Tempting Him to Lose Control

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: I Didn’t Make Things Difficult for Her

Amanda was certain Miles was trying to use her to provoke Stella.

’The moment Stella arrives, there’s no way Miles will keep protecting Claire.’

Ten minutes later, Stella Locke arrived at the bridal shop.

"Stella, you’re finally here," Amanda sobbed as she rushed over. "That stand-in, Claire Kendall, had the audacity to try on the custom wedding gown I made for you, and Miles Warren even let her!"

"Miles Warren, if you break things off with Claire Kendall right now, Stella might still forgive you."

"Amanda," Stella Locke stepped forward, interrupting her.

"I never asked you to custom-make a wedding gown, and I’m certainly not marrying Miles Warren."

She glanced at Claire Kendall and spoke candidly.

"You’ve misunderstood. I’m not ’the one he never got over’ for Miles Warren. It was just unrequited love on my part. There was never anything between us."

A dead silence fell over the bridal shop.

Amanda’s expression froze, and all the color drained from her face. "Stella, you..."

"They were just rumors. For my own selfish reasons, I never bothered to explain."

That one sentence shattered all of Amanda’s smug assumptions. She staggered back two steps, bumped into the corner of the sofa, and fell in a pathetic heap.

Stella Locke ignored her and turned to Claire Kendall. "Could we step outside and talk privately?"

Before Claire could speak, Miles stepped in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I’m fine," she said with a small smile, removing his hand.

Miles’s jaw tensed slightly. His gaze on Stella Locke held a new note of wariness, tempered with a carefully measured restraint.

"Don’t go far. Stay right by the door, and call for me if you need anything."

Stella shook her head with a sense of resignation, pushed the door open, and stepped outside. Claire followed close behind.

After walking a short distance, Stella stopped under a tree.

"Claire, I’m sorry. I admit I was selfish when I first came back, and I deliberately said things to mislead you."

"That blue diamond ring on your finger? He flew halfway around the world to buy it for you at auction."

"You’ve seen the scar on his left arm, right?"

Claire nodded.

"He got that injury while he was studying overseas. His wallet was stolen, and he chased the thief for three whole blocks, all the way into Wallace Street. He was cornered by the gang and got stabbed. The blade nearly severed a major artery."

"This is Miles Warren we’re talking about, the heir of the Warren family. Why would he be short on cash? It was just a wallet."

Stella looked up at her. "Because inside that wallet was a picture of you."

"I remember thinking back then, what kind of girl could drive him to such madness that he would be willing to throw away his own life?"

Claire’s heart trembled. Her fingertips curled into her palms, and her throat felt so dry she couldn’t utter a single word.

"I stayed by his side for so many years, until everyone assumed we would end up together. But the truth is, I never made it into his heart at all."

Stella’s voice was calm.

"Claire, he loves you far more than you can imagine. I’m telling you all this because I hope you can love him a little more, or at least, pay more attention to him. Especially..."

Stella paused. "His emotional state."

[Inside the bridal shop]

Miles leaned against the edge of the sofa, his gaze dark as he watched the two women outside the glass window. They were too far away for him to read their lips.

’Back when we were overseas, Stella knew about my depression. She wouldn’t tell Claire, would she?’

Beside him, Amanda, still oblivious to the danger, piped up, "Miles Warren, I admit I was mistaken, but you have no right to shut down my shop!"

"At the end of the day, it’s all because Claire Kendall is a social climber. If she wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been mistaken. You two are from different worlds; you’ll break up sooner or later..."

"AAAHH!!"

Her defiant words turned into a pained scream before she could finish. Miles suddenly bent down, his long fingers clamping around her wrist with crushing force.

"Let go," Amanda shrieked, feeling as if her bones were about to shatter. "My hand, my hand..."

Amanda had never seen this side of Miles. It was as if he’d shed his facade of elegant restraint, revealing a ruthless, predatory viciousness that seemed capable of crushing anything.

Miles looked down, his voice glacial.

"My relationship with her is none of your business. You have no right to pass judgment."

"I didn’t... Mr. Warren, I was wrong..."

Amanda’s courage completely shattered. She slumped to the floor, not daring to utter another defiant word.

A moment later, Claire pushed open the door to the bridal shop.

She paused for a second, seeing Amanda sprawled on the floor, trembling like a leaf.

Her eyes instinctively went to Miles.

The chilling aura around him vanished in an instant.

Miles walked over to her, his eyes filled with a gentle warmth, though they were also tinged with a hint of weakness from his recent discharge from the hospital.

"You two finished talking?"

"Yes. Let’s just drop the matter of closing her shop. Everything’s been cleared up, and I think she’s learned her lesson."

Claire’s gaze went past him to Amanda, whose back was turned. "What happened to her?"

"It’s nothing," Miles said, subtly shifting to block her view. "Just a small disagreement. I didn’t give her a hard time. Let’s go home."

"Okay."

[Regency Gardens]

Claire went to the bathroom to wash up, while Miles went into the study.

Jonathan Keller sent him a news alert: [Heir to Quillmore’s Sinclair Family Returning to Aethel]

A phone call came right after.

"Miles, just giving you a heads-up. Jacob Sinclair is coming back."

"It’s irrelevant. He has nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with Claire."

Jonathan Keller sighed. "Miles, maybe you should just leave Claire..."

He cut him off. "Tomorrow, take my letter of resignation to the hospital for me." Then he hung up.

’He’d pulled some strings to get Jacob Sinclair out of the picture back then, but it was never going to be a permanent solution. And now, he was coming back.’

’Would Claire leave him? No, she wouldn’t. At the hospital that day, she promised she wouldn’t leave him.’

’It seemed that as long as he was vulnerable, as long as he had nothing and needed her to take care of him, she would never leave.’

Miles turned on the floor lamp and finished writing the letter of resignation he had been mulling over for so long.

His expression was placid. He was fully aware of his current condition—he was in no shape to remain at the hospital, much less hold a scalpel.

He was afraid his emotional state would affect his judgment, lead to a misdiagnosis, or even cost someone their life.

Reason for Resignation: Currently experiencing a moderate depressive episode, with somatic reactions during moments of agitation. Emotional state is unstable. Unable to competently perform clinical diagnostic and therapeutic duties. Requesting to resign from the positions of Professor of Internal Medicine and Attending Physician.

With just a few short lines, he had personally put an end to his medical career.

The study door was ajar. After Claire finished washing up, she tiptoed inside.

"Dr. Warren, what are you writing so intently?"

Claire saw the first line, "Letter of Resignation," and froze.

She anxiously snatched the paper from him. "You’re resigning?"

"But didn’t you say you’d already figured out how to balance your work at the company and your surgeries at the hospital?"

Her eyes scanned down the page. "Reason for Resignation..."

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