Worship The Ground You Walk On

Chapter 35: What a Good Woman

Claudia was stupefied. Babbling, Conrad was playing with her hair, his rosy and delicate cheek rubbing

against her neck. Conrad’s playful movements brought Claudia to her senses.

Clutching the baby in her arms, Claudia was overwhelmed with the joy of regaining Conrad. She stared

at Hanna, not knowing how to express her gratitude.

After a wave of gratitude swept over her, some mixed feelings descended on Claudia. She tried to

choke back tears and conceal the sadness in her eyes.

As a Mrs. Crawford, Claudia’s own son was actually brought back by some outsider...

Somehow, Claudia felt so sorry for herself.

Sitting on the sofa next to Claudia, Hanna was dandling the little Conrad. After a while, she came up

with something and asked, “By the way, about the auction for the Evans Mansion I told you last time,

how’s your fund raising going lately?”

Claudia’s heart sank at the mention of this matter.

She had been busy recently. Besides, tensions between her and Ben hadn’t been eased yet, so

Claudia had no chance to talk to him about it at all...

Hanna seemed to have read Claudia’s mind and gave a faint and comforting smile. "It’s alright. You still

have half a month left, and you have plenty of time to seek opportunities to talk with Ben about it."

Claudia dropped her eyes and nodded slightly.

“You’re a couple. Besides, this money is simply a drop in the bucket for the Crawford Group. I believe

you’ll eventually find an opportunity to talk to him about it, so take it easy. As long as I’m here, I

guarantee nobody will ever take the Evans Mansion away from you!” said Hanna with confidence.

Claudia was uneasy to see Hanna so considerate towards her.

Ever since her father passed away, few people had been so genuinely kind to Claudia. Suddenly, the

old photos of Hanna and Ben’s flashed across her mind, as well as the Facebook page he was

browsing on the computer this morning.

Claudia was eaten up with envy.

“Please don’t think too much about it, Claudia. I just want to help you because you’re a kind person,

and that’s all. Besides, Ben and I used to be familiar with each other. Anyway, I hope you won’t take

this the wrong way.”

Hanna was afraid that Claudia would misunderstand her, so she offered an explanation.

Claudia raised her head in amazement. The moment she looked into Hanna’s clear eyes; bitterness

welled up inside her. Claudia wondered if she was being too sentimental.

“Moreover, only when your problems are solved will Ben be able to focus on his business, right?”

Hanna’s generosity and thoughtfulness were beyond Claudia’s imagination.

The woman sat next to Claudia was gentle, composed, virtuous and elegant. Especially her broad mind

and magnanimity put Claudia to shame.

Hanna took out two tubes of ointment from her bag and passed them to Claudia. “These are for skin

allergies. It’s a special formula and my friend asked the pharmacy to make them. I heard that you had

some skin allergies too, so have a try of this. It works well!”

Claudia took the ointment gratefully and typed something on her phone. “Thank you, but I’ve Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

recovered!”

“I’m glad that you’ve recovered, but you can try them if you have a relapse. We’re both allergy sufferers

and we need to be careful!”

Hanna held Claudia’s hands amiably, as if they were close friends.

Hanna added, “You can talk to me in sign language from now on, Claudia. I read sign language and lip

language because I learned them before.”

Claudia was surprised. Hanna actually read sign language?!

Hanna was indeed a knowledgeable and sophisticated woman.

Hanna and Ben would make a perfect match in every way, while she herself was like the other woman

in the dark corner.

Hanna played with Conrad on the sofa for a long time, and she didn’t leave until the little baby got

drowsy and went to take a nap.

Claudia took Conrad back to the baby’s room, tucked him in and pecked him on the cheek. Just at this

moment, the housekeeper’s voice came.

“Mrs. Crawford, Mr. Raba just arrived!”

Shocked, Claudia followed the housekeeper downstairs.

Claudia saw Theodore sitting on the sofa with an air of dignity from afar. He was wearing a fine suit, but

one could tell he was a man of years. However, for someone in his fifties, he looked quite young and

well-preserved.

Theodore didn’t rise to his feet at the sight of Claudia, but only said, “Where is Conrad? Let his

grandfather have a look at him!”

Grandfather.

How bold of him.

Claudia made a sleeping gesture with a blank face.

Theodore saw her and nodded. “Well, maybe next time! I’ll see my grandson next time. I heard that he

looks quite like Ben.”

Claudia responded with a faint smile.

“It’s said that you were ill the other day. How are you feeling? Are you getting better now?”

Claudia was not used to Theodore’s sudden attention and concern.

“Is Conny a naughty boy? Is he a high-maintenance baby?” Theodore went on asking.

Claudia didn’t know how to answer him, frowning slightly.

Theodore asked a few more common questions, though he was the only one talking during the whole

conversation. After all, Claudia was never close to her stepfather. They were like strangers, so his

sudden attention was nothing but embarrassing to her.

When Theodore finished his monologue, finally it was time to get to the point. He paused for a moment

before asking, “Claudia, have you talked to Ben about the CCM Project?”

It was now that Claudia realized what Theodore was here for. She remembered that last time it was

also for CCM Project that he had come for her and talked to her in private.

Theodore wouldn’t come for Claudia for nothing.

But it was totally understandable. How could one ever find affection between a stepfather and his

unrelated stepdaughter?

Claudia gave a slight frown and typed on her phone. “I’m sorry, Mr. Raba. I haven’t had any chance to

talk to him.”

Theodore lost his patience at the sight of the words on Claudia’s phone and rebuked her, “Claudia, how

come you don’t care about the Evans’ business at all? Do you want to see the Evans Group go

bankrupt?”

Seeing that Theodore got angry, Claudia dropped her eyes slowly.

She had no intention of defending herself but sat there quietly and let him vent his anger on her.

It had been over ten years. Ever since her father died and her stepmother married Theodore, Claudia

had become a real outsider of the family. No matter what she did, or she did right or wrong, the only

thing she got was stinging rebukes and harsh criticism.

“Don’t forget this is the Evans’ property, and that you’re one of the rightful heirs of the Evans family. If

the Evans Group shuts down, you’ll get nothing!” Theodore threatened.

His eyes glinting, Theodore added in passing, "The Evans Group is not in a good cash flow position

recently, so the Evans Mansion in the suburbs will be auctioned in the near future!"

This was not the first time Claudia had heard of this news.

However, Claudia couldn’t help but be stunned once she learned the news from Theodore’s mouth.

She looked up at the same time.

The moment Claudia met Theodore’s gaze, she heard him saying, “If you want to keep the Evans

Mansion, work on the CCM Project to keep it! Claudia, it’s not that I’m making you do so, but the Evans

Group is at the end of its rope. You need to at least do something about it!”

Before Claudia could say anything, a cold male voice chimed in seamlessly the moment Theodore

finished his words.

“CCM Project? So this is what you want all the time, Mr. Raba!”

Hearing the voice, both Theodore and Claudia turned around, only to see Ben standing sternly in the

hallway with a sullen face.