Too Late to Love Her: When She Divorced, He Fell Apart-Chapter 54: Christmas Is Not for Crying

Sean Lockwood stared at her expressionlessly, saying, "Are you really that open-minded, or do you have some kind of psychological quirk to enjoy watching your husband entangled with his aunt?"

The fingers gripping her chin tightened even more, as if they were about to crush her bones.

Claire winced in pain, furrowing her brows and trying to break free. Yet, Sean became even more ruthless, almost lifting her whole body.

Claire, uncomfortable, stood on her tiptoes and said, "I was just about to talk to you about this."

Sean scrutinized her for a moment, then released his grip, smoothing out his wrinkled clothes nonchalantly and taking a sip of red wine.

Her chin throbbed with pain, but she endured it, asking, "When did you find out?"

"The day she was taken to the hospital for slitting her wrists."

She was taken aback and asked, "Since you knew already, why pretend not to know anything and still make me search for Jade Sutton’s whereabouts?"

"I can’t make things too ugly with Tristan."

Sean stared at her.

"Since you married into the Lockwood Family, you should be aware. You’re not just Tristan’s wife, but also my father’s granddaughter-in-law; you need to see the bigger picture. Shouldn’t you women handle your own intrigues instead of having Tristan and me sort it out?"

"..."

Claire understood now.

Sean was already wearing the green hat that Jade Sutton placed on him, securely and assuredly.

Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to shake it off and had to see it as the Emperor’s new clothes, pretending not to see.

He wanted her, the niece-in-law, to catch the affair and evict the person.

Moreover, the eviction couldn’t be handled too harshly; she needed to understand how to calm things down, not hurt the Lockwood Family’s feelings, and certainly not cause a scandal that everyone in Riverbend would know about.

Claire took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said, "I’m afraid I don’t have the capability to handle this task. Additionally, Tristan and I are about to get a divorce. How about you find him another wife who understands the bigger picture?"

"Not accepting it is fine."

Sean placed the wine glass down on the table.

The clinking of glass made a crisp sound.

He said nonchalantly, "Tristan is a doctor, after seeing so much life and death, he might still be soft-hearted towards you. But I won’t."

Claire felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

She looked at him warily, "What do you intend to do?"

Sean: "Those two girls beside you earlier, their names are Tina Hayes and Joy Sharp, right? Tina Hayes, twenty-three years old, her parents are businesspeople running a small business in Riverbend. How many fingers do you think I need to move to capsize their small boat and plunge her family into massive debt?"

"Sean, you..."

Sean shot her a cold and piercing gaze.

Claire’s body trembled, and she instinctively shut her mouth.

Sean: "Joy Sharp, from a rural family, the only university student at home. Guess what would happen if your firm ceased to exist—would she still be able to find work in Riverbend’s legal industry?"

In an instant, Claire raised her hand and slapped his face.

Sean calmly caught her arm.

"After all these years with Tristan, haven’t you learned any of the Lockwood Family’s rules? You dare raise a hand against your elders?"

His expression was serene, yet his eyes were extremely dangerous.

Claire forcefully pulled away, her arm going numb with pain.

She raised her eyes, staring coldly at him.

The large room was filled with the sound of a standard mobile ringtone.

Sean took out his phone, glanced at it, noticing the unabashed stubbornness in her eyes before he answered the call.

"She’s with you."

Tristan Lockwood’s cold voice sounded.

Sean answered the call, not avoiding Claire, and directly said, "Isn’t she with you too?"

There was a pause on the other end, followed by a long silence.

"Since you know, why didn’t you come find her yourself and let Claire Hale look for her?"

"I’m very busy."

Sean maintained his composure, glancing at the woman in front of him, and continued,

"Claire Hale is your wife, so she should learn to properly manage your affairs and not allow you to mess around outside, relying on petty tricks and using our Lockwood Family’s resources."

When he said this, Sean was looking at Claire.

Whatever Tristan said on the other end, it was brief, and Sean hung up.

"You can go now."

He picked up his wine, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and continued watching the heavy snow outside.

As Claire reached the door, Sean’s icy words lingered behind her:

"The Lockwood Family’s resources are never given to anyone for free. If you’re going to accept them without qualms, be ready to pay the price."

She didn’t stop, directly pushing the door open to leave.

The snow piled up.

Claire walked alone in the heavy snow.

She wasn’t afraid of the cold, but when the snow touched her skin, the chill penetrated to her bones.

Originally, she thought Tristan Lockwood and Jade Sutton’s relationship was her trump card.

But she never expected that she had long been a pawn for Sean Lockwood.

Claire didn’t know the situation between Sean and Jade Sutton.

But looking at Sean’s attitude now, even if he would trouble Jade, it would be after settling accounts in the fall.

Behind closed doors between husband and wife.

Never openly displayed.

And Tristan, being both his nephew and Elder Lockwood’s only grandson, Sean would not fight him fiercely.

The one who could be used without hurting anyone but still not touch a muscle, naturally, was her, the niece-in-law with no real ties.

In battling the Lockwood Family, she not only had no trump cards but even the only thing she cared about—

—would be held tightly in their grip, to be crushed at will.

One warm drop suddenly fell on her icy hand.

Claire snapped back, realizing her own tears were streaming down one after another.

Her vision blurred by tears when a calm set of footsteps sounded behind her.

"Christmas isn’t meant for crying."

She froze in place.

Tristan Lockwood held an umbrella over her head, coming around to face her.

Lowering his gaze, he saw her long lashes still clinging to crystalline tears, mixed with melting snow.

His deep eyes looked even darker against the pure white snow.

Claire lowered her head, forcing back her tears before finally looking up at him: "Why are you here?"

Tristan glanced at his watch and simply said, "Christmas isn’t over yet; would you still like to celebrate?"

She was momentarily stunned.

Only then did she notice that his entire body was freezing cold, terrifyingly so.

He extended his hand to her.

Claire looked down, and when the snowflakes melted in his palm, she took his hand.

His hand was chillingly cold, and her palm felt icy too.

Their cold hands clasped together, warmth steadily spread and diffused through their palms.

Under the falling snow, Tristan held the umbrella, and Claire walked beside him.

On the street, couples passed by them one after another.

Looking at them, they seemed quite similar.

"Didn’t you always skip celebrating Christmas?"

In the cold air, Claire’s breath rose as a white mist.

Tristan glanced down at her: "Do you want to celebrate?"

She didn’t answer him.

Instead, she asked back, "Aren’t you accompanying Jade Sutton?"

"Once overseas, I broke my promise to you," Tristan said lightly. "Consider this making up for it now."