to lose. But Molly — what did she have? She couldn't fight this. And could Eric, as he was now, truly protect her?
Love alone doesn't guarantee happiness.
"I'll handle it, Edward. Please trust me." Eric's jaw muscles trembled, his eyes blurred with something that looked like blood and tears, his breath coming in ragged pieces. "I know who leaked it. I know who's behind all of this. I'll deal with them. Whoever it is... whoever it is... anyone who hurts Molly... they're going to pay with their life."
"And what good will that do, Eric?" Edward's deep voice was heavy with bitterness. "Whoever's behind this has already gotten what they wanted. The video is everywhere. The whole internet knows — the whole public knows — that Molly is a girl with an unstable mental condition."
It was already at hundreds of thousands of reposts. It would hit millions soon. There was no way to delete it all. No way to contain it.
"And that's not all. My grandfather and Patrick both know now. Grandfather was so furious he nearly had a health episode — Evelyn's already gone to be with him." Edward's voice dropped, raw with pain he was barely holding back. "Grandfather wants Molly brought home. I'm coming to see you now, to take her back."
Eric barely seemed to hear him. His eyes were unfocused, lost. "I never should have taken that CEO position... If I'd known it would come to this..."
"Eric, there's no clean answer here. The Clark Group is your father's life's work. You won't let it fall into Neil's hands — not when you're doing this for your father. So you were always going to be pulled into this power struggle, sooner or later. And your enemies will always go after your weak spot. Your only weak spot is Molly." Edward let out a heavy, muffled sigh. "Eric, family feuds and love — you can't have both. Not easily. Loving someone doesn't mean you're right for each other. And it doesn't guarantee happiness."
Within just a few hours, everyone in the public sphere knew: the Wellington family had an heiress with a mental illness.
No matter how hard the Wellington Group's PR team worked to scrub the comments and pull the video, the narrative had already taken on a life of its own. There was no walking it back.
"No wonder the Wellington Group never let this Molly girl show her face in public — they were hiding her the whole time!"
"Karma's real. Tiffany spent her whole life doing terrible things, and now her own daughter is paying the price."
"God, why couldn't it have been that arrogant Debra having a breakdown? What a waste."
"Honestly, the way Debra acts on a normal day — hysterical all the time — what's the difference?"
"Apparently the Clark family's new heir is still determined to marry her? I'll admit, the devoted boyfriend thing is kind of touching."
"Don't be naive. People at that level don't do real love. Haven't you seen the news? Eric is about to officially take over the Clark Group. Him marrying Molly right now has nothing to do with love — he wants the Wellington family's connections to help him climb. He's using her as a stepping stone. The whole thing is so fake it's disgusting."
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Debra was lying in bed, face mask on, scrolling through the comments with pure delight — rolling around on the mattress laughing. Then her luck ran out. The iPad slipped from her hands and smacked her square in the face, bruising her lips and knocking her freshly done nose job slightly crooked.
Right at that moment, Jessica called.
Debra pressed a hand to her nose and answered, her mood soured. "What?"
"The situation online is playing out perfectly for us." Jessica's signature lazy drawl came through the line. "Why do you still sound like someone just died? Can't you be a little happy? You're such a buzzkill."
"Sure, that little wretch got exposed," Debra muttered, "but it's not like Eric's going to dump her and come running back to me. When I think about it that way, there's not that much to celebrate." Even if she was secretly thrilled, she wasn't about to show it in front of Jessica.
"Don't be greedy. If I hadn't stepped in, you'd be spending the rest of your life under Molly's heel. And you think you'd ever have a shot at marrying into the Clark family and becoming the CEO's wife? Know your place."
Debra ground her teeth in irritation. "You think this was all you? If I hadn't stolen that psychiatric report and handed it to you, do you think any of this would have gone so smoothly?" She paused. "But Eric isn't the type to give up easily. Even after everything we've set up, he'll probably still be dead set on marrying Molly."
"Which is exactly why you and I need to keep pushing while we have the advantage. Keep working on Mr. Wellington from your end — keep planting seeds. And on my end, I have something else in the works."
Debra could faintly hear sounds from Jessica's end of the call — the unmistakable sounds of her flirting with her latest lover. It made Debra's skin crawl.
"What kind of something?"
Jessica's voice took on that coy, exaggerated sweetness she always put on. "Come to the private hilltop club in the west suburbs. We'll talk in person."