A Night of Desire

Chapter 230 - 227: No Need to Worry About Climbing the Quinn Family’s High Branch

His fatherly affection for Clara Grant had vanished the moment he learned she wasn’t his biological daughter. Still, he instinctively felt that he shouldn’t treat her too poorly right now.

This was Seth Quinn’s house, and yet here she was, staying here as if she belonged. That had to mean her relationship with Seth was anything but ordinary.

After all, given Seth Quinn’s famously aloof personality, how could he possibly let just any woman come and go from his home as she pleased?

’Could she be Seth Quinn’s girlfriend? Even if not, she must be a very close companion. The only question is how much influence she has with him.’

’If Seth Quinn valued her highly—no, even if he valued her just a little—Cedric should make use of their father-daughter relationship again. Besides, the fact that he and Clara Grant weren’t biologically related was a secret known only to him, Chloe, her mother Jean Jarvis, and Skylar Hayes.’

Back when they divorced, Skylar Hayes had been afraid that Clara couldn’t handle the shock of learning the truth. So, she had agreed to leave the marriage with nothing in exchange for keeping Clara in the dark.

At the time, he too had been completely focused on how to conceal the matter from the public to protect his own reputation and the Grant Family’s standing in high society. Naturally, the fewer people who knew, the better.

So, he had readily agreed. Skylar would be indebted to him for his ’generosity,’ and he wouldn’t have to part with a single cent of their assets. It was a perfect deal.

’If Clara really was with Seth Quinn, then with his status as her father, the Grant Family would have no trouble forging a connection with a powerhouse like the Quinn Family.’

’But the important thing now was to figure out the exact nature of Clara and Seth’s relationship.’

At this thought, a warm, paternal smile instantly spread across Cedric Grant’s face. "Clara," he asked, "what are you doing here?"

Clara Grant looked at the smile on his face and inwardly scoffed at his hypocrisy. A year ago, when he first brought up divorcing her mother, his face had turned cold and heartless every time he looked at her. And now, he was suddenly smiling so kindly?

’She didn’t believe for a second that after only a year, he was already at peace with everything and had come to terms with her parentage.’

’They had been father and daughter for over twenty years. She knew him well enough to know he wasn’t that magnanimous.’

’His attitude right now was probably just because she was standing in Seth Quinn’s house, wasn’t it?’

Clara’s attitude was cold, and her words were laced with a hint of sarcasm. "And why shouldn’t I be here?"

Before Cedric could say anything, Chloe Grant, standing beside him, stamped her foot in a fit of arrogance. "Clara Grant, is that any way to speak to my father? What’s with that attitude?"

Clara was in no mood for this, so she just shot Chloe an indifferent glance and ignored her completely.

Chloe felt like she had just thrown a punch into a ball of cotton—completely unsatisfying. The lack of reaction only made her flush with humiliated anger.

She raised her hand and pointed at Clara, about to unleash another tirade, but Cedric grabbed her arm and pulled it down. He scolded, "Chloe, is that any way to speak to Clara? No matter what, she’s still your older sister."

As he spoke, he shot Chloe a meaningful look, signaling that Seth Quinn might be inside.

Chloe may have been spoiled and short-tempered, but she wasn’t an idiot. She understood her father’s signal perfectly. ’Still, he had actually scolded *her* for *Clara*?’

’And Clara, her sister? Since when?’

So, she still muttered something resentfully under her breath before looping her arm through Cedric’s, as if to declare her ownership of him.