Chapter 237 The Child of the Nanny and the Bodyguard
Esme struck fast and hard, landing several solid slaps on Clara.
Clara just had surgery and was still very weak. If it weren't for the allure of wealth and status keeping her going, she wouldn't even be able to stand up.
After getting hit, she fell straight to the ground and grabbed onto Ezekiel's leg.
"Dad, it's me, Clara, your biological daughter! You're not going to deny me, are you?"
Not to be outdone, Esme rushed forward and grabbed Elena's hand, Ezekiel's wife, forcing out a few tears to look pitiful.
"Mom, it's me, Esme. You called me and told me to come find you at the party."
Charles took Catherine's hand and quietly stepped back. "Stand back here, better view of the show."
Catherine suppressed a laugh and gently tugged on Alexander's sleeve, pulling him into the safe zone too. Alexander took her hand in return, quietly interlacing their fingers.
The other guests had the same idea—to watch the drama unfold.
If these really were Ezekiel and Elena's daughters, stepping in now would only offend the Howard family.And if they weren't, it wasn't their mess to clean up anyway. Either way,they weren't the ones being embarrassed.
Someone whispered with a hand over their mouth. "Ezekiel has so many kids anyway, two more won't matter."
"Right, except these two aren't much to look at. Daughters like that are just dead weight."
Hearing all the gossip around him, including many crude remarks, Ezekiel's head was about to explode.
He looked at Celeste hiding in the back and kicked Clara away from his feet.
"Get lost! Who's your father? You want to be my daughter? The Howard family isn't for just anyone!"
Elena also pushed Esme away.
"Who are you? I never contacted you. I only have one daughter, and she doesn't look like you!"
As Elena spoke, she glared at Ezekiel.
This must be because he'd been messing around and hadn't dealt with those people properly, which is why these random people showed up!
Esme was so anxious tears were about to fall.
If Ezekiel didn't acknowledge her, her life would be over!
She pulled out her phone, pointing at the messages and crying: "Mom, you're the one who told me to come find you at the party!"
Elena glanced at the messages and frowned: "Your mother is our family's maid, not me!"
A maid? How could it be a maid!
Ezekiel waved his hand in disgust, pointing at a middle-aged man covered in dirt, and addressed Clara.
"Our family's bodyguard, also my secretary, Solon—he's your real father!"
Solon had just been trimming plants in the yard and was still wearing gardening gloves.
Behind him was a middle-aged woman who looked about seventy to eighty percent like Lucy. She stepped forward and grabbed Esme.
"Is it Esme? I'm your mother! This is your father. Finally, our family can be reunited."
Solon also pulled up the still-dazed Clara. "Right, right. From now on, our family living well together is what matters most."
Clara was stunned!
So when Celeste said her father had a prestigious status, she meant Ezekiel's secretary?
What kind of prestige is that!
"You're my dad? Then why is this woman also your child?"
Solon smiled, his honest appearance hiding some cunning.
"What's wrong with that? Your mother's children are my children. We have eight more brothers and seven more sisters at home—it's quite lively!"
Lively? That's way too lively!
These were basically children Ezekiel had fathered outside but didn't want to acknowledge.
He just sent them all to Solon's household and registered them under Solon's name.
Since Solon didn't need to pay to raise them and they weren't his own kids anyway, he didn't care about having one more or less.
Hearing about so many people, with a father who was just a bodyguard and a mother who was a maid—this life was even worse than Catherine's farming family!
Just thinking about that scene, Clara's eyes rolled back and she fainted!
Solon carried Clara over one shoulder and forcibly dragged Esme with his other hand, quickly disappearing from the banquet hall.
Celeste had been hiding to the side to see how Ezekiel would react to Clara, but seeing things go wrong, she'd already quietly run off and disappeared.
Ezekiel turned around apologetically: "Sorry, the children of our maid and bodyguard ran out and made fools of themselves, disrupting everyone's enjoyment. I'll drink three glasses as punishment!"
He picked up champagne glasses and started drinking, his face turning red.
Whether from anger or embarrassment was hard to tell.
Ezekiel went around toasting everyone with his glass, finally reaching Alexander.
"Alexander, we're family after all. You can't side with outsiders and not help me, right? Every time I've tried to find you lately, you say you need to be with Catherine. That's too improper!"
As he spoke, he kept glancing at Catherine.
Alexander's hand rested on Catherine's slender waist. Hearing this, he just raised his eyelids and smiled.
"I don't understand what you're saying. Catherine will be my family from now on, so of course I'll help her. As for you..."
"If I'm not with Catherine, I have company business to handle. I really don't have that much time to visit you at the livestock farm."
That was basically calling Ezekiel an animal without saying it directly!
Catherine burst out laughing, and seeing her laugh, Alexander's gaze softened considerably.
Charles took away the water by Catherine's hand. "Better not eat anything here—it's dirty. I'm worried you'll get a stomachache when you get home. I'll take you somewhere else to eat later."
"Okay."
Ezekiel's mouth twitched as he looked at Catherine.
"Catherine is indeed beautiful. No wonder Alexander likes you so much. So many women surrounded him before, but he never looked at any of them. You must really have something special."
Catherine smiled lightly, her demeanor impeccably graceful.
"You flatter me. I'm nothing special, except I have a particularly good relationship with my brothers. At least I couldn't do something like secretly sabotaging my own brother and sending him to his death."
Charles chimed in.
"Only animals would do that kind of thing. Our Catherine is so sensible—how could she do something like that?"
Alexander nodded too, looking at Ezekiel with cold eyes.
"Catherine's right. Some people really are animals. Calling them human would be an insult to humans."
Ezekiel knew Alexander was talking about how he'd arranged for someone to kill Santino.
But he hadn't succeeded! In the end, the one who killed Santino was clearly Alexander!
Ezekiel was prepared and sneered: "Speaking of which, Santino died under mysterious circumstances. Alexander, you need to give me an explanation, don't you?"
As long as he insisted Alexander was the one who did it, Alexander wouldn't be walking out that door today!