Chapter 37
Clara’s POV
Kael’s expression shifted, but it wasn’t anger. It was the look of someone being confronted with something he couldn’t refute, and having to swallow it. He steadied himself and continued.
“Ms. Bennett, Iris offended you, and I’ve already apologized for that. Is something this minor really enough reason to refuse surgery for my daughter?”
He paused, then said something I hadn’t expected.
“I should also clarify that Iris is not my girlfriend. She is only my daughter’s mother.”
As those words fell, I glanced in Iris’s direction out of the corner of my eye.
She had gone completely stiff, her face changing in a way she couldn’t hide. She had probably never imagined Kael would use such explicit words, in front of so many people, to make their relationship sound so final.
I returned my attention to Kael.
“She made the mistake, and you’re the one apologizing? What kind of logic is that, Mr. Voss?” I raised a brow, my tone still calm. “And besides, what makes you think I’d accept your apology?”
He didn’t answer at once, so I continued.
“If you want our team to take your daughter’s case, it’s simple.”
I stood and laid out the two conditions clearly, one by one.
“First, thirty million dollars transferred into our account, not a cent less. Second, Iris must publicly apologize to The Gloria Nguyen Collective, acknowledging that we are not frauds and that we have never cheated anyone out of a single cent.”
When I finished, I stood there and waited for his response.
Kael stood in front of me in silence for a few seconds.
I had met many powerful figures in business. They were used to people yielding to them, used to holding the upper hand at the negotiating table. Kael was one of the most typical of that kind—he didn’t need to be forceful. His silence alone was enough to make most people feel pressured.
But I was not most people.
I remained standing and waited.
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Kael’s POV
Clara stood there after stating her two conditions. She added nothing and gave nothing away. She simply stood there.
I had known from the beginning that what Iris did at the clinic had gone too far. I had apologized afterward, and Clara had given a tentative response at the time. I thought things had basically moved in a certain direction. But tonight, in front of all these people, she had laid out the entire matter clearly. Every word was fact, and I couldn’t find a single point to refute.
Thirty million dollars was not the issue.
But the second condition—
I took my eyes off Clara and glanced toward Iris.
She was standing there, her face looking bad, lips pressed together, and in her eyes was something I knew all too well—hurt, anger, and that instinctive resistance people showed when forced to face an outcome they didn’t want to face.
I drew in a deep breath.
Zoe’s condition couldn’t wait, and I didn’t have the luxury of choosing. Clara had accepted so many cases tonight. Everyone present had seen how she reviewed records, made judgments, and made decisions. She wasn’t putting on a performance. That was real ability and real authority.
She was the closest option my daughter had to Gloria Nguyen herself.
I forced down that breath and looked back at Clara.
“Fine.”
“I’ll arrange the transfer of thirty million tonight.” I paused. “As for the second condition, I need to talk to Iris.”
Clara didn’t respond immediately.
I turned and walked toward Iris.
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Iris’s POV
By the time Kael walked toward me, I had already rearranged the expression on my face.
What he had just said—“Iris is not my girlfriend. She is only my daughter’s mother”—had already gone through my head more than once.
The ladies of Maplewood City, the elites of the business world, Jasper’s social circle—from tonight onward, all of them would know that Kael and I had no official status at all.
This was all Clara’s fault.
Kael stopped in front of me and lowered his voice.
“Iris, you need to apologize to The Gloria Nguyen Collective.”
I froze for a second, thinking I had misheard him. “What?”
“A public apology,” he repeated, with no room for discussion in his tone. “You know exactly the weight of what you said at the clinic.”
I felt the blood rush to my face all at once. It wasn’t shame—it was the kind of fury that came from being cornered in public.
“Kael, you want me to apologize in public? In front of all these people?” I kept my voice low, but I couldn’t control the tremor in it. “Do you know what that means for me?”
“I do,” he said. “But Zoe’s surgery can’t be delayed any longer.”
There was something in his tone. It wasn’t an order. It was something even harder for me to refuse than an order.
A public apology, in front of all these people from Maplewood City’s circles, to Clara, to The Gloria Nguyen Collective—after that, how would I ever recover my dignity?
But if I didn’t apologize, there would be no hope for Zoe’s surgery.
I had no choice.
I gritted my teeth, turned around, and walked toward Clara.
Every step was harder than I had imagined.
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