Want My Womb? I'll Make You Childless novel Chapter 69

< Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Natalie froze in place, watching Ethan’s figure disappear around the corner, without even a glance back in her direction.

The tenderness vanished from her face, which had moments ago been pale with illness, replaced by a fierce resentment in her eyes. Why was Ethan so cold towards her?

Was it because of Clara?

Was he now avoiding her to such an extent for Clara’s sake?!

She pulled out her phone and sent a message to a familiar but unknown number:”Make it happen as soon as possible.”

After sending it, she deleted the record, gathered her coat around herself, and turned to leave the hospital, her silhouette heavy with gloom.

–

Clara barely slept a wink that night, tossing and turning, worried about the old man’s condition.

She wasn’t afraid that the old man would blame her for having the child aborted without permission.

She was just afraid that if the old man asked about the reasons and mentioned Ethan asking her to be a surrogate, it would upset him even

more.

Mera

Her relationship with the old man was already strained, but her conscience and bottom line as a person were there; she had no reason to wish for an old man’s death.

It wasn’t until dawn broke that Clara received the news that the old man was out of danger. The anxiety that had been hanging over her all night finally lifted, and she drifted off to sleep.

Clara barely slept that night and arrived at Nova AI with a pounding headache. As soon as she reached the R&D group, she saw Sophia Davis coming out of the lab she shared with Ryan Walker.

Seeing Clara, Sophia’s steps faltered for a moment, and she forced an unnatural smile.

Knowing Sophia was never up to anything good, Clara sized her up, raised an eyebrow slightly, and gave a knowing smirk.

She was no longer the timid, easily bullied housewife she used to be; she now carried the subtle air of someone in a position of power. Sophia met her gaze, her eyes flickered, and she was the first to explain.

“I came to find Engineer Walker to arrange today’s work, but there was no one here when I came in, so I was just about to leave.”

Clara narrowed her eyes at her, not missing the panic in her eyes, and glanced at the lab.

“Okay, I’ll let Walker know when I see him.”

Hearing Clara say that, Sophia breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to her own lab.

Clara stared at her slightly flustered back for a long while, the corner of her mouth hooked up in a smile, and she walked into the lab.

The computer screen was still lit, the screensaver hadn’t had time to kick in, and the mouse had clearly been moved.

“What are you looking at?”

Ryan Walker’s voice came from the doorway. He was wearing a dark shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the smooth lines of his wrists.

Seeing it was Ryan, Clara’s eyes lit up.”I think I know who’s been hacking our computers.”

A hint of understanding flickered in Ryan’s eyes, and a faint smile played on his lips.

He strode over to Clara, his long arm unconsciously resting on the back of her chair, making it look like he was embracing her from behind. Clara glanced back at Ryan’s hand behind her. It was a gesture that clearly broke normal social boundaries.

Just as she was about to say something in surprise, Ryan cut her off.

“I think I know who’s behind it too.”

He looked at Clara, his eyes narrowing slightly, his obsidian pupils reflecting her image.”Let’s see if we’re on the same wavelength. Why don’t we say her name together?”

“Sophia Davis.”

“Sophia Davis.”

Clara grinned. Being with Ryan was always so easy and fun. It was the first time she’d met someone who completely understood her train of thought.

“Looks like we’re on the same wavelength.”

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Ryan strolled over to Clara, leaning against the edge of the desk with effortless ease.”The previous intrusions all used internal IPs, deliberately routed through multiple nodes. I couldn’t get any solid evidence.”

“I went through everyone in the R&D team one by one, and Sophia Davis was the most suspicious.”

“Today, I deliberately left the door open and saw her come in on the security footage, which confirmed it.”

Finally pinpointing the mole within the R&D team, Clara breathed a sigh of relief, but something still didn’t feel quite right.

After a moment of contemplation, she spoke, “Actually, Sophia is the least likely suspect.”

Because of Olivia’s previous stunt, she’s been ostracized at Carter Group. Only the success of the Blade project can turn things around for her.

“Leaking Blade’s secrets doesn’t benefit her unless someone’s backing her.”

As soon as she said that, Clara and Ryan exchanged a look, both seeing the same name in each other’s eyes.

“Natalie Parker.”

Ryan nodded, his tone turning serious.”I suspected she was pulling strings behind the scenes. The previous intrusions all happened on days when Natalie visited Nova AI.”

“The reason I didn’t catch Sophia in the act was to follow her and find the person behind her. Besides, the data she copied had already been processed by me. She couldn’t access the core data.”

Watching Ryan’s confident demeanor, Clara’s heart fluttered slightly.

They were standing close, and she could smell a faint fragrance on him, different from Ethan’s scent, more refreshing.

“Oh, right, you increased Blade’s actual utilization rate by 12% higher than expected. This will allow it to be used more widely on the battlefield and cover a larger area.”

“I reported this yesterday, and the commendation from above came down today. Although it’s still in the confidential period, your name can’t be publicly announced yet.”

“However, we can still hold an internal recognition ceremony for you.”

He had just left to discuss this with Mr. Hayes.

Clara was stunned for a moment.

She had stayed up several nights in the past few days, enhancing the data, only wanting to make Blade’s data more complete.

She didn’t expect Ryan to take this matter to heart.

“Let’s go, Mr. Hayes is waiting for you in his office.”

Benjamin Hayes’s commendation for Clara Bennett was low-key, just a few words of praise.

But the news still spread, thanks to certain individuals with ulterior motives. When Sophia Davis heard about it, her face twisted with anger. In her mind, Clara Bennett was just an assistant when she joined the research team. It was only because of Olivia Bennett’s mistake that she seized the opportunity and participated in the development of Blade.

She never expected that Clara’s name would now be at the top, even overshadowing Ryan Walker, the team leader.

If this continued, when would it be her turn to shine!

7

Thinking of this, she turned on her computer, took out a USB drive from her pocket, and plugged it in.

Near the end of the workday, Clara Bennett received news that James Carter had regained consciousness, but also the grim news that he was nearing his end.

Thinking that she should give him an explanation about the child no matter what, she decided to go to the hospital.

She ran into Ryan Walker, who was picking up Lila Walker from school, downstairs. Knowing that James Carter was unwell and wouldn’t live much longer, Lila insisted on going to see him.

When the three of them arrived at the hospital and got out of the car, Ryan Walker’s phone rang. He didn’t seem to like what he was hearing, his face turned serious, and he gestured for Clara Bennett to take Lila/upstairs first.

Knowing he had things to handle, Clara took Lila’s hand and headed for the elevators. As they approached James Carter’s room, Margaret Carter was just stepping out.

She was dressed in an elegant silk dress and light makeup, but the fatigue was still evident on her face; she clearly hadn’t gotten much rest since her father-in-law’s sudden collapse.

Seeing Clara holding Lila’s hand, Margaret’s expression immediately soured, her eyes filled with scorn.

“What are you doing here?”

“Visiting Grandpa.”

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Clara sensed Margaret’s bad mood and, wanting to avoid a confrontation, glanced towards the room. Margaret stepped to block her view, sneering, her gaze cutting like knives.

“How dare

you show your face here?”

“Don’t you know, Grandpa collapsed because you had the baby aborted without permission!?” “Did you come to see if he’s dead yet, so you can start dividing up the inheritance?” Actually, Margaret wasn’t sure exactly what had caused her father-in-law to collapse.

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But after Ethan arrived at the hospital last night and told her that Clara had the child aborted, she jumped to the conclusion that Clara was to blame.

In her eyes, Clara had never been good enough for Ethan to begin with. Now, she dared to dispose of the Carter family’s bloodline at will, which was simply unforgivable.

Clara frowned. Although she had suspected it last night, she didn’t expect Victor Bennett would actually bypass Ethan and tell the old man

about this.

She was about to retort when Lila, who was behind her, broke free from her hand and glared at Margaret with her little face raised. “That’s not true! Great-Grandpa is sick because he’s not well, it has nothing to do with Auntie Clara!”

She had already disliked Margaret for protecting Lucas last time, causing him to hurt Ryan. Now, hearing Margaret speak so harshly, blaming everything on Clara, she couldn’t help but want to defend her.

“And Auntie Clara doesn’t care about Great-Grandpa’s inheritance either.”

“When adults are talking, it’s not your place as a child to interrupt!”

Margaret’s face turned even uglier when she was contradicted by a child. She swept her gaze, over Lila, her words becoming even more cutting.

“You motherless brat, daring to interfere in the Carter family’s affairs. What, you want a share of our inheritance too…?”

Clara interrupted Margaret loudly before she could finish speaking, “Margaret, you better not go too far with your words.”

Clara Bennett pulled the tearful Lila Walker back into her arms, her gaze hardening.

In the past, Margaret Carter had always casually humiliated her, and she had always tolerated it for the sake of family harmony, thinking it was better to let things go for Ethan’s sake.

But today, Margaret was bullying a child, and that changed everything.

Besides, she had already decided to divorce Ethan, so Margaret was now just a stranger to her.

“I’m being excessive?”

Clara’s past compliance had only fueled Margaret’s unchecked behavior.

Now, being challenged by Clara, she felt like she’d been struck by lightning. She stepped forward, pointing a finger at Clara’s nose. “Who

doesn’t know that you, Clara Bennett, are a poisonous woman?”

“You drugged Eth and slept your way into the Carter family. Now that you think you have the old man backing you up, you’ve grown bold. You’re unhappy that Eth is seeing other women, so you aborted the child and threatened him with divorce.”

“Now the old man has been so stressed by this, and you come to the hospital pretending to care.”

“What, are you afraid that when the old man’s gone, you’ll have no one to support you?”

Clara looked at her hysterical display and felt nothing but absurdity, She scoffed.

“Yeah, I was totally trying to threaten Ethan Carter with a divorce.”

“Not only am I divorcing Ethan Carter, but I’m also going to take most of his assets.”

“Why don’t you

think about this: if Ethan’s net worth shrinks by more than half, do you think your status as a socialite will drop? Will your rich friends laugh at you?”

Margaret trembled with anger and raised her hand to slap Clara

across

the face.

Clara had anticipated that Margaret would strike, so she shielded Lila and dodged the blow.

Although she avoided Margaret’s slap, causing Margaret to miss completely,

her knee struck the cold, stainless steel hospital cha

“Auntie!”

instantly turning red.”Ouch.”

Lila, being just a child, couldn’t fully grasp the situation.

From her perspective, Margaret was bullying C

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pushing her into the

chair.

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Tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls, “Leave my Auntie Clara alone!”

“Clara!”

Meng

Just then, Ryan strode out of the elevator. Seeing Clara’s swollen knee and Lila’s tear-stained face, his expression darkened instantly. Shielding Clara and Lila behind him, Ryan glared at Margaret, his voice laced with a chilling frost that seemed to freeze the very air. “Margaret, Grandpa is still lying in the hospital room. Is it really necessary to start a fight with Clara right outside his door? This is too much.”

Startled by the fury in his eyes, Margaret instinctively took a step back, but thinking of what Clara had done, she stubbornly raised her chin. “I’m the one who’s out of line? How am I out of line?”

Her gaze darted back and forth between Ryan and Clara, as if a sudden realization had dawned on her, and her face flushed crimson. “Well, now it all makes sense. So that’s why you took it upon yourself to abort Ethan’s baby and kept talking about divorce every day. You’ve been hooking up with this bastard, haven’t you? You want to get divorced so you can be with him?”

Hearing these slanderous words against Clara, Ryan’s fists clenched, his knuckles turning white. He was about to retort, but Clara stopped him. She looked up at Margaret, her eyes like shards of ice.”Margaret, if you dare spread another lie, I’m calling the cops. When I had the abortion, I

didn’t even know him.”

“Do you even know why I terminated the pregnancy? If it wasn’t because of Ethan….”

“Because of me?”

Ethan had just stepped out of the elevator and overheard everything Margaret had just said.

Clara had been siding with Ryan Walker and his daughter a lot lately, and the thought made Ethan’s expression darken. He lengthened his stride, picking up his pace.

As he approached, his eyes landed on Clara’s swollen knee, and his pupils contracted slightly. He wanted to step forward and check on her, but his gaze snagged on Clara’s hand resting on Ryan Walker’s arm.

Her fair skin stood out sharply against Ryan Walker’s tan, and any concern Ethan had for Clara vanished in an instant, replaced by a chilling coldness.

So, Clara really had fallen for Ryan Walker? That’s why she aborted their child and wanted a divorce?

With that thought, Ethan let out a cold laugh, his voice devoid of any warmth.

“Clara, are you about to say that you got rid of our child all because of me?”

“Grandpa has always been good to you. Don’t you feel any guilt saying these things outside his hospital room?”

Clara looked up at him, the pain in her leg still spreading, but the coldness in her heart was even worse.

“Why should I feel guilty?”

“Ethan, don’t you want to know why I had the abortion?”

Why?

Was it simply to get back at him for ignoring her feelings, for deliberately getting close to Olivia, that she impulsively fell in love with another man and didn’t want to have his baby anymore?

But that still didn’t give her the right to have an abortion without his consent.

“No matter what your reasons are, Grandpa is now unconscious because of your abortion. That’s a fact.”

The doctor’s words about the old man’s unstable condition, that something could happen at any moment, echoed in his mind. Once the old man was gone, Clara might actually do what she threatened and divorce him.

The thought sent a chill through Ethan, his eyes hardening.

No matter what, he couldn’t let Clara leave him. He couldn’t divorce her.

He couldn’t, and he didn’t want to.

“This is what you owe the Carter family. You’ll never leave this family. You must atone for this child.”

Clara stared at Ethan in disbelief.

Ethan was putting all the blame on her, dismissing all her years of sacrifice, even using her as a surrogate so seamlessly, so naturally.

Clara looked up sharply, glaring at Ethan “Ethan Carter, I told you, we’re done.”

“I got rid of the baby. I didn’t want it. And I didn’t want this marriage in the first place.”

“Don’t even think about tying me to your Carter family again. This marriage is over!” Her words were like a sharp knife, piercing Ethan’s heart.

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He stepped forward, grabbing Clara’s wrist with a force that threatened to crush her bones.

In his desperation, he couldn’t think of any reason to make Clara stay.

A mocking laugh escaped his lips.

“Clara, you want to divorce me? Fine, go ahead and try.”

“I’ll hire the best lawyers to defend me. You’ll walk away with nothing, completely empty-handed.”

His tone softened as he took Clara’s hands in his, a smile playing on his lips.

Clara, you wouldn’t want all our years of hard work and shared effort to end with you getting nothing, would you?”

“Clara, be reasonable, stay with me, don’t leave me. Half of my money and my assets will always be yours.”

“You’re an adult; you need to learn to weigh the pros and cons.”

As he said this, he turned to Ryan, a hint of provocation in his eyes.”Ryan, do you really think you and Clara have a future together?”

“Clara is my wife, and she always will be. We’ll have many children together. She’ll never escape me.”

“Right, Clara?”

Mersi

He turned to Clara, a sinister and crazed look in his eyes that she had never seen before.”Clara, the only reason you want to divorce me now is because you’re depressed after losing the baby. And your ‘love’ for Lila Walker is just because you want a child.”

“In that case, why don’t we have another baby? If one isn’t enough, you can have three or four for me. We’ll have so many children in the future…”

“Ethan Carter, you bastard!”

The mention of children made Clara react like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Being a surrogate for Ethan, having her body used as a vessel to carry his and another woman’s child, was a trauma that Clara could never overcome. How could she ever agree to have another child for Ethan!

What kind of nerve did Ethan have to even ask her to bear him children again!

Clara violently shook off his hand, staring straight at Ethan, her voice icy cold, yet tears uncontrollably streamed down her cheeks.

“Ethan Carter, I will never live with you again, and I will definitely not have children with you.”

She spoke each word with unwavering conviction.

“What’s all this commotion? Don’t you know this is a hospital? Keep it down!”

Two nurses with grim expressions approached, followed by a doctor who sighed and pulled out a chart.

“The old man only has two days left. Instead of being with him, you’re here causing a scene? What kind of children are you?”

Clara keenly picked up on the doctor’s words: the old man’s last two days.

She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and despite her red-rimmed eyes, she looked at Ethan with a smile, her eyes filled with a determination and decisiveness he would never understand.

“Ethan, I agreed to postpone the divorce for the sake of Grandpa’s final days.”

“Now that Grandpa is passing, I have nothing left to consider.”

Her gaze swept over Margaret and Ethan.”In terms of both emotion and reason, I have a clear conscience regarding your family.”

As she said this, she dialed Attorney Brown’s number right in front of Ethan.

“Attorney Brown, please restart the divorce proceedings and prepare all the evidence.”

“I want a divorce from Ethan Carter, and I want my fair share of the assets!”