Love After Leaving: No Regret (Agnes and Raymond) novel Chapter 397

Clara broke into sobs, the words collapsing into each other as she begged for mercy.

"No, please! I wouldn't! I swear, it wasn't me..."

Agnes released her at once. The faint curve at her lips returned, soft and almost indulgent.

"All right, then," she said, soft as velvet over steel. "One more chance to explain yourself."

Clara had one hand pressed to her throat, the other gripping the table edge like a drowning woman. She dragged herself upright, trembling.

"Ms. Sinclair, I don't know what I've done to offend you, but I'm asking you to let this go.

"Whatever I've done, I'll apologize for it. I will. But..."

Her composure fractured. Tears spilled unchecked, her voice hitching as it tightened with desperation.

"But you can't frame me for something I didn't do. I won't admit to something that isn't mine.

"Who's to say that test strip wasn't tampered with? Just like the soup you brought in. Maybe you prepared everything in advance.

"Maybe this was all a carefully arranged plan to pin the blame on me and force me out."

Agnes watched her with something close to admiration. The woman had teeth after all.

She tilted her head, one elegant brow lifting.

"Frame you? Why would I bother? If I wanted you gone, I'd have you escorted out the front door before you finished your next sentence.

"I wouldn't need theatrics to do it. You're giving yourself far too much importance, Ms. Blue."

Clara scoffed, thin and bitter.

"Yes, you could throw me out. Except you can't. Because you're afraid of Mr. Newton.

"Afraid that if you act like the jealous woman you are, he'll see through that pretty, patient mask you wear. So you pretend to be gracious. Generous. But you're neither."

Agnes laughed then. A small, quiet sound. Almost sad.

"You people always get so carried away with your own stories. Don't tell me you actually believe I'm jealous of you."

Clara's eyes flashed. "Aren't you? You're jealous. You're jealous of the relationship I have with him."

That, at least, seemed to entertain Agnes. She leaned ever so slightly forward.

"Oh? And what relationship would that be?"

Clara wiped her tears away, and something like triumph surfaced beneath the remnants of her distress.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice lowering into something almost coy.

"Well, since things have come this far, I suppose there's no reason to hide it anymore.

"You've seen it for yourself, Ms. Sinclair. Mr. Newton and I... We're not exactly strangers."

She coughed lightly, self-satisfaction bleeding through.

"He needs me. He relies on me.

"We may not have put a name to it, but we both understand what's between us.

"We've spent so much time together, day after day. Feelings don't just disappear under those circumstances.

"But you keep clinging to him, and he can't stand it. He's too polite to say it outright, but he's exhausted by you."

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