Chapter 16 That's My Kind of Woman
Both of them froze for a second.
Mason Reed shot Clara Bennett a look, signaling her to head to the bedroom, then went to open the door.
Outside stood Shane Carter, his face etched with worry.
"Mason, I heard you beat some guys up..." His words trailed off as he spotted the blood on Mason Reed's clothes, sucking in a sharp breath. "Holy— it's true!"
"Just a few punks," Mason Reed said coolly. "Didn't even hit them that hard. They'll live."
"Not that hard?" Shane Carter yanked him aside, dropping his voice. "You ruptured one guy's insides! They're shipping him to the hospital in Harrington!"
Mason Reed's brow twitched, but his face stayed blank.
They'd asked for it. Messing with Clara Bennett? He'd have killed them and felt fine about it.
"Oh, and one's got a busted leg?" Shane Carter was practically frantic. "Do you even know who his dad is—"
"Who his dad is doesn't mean squat to me."
Mason Reed peeled off his shirt, tossing the blood-stained fabric aside and grabbing a clean one.
He knew those creeps had some pull—sons of village chiefs, nephews of town officials—lording their petty power over the nearby hamlets.
He'd been itching to teach them a lesson for a while.
"Look, why don't you take your wife and get out of here for a bit?" Shane Carter suggested. "Lay low somewhere. These guys don't mess around—don't go toe-to-toe with them!"
Mason Reed found him annoyingly chatty.
He was about to brush it off when he caught Clara Bennett lingering by the bedroom door.
"I don't think... we need to hide," she said softly.
Mason Reed blinked, then asked with a spark of curiosity, "Why not?"
"We didn't do anything wrong." Her gaze was steady. "Those guys harassed me in broad daylight—they're the ones at fault. We were just defending ourselves!"
Mason Reed looked at her, impressed. She might seem delicate, but there was steel in her spine—fearless when it counted.
A smile tugged at his lips.
"I know it's not your fault!" Shane Carter sighed, exasperated. "But their families have clout..."
"That kind of clout doesn't scare me," Clara Bennett said with a faint laugh. "No matter how much pull they've got, they can't just ignore right and wrong, can they?"
"Well..."
"She's right," Mason Reed said, stepping beside her. "That's my kind of woman."
Clara Bennett's cheeks flushed, and she dipped her head.
Shane Carter groaned. "You two..."
"Thanks for the heads-up," Mason Reed said, clapping his shoulder. "Wanna stay for dinner?"
Shane Carter waved him off and bolted.
Though he wasn't worried about those punks coming back, Mason Reed was already mulling over leaving Willow Creek.
Today's scuffle had shown those thugs he wasn't the old Mason Reed. This place was a powder keg—his cover could blow any day.
Better to get out sooner than later.
A few days later, Clara Bennett and Mason Reed moved to Harrington.
When Mason Reed brought up relocating, she'd been puzzled. But he'd pitched it as a chance for better jobs and opportunities, and she didn't argue.
Plus, being in the city meant she'd be closer to the hospital—easier to look after her mom.
They rented a small place. It wasn't much, but Clara Bennett scrubbed it spotless, adding new curtains and bedding.
A green checkered tablecloth covered the dining table, and a glass vase on the windowsill held a few sprigs of lilac.
Mason Reed took it all in, his mind drifting to his old life.
The Harrington family estate sprawled over acres, a mountainside mansion built like a fortress, every inch dripping with luxury.
Back then, every meal came from world-class chefs, each from a different corner of the globe.
But none of that held a candle to this—to this tidy, cozy nook, to Clara Bennett's simple rice and braised pork.
"You okay?" Clara Bennett's bright eyes flicked to him. "Food not to your taste?"
Mason Reed smiled faintly. "It's great."
"Then eat up," she said, before adding, "Oh, Sunny Lin hooked me up with a job. Sales gig at the company she's working at—I start tomorrow."
"That quick?" His gaze sharpened. "Is it a public company? What's their annual revenue? Who's the head?"
The barrage of questions left Clara Bennett blinking.
She hadn't dug that deep. She was just a low-level sales rep, living off commissions—did she need to know the boss?
"Uh... I'll figure it out once I'm there."
But on her first day, she never could've guessed her supervisors would be Jason Ford and Stacy Chen.
Jason Ford was her college senior, once relentless in chasing her. She'd turned him down flat every time.
For one, her mom was sick—she'd been stretched thin taking care of family.
For another, Jason Ford was a schemer—always kissing up and kicking down in the student council. She couldn't stand him.
And Stacy Chen? She'd only landed with Jason Ford after he struck out with Clara. Naturally, Stacy despised her for it.
Talk about bad luck—running into them here.