The moment she arrived at the newspaper office, Henry Hartwell called her into his office.

Henry Hartwell studied her noticeably thinner face and frowned. "Claire Sinclair, you’ve lost weight."

Claire Sinclair subconsciously raised a hand to touch her cheek. "Have I? I haven’t noticed."

Henry Hartwell’s expression turned serious. "You can’t go on like this. Young Master Quincy is only going to get busier in the future. You might go months, even half a year, without seeing him. If you don’t learn to take care of yourself, you’ll inevitably become a stumbling block for him."

This was a very serious problem...

Claire Sinclair had thought about it too—a lot, in fact.

She had been thinking about this every day while he was away, and she had recently come up with an answer.

Claire Sinclair voiced her inner thoughts. "Teacher Hartwell, when he comes back, I want to divorce him."

"Why are you thinking about divorce again?" Henry Hartwell raised an eyebrow.

Claire Sinclair let out a soft sigh. "I’ve thought it through very carefully. My poor health is one reason. The bigger issue, however, is my own ability. It doesn’t matter how well I can write or how hard I try, I just can’t keep up with his pace. He’s moving too fast. I could run myself ragged and still never catch up..."

"I understand what you mean, but do you really want to give up, or is it just that you don’t think you can do it?" Henry Hartwell asked in return.

Claire Sinclair thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I just don’t see the point anymore."

"How about I give you an example?"

"Go on."

Henry Hartwell gathered his thoughts before speaking slowly. "Back in college, I was considered something of a campus beau. I had a lot of girls flocking around me. Among them were plenty of calculating women who were coveting my father’s business, but there were also girls who genuinely liked me. Some even tried all sorts of schemes to get into my bed. There’s one incident I’ll never forget for the rest of my life."

His story captivated Claire Sinclair, and she couldn’t help but ask, "What was it?"

"In an attempt to matchmake me with a woman she approved of, my mother gave me a triple dose of an aphrodisiac. As it turned out, I had an allergic reaction and nearly died in the hospital."

"What?" Claire Sinclair was stunned. ’How could there be such a mother in this world!’

Henry Hartwell chuckled. "I got tired of that kind of life, so I sent both my mother and that woman to prison on the grounds of attempted murder."

"What?!" Claire Sinclair was stunned again. ’How could there be such a son in this world!’

"Look at me now, living without a care in the world. I can be fat or slim as I please, and I have a family home I never have to go back to. It’s a divine sort of life, isn’t it? So free and easy."

Claire Sinclair glanced at his stomach, where his beer belly had vanished at some point, and asked curiously, "Teacher Hartwell, how do you control your weight?"

"There’s nothing a good workout can’t solve."

"But I’ve never seen you exercise."

"Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. I hold myself to a high standard because I know exactly what kind of life I want. I live the way I want to live, ignoring what other people think, doing whatever I want."

Claire Sinclair fell silent.

’A life like Teacher Hartwell’s... it really is god-like. It sounds so enviable.’

"That’s because you have the ability. I don’t..." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"No one’s ability is innate. It’s all earned through effort. The only time you don’t have to lift a finger is if you want someone else to arrange your life for you."

Those words struck a chord with Claire Sinclair once again.

The whole reason she was so desperate to escape was that she didn’t want to rely on that man’s power and influence.

"Even if you put it that way, I still feel like I’m not good enough for him."