Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Her voice was low, but it cut through Oliver like a poisoned dagger, striking him right where it hurt the most.

"Faithful and true," those words made Oliver shudder. He snapped his gaze to Clara, his eyes sharp as knives.

Catherine's insinuation was like a boulder thrown into the lake of his mind, stirring up countless buried doubts.

He remembered how rushed their wedding had been when Clara married him; he recalled the doctor's hesitant expression when Amara was born; he thought of those late nights when Clara would receive mysterious phone calls and look panicked...

All those past suspicions surged back like a tidal wave.

Could it be... could Amara...

His face turned grim, and he looked at Clara with an unprecedented coldness and scrutiny. This woman he had cherished for over twenty years—had she been deceiving him from the start?

"No! It's not true! Oliver, don't listen to her lies!" Clara broke down completely, sensing the change in Oliver's gaze, the icy suspicion making her feel like she was plunged into a frozen abyss.

She screamed, losing her usual grace, pointing at Catherine like a madwoman.

"You wretched woman! It's you! It must be you! You've been playing dumb all these years, surely you've been seeing other men! Now you've latched onto Richard and come back to slander us! You want to ruin the Spencer family and all of us!"

She tried to defame Catherine further, diverting everyone's attention.

"Everyone, look! She's not some innocent victim! She's cunning! Who knows how many men she's been involved with? That's why she's so brazen!"

Clara's accusations were vicious and frantic, attempting to destroy Catherine's reputation with the most disgraceful words.

However, faced with this hysterical counterattack, Catherine merely raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a faint, almost mocking smile.

Her calmness contrasted sharply with Clara's madness, making Clara's accusations seem even more feeble.

Oliver looked at the crazed Clara, then at the composed Catherine, and the scales in his mind began to tip.

He had only one thought: investigate! He had to thoroughly investigate! Whether it was Catherine's claims of abuse and murder or Clara's loyalty, he needed to get to the bottom of it!

Richard observed everything, a barely noticeable satisfaction flickering in his deep eyes. The real drama was just beginning.

The ballroom was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden revelations and intense confrontation, the air thick with tension and a suffocating sense of anticipation.

Suddenly, Oliver slapped Clara across the face.

What followed was Clara's sharp cries and Oliver's furious curses.

Oliver's eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed Clara by the hair, dragging her in and mercilessly slapping her back and forth, the sound of the blows crisp and piercing.

"Wretched woman! It's all your fault! If it weren't for your lousy ideas, the company wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses! And Amara, conspiring with Gavin, has messed up the Spencer family so hard!"

Oliver seemed to have lost his mind, venting all his failures and resentment on Clara.

Clara was beaten until her hair was disheveled, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, her face swelling instantly. She dodged and wailed, "Oliver, why are you hitting me? How can you blame me? It's Amara who's incompetent..."

"Still talking back!" Oliver kicked her in the stomach, causing her to curl up on the ground like a fish out of water.

The sudden violence brought the atmosphere in the hall to an icy low.

Catherine watched coldly, as if observing a farce unrelated to her, her gaze devoid of any emotion. To her, these so-called "parents" were no different from strangers, perhaps even more contemptible.

Richard's brows furrowed, not out of sympathy for Clara, but out of disgust for the uncontrolled ugliness tainting his place. He stepped forward, blocking Catherine, his voice cold as ice: "Enough."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried absolute authority, halting Oliver's frenzied actions.

"This isn't the Spencer family." Richard's gaze was sharp as a knife, sweeping over the disheveled pair. "Amara is in my hands now. How she is dealt with is up to me. You have no right to cause a scene here."

He slightly tilted his head, signaling the waiting bodyguards: "Escort them out."

"Mr. Smith! Richard!" Oliver finally realized where he was, his arrogance deflating, but he was still unwilling to give up, "Amara is my daughter, you can't..."

"Your daughter?" Richard scoffed, cutting him off, "Find out the truth first."

Oliver was left speechless, his eyes darting around before he put on a pained expression and turned to Catherine: "Catherine, my dear daughter, I know I was wrong.

"I was foolish before, neglecting you. For the sake of our father-daughter bond, please help me plead with Mr. Smith to bring Amara back. I promise I'll make it up to you..."

His tone was as sincere as could be, as if the man who had just been beating his wife wasn't him.

Catherine didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, merely letting out a derisive snort: "Compensation? No need. I can't afford Mr. Spencer's kindness."

Her cold and distant attitude was like a bucket of ice water, completely dousing Oliver's feigned remorse. His face turned extremely ugly, filled with embarrassment.

Richard's gaze shifted to Clara, who was still crying, trying to elicit sympathy.

"Ms. Jones,"

His voice was devoid of any warmth. "Save your poor acting. Do you really care about Amara? Or are you more concerned about the benefits she can bring you?"

Clara's sobs halted, her face pale, trembling all over, forgetting to cry.

Oliver saw this and knew they wouldn't gain anything today. Staying longer would only bring more humiliation.

He glared at Catherine viciously, then looked at Richard with fear. Finally, he pulled the limp Clara up and, under the cold gaze of the bodyguards, practically crawled out of the Smith Villa.

The door closed, shutting out the outside drama.