Chapter 133

Clara opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. Ethan frowned slightly. "Did your dad give you a hard time?" "Not exactly..." She gave a soft shrug. "Honestly, we've never been that close. This just... made things more distant than ever." She forced a smile, trying to look indifferent, but it didn't hide the bitterness behind her eyes. This all started because her stepmother and stepsister ganged up on her first. She had hoped her dad might say something fair for once. But nope. After that day, he hadn't contacted her at all. A few days ago, she tried calling him—couldn't get through, no matter what. She figured it out pretty quickly—he'd blocked her number. Not that it shocked her. She always knew they didn't really like her that much. Getting blocked was just... expected at this point. Anyway, she was doing fine on her own out here. Ethan didn't say anything for a moment. He just looked at her, eyes filled with a quiet kind of pain. Like he didn't just f