Want My Womb? I'll Make You Childless novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Clara and Chris Evans? They’d only ever met twice. And both times, she was a total mess.

“Thanks. You saved me again.”

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Last time, after Chris took her call, he brought her from the hotel to the station. Once they had the evidence, he even got a female officer to drive her home to clean up and get herself together.

And this time? She was completely on her own, again. Then he appeared. Saved her.

“You’ve changed quite a bit.”

Chris had followed the noise. He saw Clara getting harassed and expected her to fight back, just like she did seven years ago. But nope. She just kept backing away, looking for someone else to step in.

“Yeah, I have.”

Clara knew exactly what he meant. Years of everyday BS and her mother–in–law’s constant targeting had totally worn her down. She had no fight left.

“I actually used to really admire you.”

Chris felt a definite pang of disappointment.

I’ve been in Chicago for years, and you were the first one to call the cops on a Carter heir.”

“Plus, you came totally prepared, all your evidence perfectly preserved.”

“But why did you drop the charges later?”

“If you hadn’t dropped them, he would’ve totally lost that case.”

Clara went silent. A memory flashed: James, sitting across from her, holding documents detailing the Anderson family company’s financial collapse.

“Drop the charges,” James had said, “and I’ll inject funds into the Anderson family company, bringing it back from the dead.”

The company was her grandpa’s and mom’s life’s work. After her mom passed, her uncle adopted her and took over the business. Clara couldn’t just stand by and watch it go bankrupt.

“Ethan and I got married.”

Clara’s throat tightened. “I’d liked him for a long time. Things happened, we fought, and I just lost it that day, completely blowing up. I regretted

it later.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. He didn’t buy that for a second, but figuring it was none of his business, he didn’t push it.

“You know, filing a false report is illegal.”

He said it like it was a big deal, but his tone was all chill.

Clara knew he was just messing. She grinned.“Why don’t you just arrest me then? Save me a few days‘ worth of groceries.”

That made Chris laugh out loud. He waved a hand.“Okay, okay, I’m done giving you a hard time. Where you headed? I’ll drop you off.”

Clara shook her head.“Nah, I’m good. It’s not far, I can handle it.”

Chris glanced around. The crowd was long gone.“This area gets sketchy with all the drunks. I’ll walk you to the corner.”

Clara knew he had her back, so she didn’t argue. They went their separate ways at the corner. Clara headed home.

The moment the lights came on inside, she felt like she could finally breathe.

Seven years ago? Those memories weren’t just bad, they were a full–on nightmare. For ages after, just seeing a guy would send her into a panic. Even after therapy, she still couldn’t bring herself to be alone with any man.

Clara got ready for bed, then flopped onto the mattress. Sleep? Forget it. Her mind kept replaying Ethan’s icy stare. Slowly, his face from earlier today merged with the blurry memory of him seven years ago, when he was completely out of it.

She shot up, yanking open the nightstand drawer. She grabbed a pill bottle, shook one out, and gulped it down.

She killed the light. Buried herself deep in the pillow.

The next morning, Clara woke up feeling drained. She dragged herself to the office, and just as she slumped into her chair, Benjamin walked

1. in.

“Progress?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ve got a general direction.”

< Chapter 20

Clara pulled out the proposal she’d busted her ass on all night. She handed it to him.

“Looks good.”

Benjamin flipped through the proposal, a pleased glint in his eyes.

“Clear your desk. We’re hitting an industry mixer this afternoon. I want you there with me; I’ll introduce you to someone.”

Clara figured Benjamin’s “networking event” would be some casual gathering. She was dead wrong. It was crawling with high–ranking military and government officials.

Benjamin led her through the crowd, chatting up a few people before they finally found a quiet corner couch to crash on.

“Mr. Hayes.”

Clara had a hunch the person Benjamin wanted her to meet was seriously high–profile. She felt a knot in her stomach.

“Chill out.”

Benjamin just shrugged. “Henry is coming later, too. Wouldn’t you be scared he’d get mad seeing you so timid?”

“My teacher’s coming?”

Clara’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. Chill here for a bit. I’ve got something to take care of, but I’ll circle back and find

you later.”

Benjamin had barely left when a stir erupted at the main entrance.

Clara looked up and saw Olivia walk in, arm in arm with Ethan.

They were in matching formal wear, and it screamed “couple” from a mile away.

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“Mr. Carter and Ms. Bennett. Are they about to make it official?”

ut to

Truth be told, Ethan and Olivia’s thing was already an open secret among Chicago’s high society. But this was the first time they’d actually shown up to an event in matching couple’s outfits.

“Oh, it’s basically official. Last week, at Lucas’s birthday, Ms. Bennett was right there with him the whole time. She even helped cut the cake! The three of them looked like a perfect little family.”

Clara froze mid–sip. She hadn’t thought about Lucas in ages. Guess with Olivia around, his allergies were long gone.

“What, jealous?”

A male voice suddenly cut in from behind her. Clara spun around. Alexander was there, leaning against the couch, watching her with a chilling

smirk.

Clara frowned.“What they do has nothing to do with me.”

“Nothing to do with you?”

Alexander scoffed.“Go ahead, keep staring. You’re not planning to expose your little thing with Eth, right here, publicly, just to make everyone squirm?”

Clara set her cup down. She stood up, not about to deal with Alexander anymore. “Alexander, if you think I’m so damn evil, then just stay the hell away from me.

“Oh, look, someone’s feeling sorry for herself already?”

Alexander wasn’t letting up.“What, playing the victim now?”

“If you’re not so wicked, then how come you got kicked out of Lewis AI, only to snatch Olivia’s research and go straight to Nova AI to screw her

over?”

“Seriously, who in the industry doesn’t know that Nova Al’s scheduling system ripped off Lewis Al’s?”

Clara’s head snapped up, her eyes locked on Alexander. “Who said I copied anything?”

“What, you gonna deny it now?”

Alexander scoffed.“Olivia, the original creator, said it herself, obviously. And people have already compared them side–by–side. Nova Al and Lewis Al’s system data definitely match.”

“Nova Al’s stock has plummeted recently because of all this. You seriously don’t know that, do you?”

Clara genuinely had no idea. She was only temporarily with Nova AI, not involved in management. Benjamin hadn’t bothered to tell her.

Her fingers shook with fury. Her own reputation? She couldn’t care less. But Nova AI was Benjamin‘ baby, built from the ground up, and Professor Lewis himself had recommended her there. She couldn’t let her mess drag it down.

She took a deep breath, pushing through the crowd and walking straight toward them.

< Chapter 20

Olivia was looking up at Ethan, saying something to him. But the moment she saw Ms. Bennett approaching, her smile tightened. “Ms. Bennett, something wrong?”

Clara’s gaze was ice–cold. She didn’t beat around the bush.“So, I heard I plagiarized your research?”

Olivia’s smile stiffened on her face. She flicked a quick glance at Ethan.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Ms. Bennett,” Olivia said.“I only mentioned that there was some overlap in the data from our two systems.” “Since they’re both traffic management systems, some overlap is understandable.”

Anyone in Al knows that. Different developers, different approaches? Even for the same kind of system, the data can’t overlap. No way. Olivia didn’t explicitly say Clara copied, but her words practically branded her a plagiarist.

“Is this about the Nova Al and Lewis AI traffic systems?”

Their voices weren’t quiet. The crowd around them overheard and started buzzing with gossip.

“Lewis Al dropped first, then Nova AI popped up right after. Add in the data overlap, and it’s crystal clear whether it’s a rip–off or not.” “Couldn’t it be Lewis Al copied Nova AI? Nova’s put out some decent stuff, too…”

“No way!”

Someone piped up, only to be immediately cut off.

“Lewis Al has Professor Lewis leading the charge! And Ms. Bennett, who’s heading up the dev team, graduated with a Master’s from the Cambridge in math. There’s no way they’d ever copy Nova AI!”

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Clara clenched her fists. “If I’m not mistaken, Lewis Al’s traffic system started development seven years ago. It just… got put on hold for a bunch of reasons later.”

“Olivia, you’ve been back in the country with Lewis AI for less than a year. How can you even claim all those research findings are yours?”

Olivia’s eyes welled up. She looked at Ethan.

Ethan finally focused on Clara’s face. “I was there for all her research. She wouldn’t do anything like that.”

“I mean, she’s been in AI for years. Who are you to even question her?”

“Exactly! Who even is this woman? How does she have the nerve to accuse his girlfriend of plagiarism, right in front of Mr. Carter?”

Is she worried the Lewis Al plagiarism thing will blow up? That she’ll be completely ruined in this industry? So she’s trying to get ahead of it? “Talk about shooting herself in the foot. Such an arrogant know–it–all.”

Every whisper felt like a slap across Clara’s face. She stood frozen, her blood turning to ice. Ethan’s gaze was even colder than his dismissive look last night.

“Who said Clara copied?”

An old, booming voice cut through the air. Three figures appeared in the doorway, the one in front was Henry.

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