Millionaire Girlfriend

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 - Not so boring mariage anniversary

The day of Clara’s paternal grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary had finally arrived.

It was Clara and her cousin Catherine, Benjamin’s sister, who had taken charge of organizing the entire celebration.

"No, get all those flowers out of here. Grandpa hates flowers. He says they remind him that his time is almost up," Catherine ordered one of the employees.

"Who ordered all these flowers?" Catherine asked in confusion. She and Clara both knew flowers were strictly forbidden.

"I have no idea," Clara replied, even though she knew perfectly well her mother, Regina, had bought them to show her displeasure about having to host a party for people who hated her.

"And are those walnuts? Seriously?" Catherine sighed. "Go tell your mother to stop sabotaging my party. If she wants to kill our grandparents, she can do it some other day."

"Mom, could you please stop giving us more work?" Clara said to her mother, who was sitting comfortably in a chair with a glass of wine in her hand.

"They’re not going to die from something that small. Trust me," Regina answered casually.

"Hello, everyone!" an elderly man shouted as he walked into the mansion.

Behind him was an elegant older woman dressed entirely in black, wearing her usual stern expression.

They were Clara’s grandparents, Carter and Barbara Turner.

"Grandpa! Grandma! Happy fiftieth wedding anniversary!" said another of Clara’s cousins, a teenage girl named Carla. She hugged her grandfather but not her grandmother, who hated any display of affection.

"Grandma, happy anniv—"

Clara was cut off when Barbara raised her hand.

"Stop right there. All this mushy nonsense makes me want to throw up. None of you had to force me into this ridiculous party," Barbara grumbled.

Her husband had actually tricked her into coming to her own anniversary celebration.

"Uh... we have wine," Clara offered.

It was the only thing she knew that could calm her grandmother down.

"No wine. I quit drinking."

"May God help us," Regina muttered under her breath.

She knew alcohol was the only thing that made her mother-in-law even remotely tolerable.

"Oh... you’re still here?" Barbara said as she looked at Regina. "Good Lord, it’s only eight in the morning and you’re already drinking."

That was a bold comment coming from someone who used to start drinking as soon as she woke up.

"Mother. Father. Happy fiftieth wedding anniversary," Clovis said.

His brother Colin and several other family members soon joined them to greet their parents.

Suddenly, the front door flew open.

Carl stumbled inside, completely drunk, a bottle of whiskey still clutched in one hand.

"Hello, family!" he shouted as he struggled to walk in a straight line.

"Grandpa... Grandma... congratulations on a love that has stood the test of time. Now that’s real love. No lies. No secrets."

He even gave them an exaggerated bow.

"Carl, what are you doing?" Clara snapped. "Stop embarrassing yourself in front of everyone."

She already knew her brother had terrible judgment, but she never imagined he would show up drunk to an event their father considered so important.

"Leave him alone. Let’s enjoy the show," Barbara interrupted.

"Your children never fail to entertain me, Clovis. One is a complete idiot, and the other keeps doing things that are completely unnatural," Colin said, referring to Carl’s stupidity and Clara’s attraction to women.

Clovis shot him a cold look but said nothing.

"That’s enough, Colin," Carter said firmly.

"Today is supposed to be a celebration. Try acting like civilized people for once."

"Yes, Father," Colin replied immediately.

Despite being the state’s Attorney General, he still obeyed his father like a soldier.

"Besides, it’s not Clovis’s fault his children turned out this way," Barbara continued while glaring at Regina.

"It’s always the mother’s fault when children go bad."

Regina wanted nothing more than to throw the wine bottle sitting beside her straight at Barbara’s head.

Unfortunately, Clara was standing directly between her and the target.

Besides... that would probably make the party even more chaotic than it already was.

"Mother, Father, we’ve already prepared a room for you," Clovis said. "Why don’t you get some rest while we finish setting everything up and wait for the rest of the family to arrive?"

Then he looked at Clara.

"Clara, help your brother sober up."

"Come on, Carl," Clara said, taking him by the arm and leading him toward the kitchen.

"What were you thinking, showing up here drunk?" she scolded while preparing a cup of coffee for him herself.

Then she noticed...

Carl was crying.

And just like every other time she saw her older brother cry, her heart tightened.

Even though she knew Carl was responsible for Ashley’s kidnapping...

Even though she fully intended to make him pay for it someday.

"None of your business," Carl muttered.

Without even touching the coffee Clara had made for him, he turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Clara called after him.

"None of your business," Carl repeated before walking out of the house, the whiskey bottle still in his hand.

"Where’s Carl going like that?" Benjamin asked as he entered through the front door.

"I don’t know, but could you follow him? Please make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid... and don’t let him drink any more alcohol."

"Got it," Ben replied before hurrying after Carl.

"You should really stop ordering my brother around like that," Catherine said to Clara. "I don’t want him picking up bad habits from your brother."

"I didn’t force him, okay?" Clara shot back. "Unlike you, he actually has a heart."

"Ooh... keep going," Carla said, pulling out her phone to record the argument.

-------

Clara’s grandparents had specifically asked for a small family gathering instead of a huge celebration, so everyone had respected their wishes. Only close family members and longtime friends had been invited.

By evening, nearly every guest had arrived for dinner.

Carter was chatting with old friends alongside his two sons, while Barbara sat nearby looking completely bored. Several women tried to make conversation with her, but she ignored every one of them.

The only people she was willing to talk to were her grandchildren.

"So, Clara, what’s it like trying a dick? Isn’t it better?" she asked.

Clara was caught completely off guard by the question, just like everyone else.

"Oh, please. She’s back with the same girl who stole from her and humiliated her," Catherine shot back before Clara even had a chance to respond.

Clara stayed silent for a few seconds.

She didn’t know how to respond. She knew that getting defensive during an argument with a member of her family always ended badly.

"And what about you, Catherine? How’s married life? I heard your husband got arrested for rape," Clara shot back.

Catherine nearly spat out her wine.

She had always thought she was the only one who was good at digging up other people’s secrets.

"Those were just accusations without any evidence," Catherine defended herself.

"Really? Funny how a ’baseless accusation’ has been enough for you two to sleep in separate bedrooms for the last two months," Clara replied.

Catherine didn’t say another word.

As a lawyer, she knew that anything she said would simply be used against her.

"Haha... I was worried I’d be bored today," Barbara said with an amused grin.

She then turned toward another granddaughter.

"And you, Carla? What’s wrong with you? Normally, by now, you’d have already done something you weren’t supposed to do, like stealing alcohol or sneaking off to smoke in the bathroom. But today you’re just standing there looking like you’re about to pass out."

"I’m... I’m fine. Everything’s fine," Carla replied.

She wasn’t convincing anyone.

"No, you don’t look fine at all," Catherine said. "Are you sick?"

"I said I’m fine! Just leave me alone, okay?" Carla snapped before storming away.

---

Meanwhile, Clovis’s phone had been ringing nonstop for over thirty minutes.

The caller was always the same person.

Carl.

"When my boys were only four years old, I took them hunting for the first time," Carter said while laughing with his old friends.

"We hunted rabbits.

"They cried like babies because they didn’t want to hurt those cute little animals.

"But two years later, they were already better shots than I was. Every weekend, they begged me to take them hunting again."

His sons smiled politely.

Neither of them had forgotten the beatings, the brutal combat training, or the belt punishments they had endured growing up.

To Carter...

Those memories were something to be proud of.

Suddenly, the front door burst open for the second time that day.

Carl staggered inside again, a folder clutched tightly in one hand.

"DAD! DAD!" he shouted.

Every conversation stopped.

The musicians lowered their instruments.

The entire room fell silent.

"Carl," Clovis said coldly, "I sincerely hope you have a very good reason for behaving like this today. Otherwise, you’ll regret it."

"Dad..." Carl asked, still obviously drunk.

"Did you know?

"Did you know I wasn’t that boy’s father... and you never told me?"

Clovis looked at the papers in Carl’s hand.

"What’s in your hand?"

"A DNA test. And divorce papers.

"Now answer my question."

Carl walked toward him.

"Yes," Clovis answered calmly.

"I already knew and you should’ve figured it out yourself. The boy doesn’t look anything like you."

Carl stared at him in disbelief.

"Then why didn’t you tell me?! WHY?!" he screamed.

"Because I wanted to teach you a lesson.

"You’re always acting like a fool, and I’m always the one cleaning up your mess.

"I thought maybe this time... you’d finally realize how stupid you’ve been.

"If you still can’t see it after this...

"Then there’s nothing more I can do for you."

That was only half the truth.

He deliberately left out the fact that Lucinda possessed information that could seriously damage him.

Blinded by rage, Carl threw a punch straight at his father’s face.

Clovis calmly stepped aside.

Carl completely missed and crashed into the dining table, flipping it over.

Food, dishes, and drinks flew everywhere.

Several guests screamed.

Without reacting, Clovis simply bent down and picked up the envelope that had fallen onto the floor.

A look of disappointment crossed his face...

As though he had been expecting to find something entirely different inside it.

---

"Looks like your brother wins the family’s biggest idiot award once again," Catherine muttered.

Before Clara could answer

"Blegh!"

Carla suddenly threw up into a nearby flower pot.

"Babe! Are you okay?"

One of the waiters immediately set his serving tray down and rushed to her side.

"Carla!" Catherine cried.

"Are you alright?"

"Don’t worry," the waiter said. "She’s okay."

"Hey, waiter," Catherine snapped.

"I was talking to my sister, not you. And who exactly are you?"

"My name’s Shark.

"...and I’m her boyfriend.

"...and the future father of our baby."

He gently rested a hand on Carla’s stomach.

"What?!" Catherine shouted.

"Oh my... Tell me you’re not pregnant!

"You’re only sixteen!"

Hearing the commotion, Catherine’s mother hurried over.

"What’s going on?

"What is that waiter doing with my daughter?"

"Mom..." Catherine said.

"She’s pregnant. Carla is pregnant by this loser whose name is Shark."

"Carla...

"Please tell me this is some kind of joke," her mother whispered, completely shaken.

"It’s true, Mom. I’m pregnant.

"And don’t call him a loser.

"Shark is an incredibly talented musician."

"My daughter got pregnant by... a musician..."

Her mother rolled her eyes back and fainted on the spot.

Regina, who happened to be standing nearby, casually stepped aside.

She hit the floor with a loud thud.

Both daughters immediately rushed over to help her while the rest of the guests watched the disaster unfold in stunned silence.

"Fuck being sober," Barbara muttered.

"I’m having a drink."

She grabbed a glass of champagne from the tray Shark had just placed on the table.

Then she calmly took a sip of the champagne that had been prepared to celebrate her own fiftieth wedding anniversary.

"Damn, Carter," one of his old army friends laughed.

"I haven’t seen a small party turn into this much chaos since our last deployment to Afghanistan."

"Hahaha!

"I honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better party with my name on it," Carter laughed.

To him...

Things had finally become interesting.

"Young man," Carter called to one of the waiters who was cleaning up the overturned table.

"Bring us the strongest and most expensive liquor you’ve got."

He looked toward his old friends and grinned.

"Gentlemen...

"Let’s drink until none of us can stand anymore."

"Hear, hear!" they all answered together.

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