Want My Womb? I'll Make You Childless novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Clara’s words hit Henry hard. The anger in his eyes softened, the disappointment fading into a heavy, weary sigh.

That was your choice,” he said, flat.

“You threw away a guaranteed master’s at the Cambridge, left the research lab… all for him? Do you regret it?”

Clara’s eyes instantly went red.

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She’d married Ethan for a few reasons. One, to have Lucas. Two, James had promised to inject cash into her uncle’s company. But the biggest reason? She walked away with almost twenty million bucks from the Carters.

She wired that money overseas. To Mason.

But now, Mason hated her. Her son, Lucas? He did too. All she got from either of them was pure disdain.

Seeing her like that, any anger Henry still held just evaporated. He couldn’t bring himself to lecture her anymore.

“Alright, enough. Just focus on Nova AI. Finish the project, then I’ll be waiting for you back at the institute.”

‘Got it, Professor.”

Hearing that, Clara’s nerves, stretched taut all night, finally gave way. She knew Henry was finally past her leaving the research institute.

Clara gathered her things and left.

The elevator doors slid open. A tall figure inside made Clara stop short. She stepped in, pressing the button for the underground parking.

“Emma’s pregnant.”

Mason broke the silence in the elevator.

“Hm. Congrats.”

Clara had pretty much figured that out when she saw them at the hospital, heading into OB–GYN.

“She’s been pretty emotional lately. You have more experience than I do with this. When are you gonna go see her?”

Mason stared at the smooth nape of Clara’s neck. Then a nasty smirk played on his lips.

“Do you regret breaking up with me? Marrying Ethan?”

“After all, you’re pregnant with your second kid. And he’s still parading around with other women. Even publicly humiliating you for one of them.”

“Man, I never knew you were such a saint.”

A suffocating dread spread through Clara. She didn’t say a word, just waited. The second the elevator doors slid open, she walked straight out, practically bolting to her car.

Clara gripped the steering wheel so tight her knuckles went white. She stared out the window, watching the city lights blur into streaks of color until she finally let the tea

tears fall.

The next morning, Clara walked into the office to find several sales reps rushing out.

“What’s up with them?”

She walked to the front desk to clock in.

They’re all rushing to sign contracts!”

The receptionist couldn’t wipe the grin off her face.“No idea what’s going on, but a bunch of companies that totally ghosted us before suddenly want to talk business!”

‘Oh, really? Well, looks like today’s a good one.”

Clara smiled.

So, word about the networking event last night had gotten out. Even if no one was explicitly calling Olivia out for plagiarism, they were all tacitly choosing to partner with Nova Al instead.

“Well, well, if it isn’t our big hero!”

Benjamin spotted Clara, a cheerful smile on his face as he passed her some documents.

“Perfect. These are for Horizon Logistics. They wanna use our dispatch system for drone delivery, but they’re still fuzzy on some technical details.

“They’re waiting in the conference room. Go smooth things over, try to close the deal.”

‘Got it.”

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Clara grabbed the files and headed straight for the conference room. She greeted Mike Clark from Horizon Logistics, took a seat next to him, and popped open her laptop. Then, she dove right into the presentation.

Thirty minutes later.

“Mr. Clark, anything else you’re hazy on regarding the dispatch routes?”

“Good.”

Mike’s hand rested on his slightly bulging beer gut. His other hand tapped impatiently on the table.

“Wow, Ms. Bennett. Didn’t expect you to be so sharp, especially so young. Just like the whispers.”

“Whispers?”

Clara frowned. Mike’s eyes had been glued to her since she walked in, and it was seriously making her skin crawl.

“Oh, you know. The one about you drugging someone and sleeping your way to the top, trying to hook a big shot. That story’s gone viral.”

Mike reached for Clara’s hand.

Clara recoiled, getting to her feet.

“Mr. Clark, show some respect.”

“Respect?”

Clark scoffed. “You still wanna sign this contract or not?”

“I heard Nova Al’s been ditching a lot of partners lately. Mr. Carter specifically told me to come here and give you a chance.” Ethan arranged this?

Clara’s face hardened.

“Nova AI doesn’t need this ‘opportunity‘.”

The conference room door swung open. Benjamin walked in, stepping in front of Clara.

“Tell Mr. Clark to go back and tell whoever’s behind him: whatever their game is, Clara isn’t someone they can touch.”

“Get out. Nova AI won’t work with scum like you.”

Mike’s ‘good time‘ was ruined. He grumbled, adjusting his suit..

“Fine. You’ll regret this.”

With that, he slammed the door and stormed out.

Benjamin turned, steadying Clara, who was shaking.

“You okay?”

Clara shook her head, her fingertips ice cold.

She pulled out her phone, opening Twitter.

Trending topics instantly slammed into view:#ClaraBennettSeducesCarterGroupHeir, #ClaraBennett DruggedHerWay Into Bed.

She clicked through. Just a few conference photos. Some showed her, Ethan, and Olivia in a tense three–way face–off. Then there were others: Mason standing right by Olivia, talking to her.

The photos themselves? Nothing special. But the comments from the internet? Absolutely brutal.

“OMG, she’s so thirsty, it’s pathetic. Mr. Carter and Ms. Bennett are clearly happy together. Why is this chick always butting in? Total opportunist move, you can just tell!”

“Seriously, who IS this chick? Daring to go after Mr. Carter? She must be absolutely obsessed with going viral. Using these bottom–of–the–barrel tactics for attention? So disgusting, seriously.”

“MASSIVE drama unfolding live! See that guy stepping out in the back? That’s Mr. Walker from Walker Venture Partners. And he’s saying this Clara has been pulling the ‘drug ‘em and hook up‘ trick for years.”

Drugging and bedding?! Holy crap, so she’s a serial offender? This woman is so gross! Seriously, stay TF away from Mr. Carter and Ms. Bennett! Don’t make everyone sick looking at you!”

“Just look at her face in the photos! Clearly just stirring up trouble to get Mr. Carter’s attention. Total manipulative bitch. Ugh-”

Benjamin snatched the phone from Clara’s hand.

“Don’t look,” he said. “The company’s already on it.”

He’d just checked Horizon’s info, saw they’d already partnered with Olivia. That seemed weird. So he searched online and that’s how he found

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out.

“These are clearly paid shills,” Benjamin stated. I’ve already had Legal send out cease–and–desist letters. PR is working to kill the buzz.” Benjamin sighed. Whoever was behind this, it was just evil.

Want to ruin a woman? Easy. Spread nasty rumors about her.

“Right, thanks.”

Clara’s fingers trembled. She shoved her feelings down. “I’m heading back to work.”

Back in her office, Clara forced herself to focus. She used satellites from the U.S. Department of Defense, testing the system’s algorithms against real–world combat scenarios.

Her phone blared to life. Clara’s heart jumped.

‘Clara, Mia… Mia got arrested!”

Clara heard Mia’s mom sobbing on the phone, and a wave of dread washed over her.

“Auntie, please, breathe. What happened?”

“The police just came to the door. Said Carter Group is suing her for defamation and spreading rumors. They took her away!” “Clara, what did Mia do to piss off Carter Group so badly?”

“First, Mr. Carter made a call and she got fired from her company out of nowhere. Now she’s trying to start her own business, and it’s roadblocks everywhere.”

Clara’s brain just buzzed. Mia got fired? Because of Ethan?

Was it because of that restaurant mess? Ethan ordered Mia to apologize to Olivia, Mia said no. So this is his revenge?

“Don’t panic. I’m heading to the police station to figure this out.”

Clara grabbed her stuff and got up. As she walked out of her office, she bumped right into Benjamin, who was rushing toward her. “Clara, you and Ethan… you got married?”

Benjamin looked utterly floored.

“The internet’s buzzing about your marriage certificate with Ethan, but the Carter Group just flat–out denied it.”

Clara pulled out her phone and opened the Carter Group’s official Twitter. The latest post had dropped just thirty minutes ago.

“ATTENTION: Regarding the online rumors claiming Clara is Ethan’s wife, this is unequivocally FALSE. Our CEO, Mr. Ethan, has ZERO familial or spousal relationship with Ms. Clara. All individuals responsible for spreading these baseless and defamatory claims are currently being pursued to the fullest extent of the law.”

Looks like Mia saw the rumors online and tried to clear Clara’s name. She posted her and Ethan’s marriage certificate. But Ethan denied it all and sued Mia for defamation instead.

“Mr. Hayes, I gotta go. Got something urgent. Anything else can wait till I’m back.”

Clara snatched her bag and bolted. In the elevator, her hands were trembling. She called Ethan, but it went straight to voicemail.

When she got to the police station, Clara found the officer on duty and explained why she was there.

The officer scanned the incident report, a troubled look on his face.“Mia is suspected of defamation. This involves the Carter Group. We can’t release her yet.”

Clara quickly pulled out her ID and handed it to him.

“Officer, I’m Clara. Check my ID. Ethan and I are legally married.”

“Mia wasn’t lying! She didn’t spread any damn rumors!”

The officer took her ID and started checking it on the computer.