Revenge Or Love ✔

01 Clara

Clara POV.

The summer in New York is exceptionally hot.

And Arthur asks me to buy grilled fish for him in 35-degree weather.

After I unwrap the takeout for him, he takes a bite and crosses his arms, "It's too salty."

I tell him the truth, "This is from the restaurant you specified."

"What about the chef?" he asks.

I pause for two seconds and wipe sweat, "I asked the manager; he's not there today. So another chef cooked for you."

"Why didn't you tell me? Or did you think I wouldn't notice, so you deliberately deceived me?"

...

The atmosphere falls into silence.

I'm afraid he'll say something like firing me, so I quickly say, "I can fix this."

I really can't afford to lose this job anymore.

He looks at me expressionlessly for seconds, then nods towards the kitchen.

I turn on the stove, put the grilled fish in the pan, add some sugar, and fry it.

When the fish is served again, Arthur takes a bite, snorts coldly, and says nothing.

After dinner, I go to the kitchen to wash dishes. When I come out, he's watching a sports channel on TV.

A striking green race car crosses the finish line first in the race, and then the driver takes off his helmet.

This is Arthur himself.

Arthur is a racer, and Mateo, who introduced me to the job, is his agent.

But it's time for me to leave.

As I carry the kitchen waste to the door, I suddenly hear Arthur ask from behind me, "What's your name?"

I turn around to look at him, and he's still staring at the TV screen.

But there are only the two of us in the room, so I answer, "Rose."

He nods.

Arthur's full name is Arthur Taylor.

Mateo said he's not just a racer but also the sole heir to the Taylor Group, a commercial empire.

But his relationship with his father isn't great; the latter seems unsupportive of Arthur's racing, so they haven't seen or spoken to each other in a long time.

But these conflicts of the wealthy family are distant from me.

I take the bus back to the slum where I live, calculating the amount in my bank account along the way.

Everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.

until I just open the door and a strong man grabs me from behind.

He has a companion. Just as I'm being grabbed, the companion barges in and violently ransacks all the drawers and closets.

My head buzzes as if hundreds of bees are swirling inside.

But the house is empty, not even a single coin, so he starts smashing furniture with a baseball bat.

Even the dining table glass is smashed with a big hole, and broken glass is scattered all over the floor.

I want to rush up to stop him, but the man behind me is pulling my arms and hair hard.

So I can only say, "Stop... please, I'll pay you back, a hundred percent."

The man turns to look at me, throws away the baseball bat, and lights a cigarette.

"Do you think hiding in New York means we can't find you?" He walks up to me, blowing a smoke ring in my face. "You changed your name, didn't you? Now you're Rose?"

I struggle to say, "No... I'm not hiding. I just think there are more opportunities to make money in big cities... so I can pay you back faster."

He listens, then pats my face, "I don't care about your excuses. You should know, wherever you hide, we can find you. You have only three months left."