Clayton laughed. The corners of his lips twitched, and his smile disappeared.
“Ridiculous, right? I haven’t told anyone this before. Even Quavon doesn’t know that I already know. The reason my mother was driven mad before she jumped off the building was that she already knew that Quavon could not tolerate her. Even more so, he couldn’t tolerate me, so her hope of using me to rise to the top was destroyed.
Not only that, but Quavon also ruined her job and didn’t leave her any room for maneuver. She was at a dead-end.”
Nicole stood there for a long time, unable to digest such shocking news.
Although she knew that Clayton was definitely not welcomed in the family with his status, she thought that he would at most suffer a little in terms of living conditions.
She never thought that he kept such a big secret hidden in his heart.
Clayton tore through his deepest darkness and lightly spoke of the most hurtful past.
Just hearing it, word for word, was enough to make her feel suffocated.
She did not expect that these were the things he had experienced.
Clayton must have felt powerless when he went through these experiences. It was as if all the cruel things in this world fell on Clayton alone.
Nicole could not say a word. She just stared at him blankly with complex feelings in her heart. ’If only I could share half of my luck with him…’
Clayton stood there, took the painting down, and carefully put it on the table at the side like he was afraid of tearing it.
He looked back at Nicole and saw her standing in silence. The giddy excitement in her eyes just now had completely disappeared.
Clayton paused for a second. He walked over and lowered his voice as much as possible.
“Did I scare you? I’m sorry. I won’t mention this again…”
Nicole’s eyes instantly turned sour. She suddenly reached out and flung herself into his arms.
Clayton’s body stiffened for a moment before slowly dropping his hand on her shoulder.
Nothing was said.
Nicole’s heart was extremely sad.
In this world, there were always people who were born with a golden spoon but lived a muddled life.
There were also people who crawled out of the mud and bravely lived a hard life.
Nicole felt really lucky to have met such a brave person. After a long time, Clayton silently put his hand on her head. “It’s okay. It’s all in the past.”
Nicole resisted her urge to cry out loud.
However, her voice was still a bit hoarse as she choked.
“What I heard was completely different. They spoke as if you killed your mother and hurt your father. How can they talk nonsense?”
How did Clayton persevere day after day with such falsehood?
How could Clayton laugh it off and not take it to heart when he heard about these false accusations?
It was just that he was so used to hearing it.
Nicole’s heart was hurting like it was pierced with needles. The dense pain surged, and she could not bear to think about it.
Even so, the Clayton in front of her never seemed to hate anyone, let alone the world.
Clayton silently stroked her hair as if he was soothing her agitated emotions.
”It’s okay. The more they say that, the safer I will be.
By the time everyone believes that I’m the kind of person they say I am, my existence will no longer be a threat to them.”
That was why, after Liam died and Clayton married Michael’s mother, Isaac did not try to kill him.
It was because, at that time, Clayton’s reputation was already notorious and filled with scandals. Clayton could not compare to Isaac, whose roots were well established.
To Isaac, Clayton was no longer a threat.
