Chapter 196

Chapter 196

"Ms. Hearst, here's my contract—already signed."

"Last time with Soft Verse Studios, we just weren't on the same page. But now that we're both shareholders of the CF Group, from here on out, we'll make money together!"

Steven's hand groped Claire's backside.

He'd taken Claire's money and was still enjoying her... services.

This deal was an absolute steal!

He was in an excellent mood right now.

"I may have taken the CF Group shares, but we'll never be the same kind of people!"

Nora's eyes fell on Claire's rear, finding the scene utterly revolting.

She had no idea how Claire could tolerate any of this.

Not wanting to deal with whatever was going on between Claire and Steven, she picked up the contract and scanned through the terms.

"I'm not signing this right now. I'll have my lawyer review it first. If everything checks out, I'll sign it and mail it back to you."

"Also, I'll have my attorney drop the lawsuit against you."

Nora felt uneasy about how easily Claire had agreed to hand over the shares.

After thinking it over, she decided not to sign on the spot.

Contract in hand, she turned to leave.

Suddenly, a dark figure lunged from the shadows of the private room.

The attacker was none other than Francis!

He raised a knife, aiming straight for Nora's heart, thrusting toward her chest.

His eyes were bloodshot, his entire demeanor disturbingly unhinged.

"Nora, watch out!"

Jasper had been with Nora the whole time. The moment he saw Francis charge forward, he reacted instantly.

He caught the blade with his bare hand.

"Nora, just die already!"

"Once you're dead, everything will finally be over!"

Francis reeked of alcohol. Seeing Jasper grab his hand, he quickly let go of the knife, then pulled another fruit knife from his pocket and turned to attack Nora again.

Francis was old and had always been selfish.

There was no way he'd suddenly decide to kill Nora on his own.

If Nora died, he'd go to prison too!

Jasper glanced at Claire's face and saw her watching the scene with unmistakable satisfaction in her eyes.

He understood immediately.

Francis was being controlled by Claire!

The one who truly wanted Nora dead was Claire!

"Francis, are you sure that once I'm dead, everything will be over?"

"Have you ever considered that Brian's imprisonment and your own crimes were all arranged by Claire? She never loved any of you—she's been getting revenge on you this whole time."

Nora had come prepared.

Over the past five years, she hadn't let herself go—she'd been training, keeping fit.

Compared to five years ago, she was in much better shape now.

So when Francis lunged at her, she dodged in time.

She even kicked his knee, sending him crashing into the wall.

"That's impossible!"

"Claire's been good to us. I owed a huge gambling debt, and she gave me a check to pay it off."

"If it weren't for Claire, I'd probably be dead by now!"

Francis gasped for breath.

He was old now, not as strong as he used to be.

Years ago, he might have actually been able to kill Nora.

Francis thought of something and suddenly raised his weathered face to look at Claire.

He was old now.

If Claire really wanted Nora dead, why wouldn't she hire someone younger?

Why make him do it himself?

"Claire, why do I get the feeling Nora's right?"

"If you really cared about me, how could you use gambling debts to force me into breaking the law? Don't you realize murder means prison?"

Claire saw that Francis's mind had actually cleared.

She stopped pretending.

She stood up from Steven's lap without ceremony.

"Nora, that's completely unfair of you to say."

"Brian is my brother, Francis is my foster father. I've lived with them for years—I'm their family. How could I possibly hurt them?"

"You're the one who got Brian locked up!"

"My dad is just getting revenge for my brother!"

After speaking, Claire looked at Francis with disappointment.

She bent down and crouched in front of him.

"Dad, tell them—this was all your choice, wasn't it?"

Francis looked at Claire and remembered that it was Claire who'd sent him the link to that online gambling site in the first place.

Even when he'd first needed money and wanted to borrow some to tide himself over, it was Claire who'd introduced him to the loan sharks.

He looked at her with suspicion.

"Claire, this wasn't my choice."

"You threatened me—that's why I came."

"Could it be... is what Nora said actually true? You've hated me all along, deliberately lured me into gambling, tricked me into borrowing from loan sharks—all to get revenge on me?"

Francis asked naively.

He didn't notice Claire's hand quietly reaching toward her side.

Under everyone's shocked gaze, Claire suddenly grabbed a wine bottle from the floor and smashed it viciously against Francis's forehead.

"Yes. You guessed right!"

"It was all a lie!"

"I own the backend of that online gambling site—I can control how much you win or lose, how often you win or lose."

"Those loan sharks? I paid them off too. I wanted you to know what it feels like to be pushed to the edge!"

"Francis, you're pathetic!"

"I thought I could use you to hurt Nora, but you can't even manage that."

"If you're this useless alive, then you might as well die!"

Francis stared at Claire in disbelief, blood streaming into his eyes.

He looked at her without blinking.

"Why?"

Francis couldn't understand. Even though Claire wasn't his biological daughter, he'd still raised her.

How could she be this cruel?

"Why? Don't you already know?"

"Or did you think that just because I didn't bring it up these past five years, everything that happened before just disappeared?"

"Forcing me into escort work, refusing to let me go to school, making me approach Frederick over and over to be his mistress—every single thing, Francis. When did you ever treat me like your daughter?"

Claire's words fell.

She grabbed another bottle and smashed it hard against Francis's head.

The scene was drenched in blood.

Jasper realized Claire's mental state had snapped. He grabbed Nora and fled the private room.

Steven hadn't expected Claire to be this ruthless—to actually kill her own father.

He tried to appear calm, standing up and gesturing to Claire.

Claire, covered in blood, walked toward Steven.

"Steven, do you love me?"

Claire's eyes were obsessed, but beneath that obsession was something vicious.

"Claire, we agreed—this is a business arrangement. Does love really matter?"

Before Steven could finish, Claire grabbed a fork from the table and stabbed it into his neck.

Steven clutched the wound with one hand, trying to sit up and fight back with the other.

But Claire had planned ahead—there were no allies of Steven's in this room.

She pulled out the fork and plunged it into Steven's chest.

"If you don't love me, what gives you the right to use me?"

"None of you ever took me seriously!"

"If no one in this world loves me, then you can all die!"

Claire killed Steven.

She made a phone call.

Hearing that her people had intercepted Nora, she turned to find her.

Worried it wouldn't be enough to provoke Frederick, Claire dialed his video call while searching for Nora.

The first time, he declined the call.

Claire looked at the rejected call and sent him a photo—Nora and Jasper holding hands, surrounded by her men.

This time, when Claire called Frederick again, he answered immediately.

"Mr. Kennedy, you're at a funeral?"

"Evelyn's dead?"

"Good! Everyone should just die!"

Claire noticed that on the other end of the video, Frederick was at a funeral home.

"Claire, what have you done to Nora?"

Frederick had been arranging Evelyn's funeral and hadn't wanted to deal with Claire. But when he saw the video—saw Claire covered in blood with that terrifying, twisted expression—he knew Nora was in danger.

That's why he answered.

"Nora's over there."

"You know, I have you to thank for finally deciding to drag all of you down with me."

"Frederick, I loved you so much. Why couldn't you love me back?"

"If you hadn't demanded those shares from me when I was at my most vulnerable—just to please Nora—I wouldn't have been pushed to this."

"So when I kill Nora in a moment, remember—it's not my fault. It's yours. This is on you!"

Claire's expression was manic.

She turned the camera around.

Instantly, Frederick saw Nora.