Reborn as Mr.CEO’s Fat Wife
Chapter 637: Clara, Daddy is Here to Take You Home

Chapter 637: Chapter 637: Clara, Daddy is Here to Take You Home

Clara heard the door of the hospital room open and assumed it was Daniel coming in. "Daniel, get me a glass of water."

Old Mr. Smith didn’t say a word. He walked to the water dispenser, poured a glass of water, then slowly walked to the bedside and handed the water to Clara.

Clara saw that there was no straw, so she turned her head to scold her son. But instead, she met an old face. The water slipped from her hand, but Church Smith, who had been watching from the side with a stooped posture but quick reflexes, reached out and caught the cup. He then naturally said, "It’s not hot. Drink it."

Clara couldn’t speak, but her ingrained habits from years past made her pick up the cup and take a sip. After sipping, she suddenly spat out angrily, throwing the cup away. "Who asked you to come? What are you here for? To laugh at me or to pity me? Leave. I don’t want to see you!"

Church Smith couldn’t dodge in time and was splashed with water. If this had happened before Abigail’s incident, he would have been furious. But now, he simply picked up the cup, turned back to pour another for Clara, and handed it to her. "Your health isn’t good, yet you still have such a big temper. You haven’t learned a thing."

Clara clearly didn’t expect her father to react this way. It was completely different from what she had anticipated. She was momentarily stunned, then pushed away the cup and turned her head, refusing to look at her father. "Get out."

After saying that, she instinctively pulled the blanket to cover her legs.

Church Smith saw all her subtle movements clearly. Without moving, he sat down beside her. "Don’t cover them. I’ve seen your legs before."

He sighed heavily after speaking.

On the bed, Clara’s body stiffened. She looked up at her father in disbelief. How could it be? How could he have seen her legs?

Church Smith paid her no mind, instead looking at the place where Clara’s legs used to be. His brows furrowed, and his somewhat murky eyes turned red. "I was the one who signed the papers for your amputation."

Boom!

With that single sentence, Clara’s pale face was filled with shock and disbelief. Abigail, who had rushed to the door after hearing the commotion, stopped in her tracks.

Not only Clara but even Abigail couldn’t believe that it was their grandfather who had signed the papers for their mother’s amputation. Did this mean that grandpa was there when mom had her accident?

After a moment, Clara trembled and said, "Impossible. You’re lying!"

"Without me, do you think a little girl like you could find the most authoritative orthopedic expert and get the best prosthesis in those circumstances? But you insisted on sitting in that broken wheelchair," Old Mr. Smith said, unable to help but curse.

Clara was completely dumbfounded, staring blankly at her father. Then her expression changed again. She looked mockingly at Church Smith. "So what?"

Her stance turned aggressive.

Church Smith looked at his once innocent daughter, now covered in fine lines, no longer the stubborn girl who would argue over a ponytail. He took a deep breath. "Clara, it’s all Dad’s fault. It’s Dad who owes you."

Over the years, it wasn’t just his daughter who was afraid to see him; he also didn’t dare to face her.

He had made it sound easy saying he signed off on the amputation, but no one knew the pain it had caused him for over twenty years.

Making that decision back then was incredibly difficult. Speaking about it now felt equally bitter.

Clara never expected her father to apologize to her. Her thin, pale face was stunned. Then large tears began to fall. She shook her head repeatedly, her mind replaying the scene of her father telling her to get out and never come back. She was strong-willed, and so she never went back. She didn’t want his apology.

He had abandoned her long ago!

She was the disgrace of the Smith family, the disgrace of Church Smith. He chased her away, and she had nothing left. Even then, he still scolded her...

"Clara, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Dad came to take you home. It’s all Dad’s fault..." Watching his daughter in her fifties cry like a child, Church Smith choked with pain. His strong-willed Clara had never cried before.

"I’m not going back. You abandoned me a long time ago. You abandoned me a long time ago!" Clara wiped her tears fiercely with her sleeve, her voice hoarse and strained.

"No, Dad didn’t abandon you. It’s all my fault, Clara..." Church Smith broke out in a cold sweat, but he was too inarticulate to explain. After signing the papers and seeing his daughter through the surgery, he knew her personality too well. She wouldn’t want to see him. He had someone look after her.

He had tried to bring her back home, but he had heard her saying she hated him and never wanted to see him again.

Back then, he thought about forcibly bringing her back home, but after all those years of trying to control her life, he wondered if letting go would make her happier.

And indeed, she seemed to get healthier. He watched her adopt Gavin Richardson and marry Gary Richardson. Seeing her smile more often made him feel he was right and less inclined to disturb her life.

"Too late. Do you feel sorry for me, is that why you’re apologizing? How could Old Mr. Smith be wrong? How could you be wrong? It was all my fault! I was stupid, promiscuous, mingling with drug addicts, disgracing you. Get out. I don’t want your pity!" Clara bit her lips, trembling uncontrollably. She couldn’t believe her father would apologize, thinking he only pitied her.

"Clara, Dad didn’t truly want to chase you away. I didn’t truly abandon you. I misspoke..." Church Smith had regretted his actions for so many years. Finally saying it out loud, he found that apologizing wasn’t hard. The difficulty lay in it being too late. He had waited too long.

"How could you be wrong? Don’t think I don’t know. Abigail didn’t listen to you, so you broke her leg, inflicting the same pain on her as you did on me..." Clara’s voice was hoarse from shouting. If her daughter hadn’t been smarter and stronger than her, she might have suffered even more.

She had thought of taking her daughter away. She had thought about it...

But her Abigail was so outstanding. How could she let anyone know she had a disabled mother, a drug addict father?

They were her shame!

No one must know. No one must know...

"Clara, Dad knows he was wrong. Hate me if you want. Blame me if you need to. But you can’t give up on yourself. Abigail has been looking for you. She has always been looking for her mother..." Old Mr. Smith listened to his daughter’s accusations, choking up uncontrollably. After Abigail’s sudden death, he regretted everything!

He had driven his beloved daughter and granddaughter further away from him. It was all his fault!

"Ah!" Hearing her father say Abigail had been looking for her mother, Clara covered her face in pain, letting out a cry like a wounded bird. Suddenly, everything went black.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

At that moment, the life monitor suddenly sounded an alarm. Church Smith almost fell, shouting in a panic, "Doctor! Doctor!"