CHAPTER 560: CHAPTER 548

"Isn’t that No.29, that heiress?"

The tough woman was immediately excited, smacking her thighs as she chuckled, "Welcome back. And here I heard someone bailed you out... My shoulder just happened to be feeling sore, so come here and give me a massage."

"You’re sore everywhere, everyday anyway. Here—let me give you some proper treatment," Clara retorted and slapped the tough woman across the face.

"H-How dare you hit me?!" The woman was left dumbstruck by the slap and stared at Clara in disbelief while clutching her swelling cheek.

"That’s not all—I’ll kick you like you kicked me! What are you going to do about it?" Clara snapped and kicked the woman squarely in the stomach.

She stumbled but quickly snapped at the other intimates, "What are you spacing out for?! Get her!"

However, the other women were all huddled together and shuddering in fear, staring at the burly man standing behind Clara."

"Go on if you dare," Ethan said as he slowly lit himself a cigarette, illuminating his handsome face and quietly intimidating presence.

He was not saying much or doing anything, but that was enough to intimidate those women.

"Who the hell are you?!" The tough woman demanded, clearly hostile and uncowed despite noticing Ethan. After all, she was a mob boss before her incarceration and had taken the lives of people.

"Who, me?" Ethan took a long drag and flashed a vague smile. "I’m here to back up my kid, so you should take her beating lying down if you’re smart."

"Your kid?!" The tough woman did not have the patience to listen—her flabby cheeks were stiffened as she balled up her fists, ready to retaliate.

However, when she finally had a good look at Ethan’s face from the glow of his cigarette, she dropped to the floor while her face paled as if she just saw a ghost. "Y-You’re Ethan Stuart?!"

"Yes," Ethan, whose family was involved in legally-gray businesses, nodded. Moreover, the tough woman had the fortune to meet him once, with those good looks of his particularly memorable.

And she was immediately on her knees, pleading with Ethan, "I-I’m so sorry, Mr. Stuart. I didn’t know No.29 was with you. I would have definitely been giving her my best hospitality if I knew... Please, don’t hold it against me, Mr. Stuart. Forgive me..."

She did not fear being in jail, but she feared the Stuarts. She would be in for a world of pain when she got out, and her family would suffer with her.

The consequences were certainly unimaginable.

Nonetheless, Ethan simply smiled haughtily as he took a puff, though there was icy cruelty in his eyes that would leave anyone shuddering.

"You never hurt me," he said. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

The tough woman was certainly smart enough to turn to Clara and kowtow to her. "I-I’m sorry, No. 29. I must be blind to make things so unpleasant for you... I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!"

Their other cellmates did the same, but Clara remained impassive as she said coolly, "None of you have to apologize because I’d never forgive any of you. I will, however, return the favor for everything you put me through."

With those words, she slapped the tough woman across the face with the back of her hand. She’d return what she’d been given, in full, one painful bit after the other.

"No!!! Please, stop!!! We won’t do it ever again!" They kept begging for mercy—their desperate cries eerily resounding across the hollow detention center.

Eventually, Clara was exhausted and done with her revenge.

Turning towards Ethan, she said, "I’m done. Let’s go."

"Alright!" Ethan snapped his fingers and gently opened the door for Clara.

The women in the cell were left watching, stunned... They would never have upset someone that important if they had known!

Having vented all her grievances, Clara stopped assaulting the women and warned them even as they shook in their boots. "I will spare your lives today, but remember-bully another innocent, and you will suffer a worse fate!’

They promptly kowtowed to Clara. "Thank you, thank you! We will always remember that!"

Having endured such a terrible experience, they were made to understand that there was always a bigger fish and that they should never be so quick to bully.

With that, Clara and Ethan left the detention center without leaving any evidence behind—as if they had never been there before.

"Hand," Ethan suddenly told her.

"Hand?"

Clara had no idea what he intended, but she was in a good mood and generously held out her dainty hand.

His large palm wrapped around hers right then, gently caressing it as he said seriously, "You must be tired. Let me give you a massage."

Under the bright moonlight, the affection he had for her was so obvious in his flawless, handsome face.

Clara spaced out a little but quickly withdrew her hand as her heart was racing because of him.

Keeping her hand behind herself, she appeared exasperated as she told him off, "Don’t be so naughty... You’ve done enough for one night; any more, and I’d misunderstand."

Everything about him was perfect, not least of all the sense of security and comfort he could give a lady, not unlike the feeling of seeing a knight in shining armor. And Clara herself was not heartless—so how could she not be drawn to him?

However, past experiences told her that she would suffer if she fell for Ethan again. That was why she had to restrain herself as much as she could!

"Misunderstand what?" Ethan asked innocently, looking at her with doleful puppy eyes despite her sudden coldness.

"What do you think?!’ Clara snapped, frowning. "Don’t you know how charming you are, bewitching me all the time, only to tell me ’we’re just friends’ afterward and abandoning me? Is teasing me like that fun for you?!"

"So you’re saying you’re falling for me again?" Ethan flashed his unrepentant playboy smile, slipping his hands in both pockets.

He was certainly pleased to have elicited such a response from Clara, like a cat catching a mouse.

They had been brought back together after drifting apart for so long, and past sentiments remained without fading-in fact, it was burning even more passionately than before.

In other words, he was special, even irreplaceable to her, and that was enough for him!

"So what if I am?" Clara retorted. "Do you feel a sense of accomplishment from this? Don’t you feel bored, an old-timer like you, manipulating a virgin like me?"

In reality, Clara never avoided confronting her feelings for Ethan, but she just could not understand how his mind worked-what was the point of his repeated advances?

"Nope. I won’t get bored as long as it’s you," Ethan grinned, baring his squeaky-clean teeth he had the charm to bewitch all living beings, but he obviously needed a good punch just then.

Clara was left huffing, a sign that she had truly lost to him. "I get bored even if you don’t. Do whatever you like-l don’t care!"

She was not about to play along to the playboy’s flirtatious routines like some blockhead once more.

Either way, the only way to escape his manipulation was to stay away from him.