Chapter 107: Chapter 107

107 Allergic To Poverty

“Young miss,”

Clara was interrupted from her work by one of the staff.

“What is it?” She asked, looking away from her laptop for a split second.

“Luther is here,”

“Luther is here?!” She shrieked, her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Why are you telling me this now?!” Clara shrieked, jerking up from her bed immediately, and rushed to the mirror where she began to examine her appearance.

The woman smiled at the Young Miss attitude yet didn’t say anything.

Clara began to run her hand through her hair, trying to smoothen it but it still wasn’t enough for her. She turned to the staff at once, “Keep him company, I’ll be down in a jiffy,”

The staff didn’t need to be told what to do because this wasn’t the first time Clara was excited at Luther’s visit. She simply bowed and left.

.....

“Gosh, there’s no more time,” Clara panicked as she rushed into the bathroom where she washed her face in the sink, then hurried back to her room.

Seated in front of her dresser, Clara touched a light makeup on her face before running a comb through her hair. After confirming her dress wasn’t rumbled or inappropriate, she popped a breath mint in her mouth and left her room.

Clara strutted down the stairs and went into the receiving room where Luther was waiting for him with a bouquet of flowers.

“Hi,” she waved at him shyly, a blush creeping up her face and God knew if Marcel had been here to view this scene, he would have vomited blood.

Each time he and Clara met, it always ended up in fights and she has never looked at him softly for once – just the way she was staring at Luther right now.

Clara took Marcel as a monster. Sadly, monsters and humans have no relationship whatsoever. In one word, she loathed him.

“Hi,” Luther replied with a charming smile before handing the flower to her, “A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady,”

That quote was so cliché yet she loved it. Unlike her roguish fiancé, Luther was a gentleman and her type. He was handsome, kind, romantic, and caring. Luther was the type of man every woman out there wished for, Clara thought.

“Thank you,” She said, taking the flowers from him.

Clara handed it over to the staff from earlier and then commanded the rest of them, “You can leave us now,”

Immediately, they all left without further ado and Clara and Luther were able to relax and have their conversation without their annoying presence.

In this household, privacy was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Their lives were always in the open because of their status in society.

“You look beautiful today,” Luther added, “Not that you don’t always look beautiful anyway but you’re amazing, Clara,” He breathed.

Clara blushed once more, tugging her brown hair to the back of her ear. Her mission of making Luther notice her was fulfilled. It’s wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate her but Clara loved the attention.

“Stop it, you flatter me!” She became coy, beating him on the chest playfully.

Luther shifted to her side on the couch till their bodies were touching and faced her saying, “I missed you,”

“Me too,” Clara affirmed.

Luther had traveled abroad for a business trip a week ago so they haven’t had the opportunity to see each other.

The both of them didn’t say anything else after that but the attraction between them conveyed all unspoken words. Luther then took her hands and intertwined them with his own.

“We should get married,” He suddenly said and Clara’s face went blank.

“Luther -”

“We love each other, why can’t we be together?!” He was vexed by her response, “Why must I be your hidden lover? He’s not even worth it?! Marcel doesn’t even treat you -”

“Luther,” Clara called him immediately, cupping his cheeks with both of her hands as she tried to calm him.

“You know that I can’t,” she told him, her eyes pleading for him to understand.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Why can’t you, huh?” Luther retorted, “If it’s about keeping you safe, I know that I’m not as powerful as Marcel but I promise to never let harm come to you,” He promised her, holding her smaller hand on his face tightly as if he was afraid that she would let go.

“It’s not that simple, Luther,” Clara said, “There’s a lot at stake here and it’s not a decision I made on my own. My mother, she would never agree to break off the engagement,”

“Then we run away together,” Luther suggested to Clara’s horror.

She couldn’t even imagine a life outside the one she’s living right now. Having grown up with a silver spoon, Clara had never experienced hardship even for one day and can’t live miserably; she’s allergic to poverty.

Luther must have suspected her line of thought because he said, “I can stash away enough cash and then we would build our lives far away from everyone in the way of our relationship,”

He thought his plan was brilliant, however, Clara’s backslash to his plan was quick and sharp.

“Then what about my life here?”

“Huh?”

“I have a future here, Luther, and I can’t just throw it away like that?!”

And he doesn’t have one?

“What about my mother? She’s has only me left and me running away would do nothing but break her heart. I can’t do that to her, Luther. Moreover, you don’t know the kind of Marcel is, no matter where we run to, he would always find us,”

“Then what do you suggest we do then?!” Luther raised his voice on her for the first time, pulling away from her, angry, “I can’t keep living like this!”

“Hey,” She stood up as well and turned him to her, placing her hands on his shoulder, “We would think of something, Luther. We would surely overcome this, okay?”

Luther looked at her and had no choice but to calm down. He loved her and would do everything to make her happy. The attraction between them pulsed and he leaned towards her, tilting his head in the process and was ready to kiss her when someone intruded on their privacy.

Clara turned around to see who had disturbed their peace only for her face to fall. It was Marcel’s people and she was sure this couldn’t be good.