Blindly Obsessed With My Contract Wife

Just then, another attendant rushed over carrying a new glass of warm milk.

The supervisor, already frantic with nerves, grabbed the tray and forced it into Clara's hands. "Why are you still standing there? Take it to Mr. Bennett and apologize quickly!"

Clara remained where she was.

Emily stepped forward instead, wearing a pleasant smile. "I'll take care of it."

But as she reached for the tray, her elbow happened to knock against its edge.

The glass immediately tipped sideways, spilling over half of the milk across her dress.

"Ah!" Emily cried out as she stumbled several steps back.

A conspicuous stain quickly spread over the immaculate white gown.

Her eyes reddened as tears gathered, her expression turning wounded and pitiful. "My dress..."

Clara kept hold of the tray, the remaining milk still inside the glass, and watched Emily's display with an expression emptied of emotion.

The people watching immediately began directing their anger at Clara.

"What kind of attendant are you? You did that deliberately, didn't you?"

"You had the nerve to spill it on Ms. Ford? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The supervisor panicked and seized Clara by the shoulders, forcibly pushing her down in an attempt to make her bow.

"Mr. Bennett, Ms. Ford, I'm terribly sorry!" he rushed to say. "She's new and doesn't know the proper way to handle things yet. I'll have her apologize immediately!"

Emily wiped delicately beneath her eyes, then gave Clara a scornful look. "Apologize? Zachary had this gown specially made for me. It cost eight hundred thousand dollars. Can someone like her afford to compensate me?"

Clara's lips pressed into a thin line. Eight hundred thousand dollars? Even working three jobs every day, she could barely save ten thousand dollars in an entire month.

Where the others couldn't see, the supervisor dug his fingers painfully into her arm. "Bow and apologize right now! Do you want to get all of us fired because of this?" he whispered harshly.

Clara remained unmoved. Her tear-reddened eyes never left Zachary.

She couldn't bring herself to believe that the man who had shared every waking moment and every sleepless night with her for five years could simply watch while she was publicly humiliated.

Zachary finally looked directly at her. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was distant and icy, showing no emotion whatsoever.

He looked at her as though they had never known each other.

After several seconds, he shifted his attention to Emily, his tone becoming noticeably gentler. "Don't let it upset you. I'll get you a new dress."

Clara's eyes trembled slightly. Eight hundred thousand dollars was an amount she could never hope to earn even after a lifetime of exhausting work, yet Zachary offered to replace the dress for another woman as casually as if it were nothing.

Then his next words came without a trace of the tenderness he had just shown Emily. "But since you made a mistake, you should apologize for it."

Something inside Clara broke cleanly at that instant.

Beside her, the supervisor continued whispering fiercely through clenched teeth. "Do you still want your salary? Then apologize now!"

Her mother was still in the hospital, dependent on medication that had to be taken every day to keep her alive. Clara couldn't lose this job.

Reality left her with no choice, and the little dignity she had left was forced beneath her feet.

She clenched her teeth against her lower lip until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

She stared at Zachary, trying to separate the heartless man before her from the warm, gentle Zack she had carried in her memories for five years.

Slowly, Clara lowered her upper body into a bow. "I'm sorry, Ms. Ford. I apologize for the milk I was carrying getting onto your dress," she said.

Then she rose again, meeting Emily's eyes without the slightest hesitation. "But you were the one who bumped into the tray. I won't accept responsibility for that."

The corridor went completely quiet.

For a brief moment, the smug smile on Emily's face froze. It quickly returned, replaced by a look of open ridicule. "Even now, you refuse to admit your mistake. Some people truly have no idea where they stand."

Zachary's gaze rested on Clara's stiff posture, and his brows drew together almost imperceptibly.

Emily immediately slipped her arm through his and complained softly, "Zachary, I don't want her around anymore. She obviously did that deliberately, and now she's pretending I was the one who caused it."

A short silence followed before Zachary turned his gaze elsewhere. "Have security escort her out."

Two guards came forward at once and seized Clara by both arms.

She offered no resistance and didn't plead with anyone. Instead, she held herself upright as the guards dragged her in the direction of the elevator.

Just before the elevator doors shut, she turned her head for one last look.

Beneath the brilliant crystal chandelier, Zachary stood with an expression as cold as stone while Emily remained nestled against him.

Together, they looked perfectly matched, as though they had always belonged beside each other.

The doors slowly closed, cutting them from her sight.

Clara rested her back against the chilled metal wall and gave a quiet, empty laugh.

Yet the moment that broken laugh escaped her, tears began streaming down her face, impossible to hold back.

The Zack she knew was already gone.

Perhaps he had disappeared the instant his memory returned and he became the Bennett family's son once again.