Chapter 471 She Indirectly Harmed
Desmond heard Oliver's refusal and didn't push it.
He mentioned he was strapped for cash himself and quickly hung up.
After the call, his face turned cold and contemptuous.
He used to be crazy about Clara, and by extension, he liked the whole Manners family.
But thinking about how Clara had tricked him into going to Starhaven under the pretense of helping Emma made him feel sick.
On the other end, Oliver stared at the disconnected call, looking worried.
With Desmond refusing to lend him money, he had no idea who else to turn to.
The folks at the casino suggested he take out a high-interest loan, but he remembered how Sidney had tricked him into doing that before.
What started as a few thousand dollars quickly ballooned into tens of thousands.
So, even though he was tempted, he didn't dare take high-interest loans.
And speaking of Sidney, ever since the incident, he hadn't been able to reach him, making Oliver almost certain that Sidney had set him up on purpose.
But why would Sidney do that out of nowhere?
Could it have been Johnson's doing?
Thinking of Johnson made Oliver furious.
After the previous incident, Johnson had gone into hiding, and Oliver had seen through him.
Now, even though he was far away in Luminous City and couldn't punch Johnson, he could at least call and give him a piece of his mind.
So, Oliver, full of anger, went off to yell at Johnson.
Meanwhile, Lucas had returned home.
He sat on the couch, listening to Clara say she had accepted Desmond's proposal.
The living room wasn't empty; Elodie and Nathan were there too.
Unlike Lucas's calm demeanor, Elodie was extremely agitated.
"What? You accepted Desmond's proposal?"
She had a big issue with Desmond, especially since he had once eyed Nathan's kidney.
Nathan tried to calm her down. "Mom, let Clara explain."
Clara, who had just started speaking, now pressed her lips together, unsure of how to continue.
She could see Elodie was very angry, but she had no other options besides Desmond.
Desmond had given her an ultimatum over the phone, and even Oliver had been pushing her.
She couldn't keep it from her family any longer.
She hoped they could all go back to Luminous City together.
That way, even if Emma's people wanted to keep her, they wouldn't be able to.
Seeing Clara's hesitation, Nathan gently encouraged her. "Clara, go ahead."
Clara nodded and continued, "Mom, Dad just called and told me to go back and marry Desmond as soon as possible."
She thought for a moment and decided to bring up Oliver.
Even though Oliver wasn't handling family matters now, he still had a say in her marriage.
"Do you have to marry Desmond? He's up to no good, Clara!"
Elodie's distrust of Desmond was unlikely to ever fully go away.
Mentioning him now made her frown deeply in displeasure.
Clara felt a bit helpless and turned to Lucas.
With Oliver out of the picture, Lucas was effectively the head of the Manners family.
She wanted to know his stance on the matter.
As Clara looked at Lucas, everyone else did too, waiting for him to speak.
Lucas, feeling the weight of their stares, cleared his throat and said, "The sooner Clara and Desmond get married, the better."
Elodie was about to argue, but Lucas quickly added, "Mom, please, just hear me out."
Elodie waited, unhappy.
Lucas had no choice but to explain the current troubles the Manners family company was facing in Luminous City.
Normally, he wouldn't share such things.
As he spoke, Nathan and Elodie's expressions grew more surprised and worried.
Elodie, in disbelief, asked, "Lucas, is this true?"
She couldn't believe that in such a short time, the Manners family company had encountered so many problems.
Nathan was also surprised, but not as much as Elodie.
After all, Elodie had been in a coma for a while and was unaware of many things.
Seeing Lucas struggling to respond to Elodie, Nathan gently coughed to draw attention to himself.
When Elodie looked at him, he said, "Mom, Lucas is telling the truth. But don't worry, Lucas has a plan to handle it."
He then looked expectantly at Lucas.
Lucas mentioned the potential benefits of an alliance with the Boleyn family, one of which was temporarily solving the Manners family's crisis.
Finally, Lucas said, "Clara likes Desmond, and Desmond cares about Clara. Their marriage is a perfect match."
Clara listened to their back-and-forth, feeling a bit bitter about her marriage being used this way.
But she didn't dwell on it for long and quickly said, "If it can help the family like you say, I'll cooperate fully."
Like the Manners family, she had no other options but wanted them to remember her sacrifice.
Lucas patted her head. "Clara, you're so sensible."
Elodie stood by, unsure of what to say.
She hadn't realized how many problems the Manners family had faced while she was unaware.
Suddenly, she blurted out, "Is this all Katniss's fault?"
She still remembered how Laura had seduced Oliver, seemingly with Katniss's involvement.
But before she could investigate, Oliver had pushed her, putting her in a coma.
After waking up, she had stayed in Starhaven and hadn't confronted Laura.
Her family had told her Laura had taken the blame for pushing her and had gone mad, ending up in a mental hospital.
So, she hadn't pursued it further.
But now, she wanted to see Laura and ask if Katniss had orchestrated everything.
No one responded, so she asked again, louder, "Is this Katniss's fault?"
"Mom," Lucas said, "The company's problems have nothing to do with Katniss."
The issues started with the scandal that caused them to lose some business partners, which had nothing to do with Katniss.
And the subsequent problems were minor issues, also unrelated to Katniss, who was in Starhaven at the time.
But Elodie wouldn't let it go. "It must be her fault. If it weren't for her, how could we have so many problems?"
With that, she blamed all their misfortunes on Katniss.
Lucas sighed and said no more.
After all, his recent visit to Katniss had been fruitless, and she had even mocked him, leaving him frustrated with her.
He felt there was no need to defend Katniss.
Their family's current state was indeed Katniss's fault.
Even if she hadn't directly caused it, she had indirectly contributed.
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