“Burn those who burned me!” Chapter 68

***Ethan’s POV:***

The crowd spun around to see who was speaking, there stood Edward Crawford, Jameson’s former VP. Jameson could feel the color draining from his face, still trying to keep up the pretenses however, he began to yell at Edward.

*“Edward! What is the meaning of this! How dare you interrupt my speech!”*

Jameson was practically foaming at the mouth. Jason began to panic inwardly. Suddenly, Sophie pulled his arm while whispering.

*“What the hell is going on! What is Edward doing here?”*

Jason looked at Sophie with annoyance.

*“How the hell should I know! He’s your father’s employee!”*

Eward walked closer to the podium.

*“Oh, I’m just pointing out the obvious. I mean I watched you lie and take credit for a lot of Caroline’s work after she died, now you’re stealing from her daughter, YOUR daughter!”*

Gasps and gossip began to fill the hall; many were yelling how they knew something was wrong and how it was too good to be true.

*“Jameson, you’ve never been that smart! Everyone knows who the real talent was!”*

Jameson began to seethe; this wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go!

*“Edward! You bastard! How dare you stand there and LIE! You’re just mad I fired you!”*

Suddenly, the crowd began to question Edward’s motives.

*“Oh, my gosh! Is that what this is about?”*

*“Scorned employee much?”*

Jameson smiled smugly, but suddenly, Dean Woodcrest spoke up.

*“Edward isn’t lying.”*

The crowd suddenly turned into Woodcrest’s direction.

*“So, wait, Jameson did steal the formula?”*

A woman asked from the crowd.

*“He did. From none other than his own daughter, Clara Rouleau.”*

***GASPS!***

The crowd stood in shock as Woodcrest stood beside Edward.

*“I don’t know when Jameson stole her work, but Clara Rouleau created that cure for the common cold during her first year at LexU.”*

*“That’s impossible! Are you telling me a 16 year old kid made THAT type of discovery?”*

Another person stood up and yelled. Jameson saw this as his chance.

*“Woodcrest, Edward, this is absurd! I don’t know why you two are doing this, but there’s no way my daughter could have created something this sophisticated at such a young age!”*

Jason stood in shock; he had no idea Clara created that cure her first year. All that kept replaying was that day she’d left with her friends.

*‘Seven, that’s how many awards I’ve received.’*

Jason had no choice but to accept that he was nowhere near Clara’s level of intellect.

That’s when Ethan stood up.

*“I assure you all, it’s very true. Clara Rouleau created a cure for the common cold at 16, while also beginning her steps at creating a cure for cancer.”*

***GASPS!!!!!!!!!!***

*“My god!”*

Terra’s father Alen spoke up.

*“Clara, you truly are Caroline’s daughter.”*

Suddenly the crowd began to erupted with other academics speaking highly of the late Caroline Rouleau. Suddenly, another person, Gerald Patterson, a highly respected Pharmacist, stood up.

*“Wait a moment, Chairman Taylor, did we all just hear you correctly? Di you say Clara began the stages of creating a cure for cancer?”*

The crowd fell silent. This was the final part Ethan had been waiting for.

Looking down at Clara, Ethan extended his hand. With a huge smile, Clara took Ethan’s hand as her friends and adoptive families clapped and cheered her own.

Jameson began to panic; this wasn’t supposed to happen! Jason assured him everything would be okay. As Ethan and Clara made their way to the podium, Jameson began to yell.

*“Clara! I should have known you would do something this treacherous! How could you!?*

Clara began to fume; two lifetimes worth pain and abuse began to pour over her. She could no longer stand by quietly. Looking at her father with complete conviction, Clara began to protest.

*“How could I? How could I? Father…how could you? How could you steal all the work your wife, my mother did? How could you move your mistress and bastard child into our home literally the same day my mother died!”*

The crowd was in shock, many of them didn’t know how abusive and horrible Jameson was as a father and husband.

*“I mean, it was bad enough you cheated on my mother the ENTIRE marriage all because you needed to feel like a man. Having a wife as brilliant as my mother wasn’t enough!”*

*“How could you force your daughter to live in a basement while mentally, verbally, and physically abused her! I mean…you were all I had left after mom died, and you trampled on me like I was nothing!”*

Tears began to fill Clara’s eyes, but she couldn’t stop. She needed to say this. Turning to the crowd, she’d confirmed the truth.

*“Hello everyone, my name is Clara Rouleau. I’m here this evening to inform you all, Dean Woodcrest and Edward Crawford are correct. I did in fact create a cure for the common cold during my first year at LexU.”*

The crowd, though shocked, sat in silence as Clara continued.

*“After my mother died, I made it my mission to continue her work. Before her passing, she had been working on some possible equations and formulas to that could help cure cancer. Of course, she passed before she was able too.”*

*“As I’m sure many of you know, it was beyond difficult to decipher her work...but somehow, I managed to do it.”*

*“When I went to LexU, I used my first year to breakthrough the common cold, I figured it would help me expand my research, I was right. Soon after, I was able to complete to final findings and create a cure for cancer.”*

The crowd went wild!

*“I don’t believe it!”*

*“My word!”*

*“Are you saying you’ve cured cancer!”*

*“Can you prove it!”*

*“Yeah! Prove it!”*

Ethan grabbed the mic.

*“If you all could please settle down. We can prove Clara is telling the truth.”*

Suddenly, Jameson and Jason interjected.

*“You’re lying!!!”*

*“Yeah Taylor! Stop this! Just because you’re screwing my fiancé doesn’t mean you have to lie for her!”*

The crowd gasped again.

*“Wait, I thought he was engaged to the other daughter? Did Ethan steal Clara away from Jason?”*

Ethan handed Clara the mic and stepped off the stage. Fire in his eyes, he walked straight to Jason.

***PUNCH!***

Ethan knocked Jason straight on his ass. Sophie suddenly screamed and ran over to him.

*“Jason! Are you alright! Ethan Taylor! What the hell is wrong with you!!”*

Ethan scoffed.

*“You people are despicable. Your fiancé? That’s the second time you’ve lied about that status. You’ve been screwing her sister since you both 16. She wasn’t your fiancé then.”*

The color started to drain from Sophie and Jason’s faces. How did he know that! Suddenly, Anna stood up and began to protest.

*“Chairman Taylor! I won’t have you slander my daughter’s name! How dare you!”*

Ethan laughed at Anna.

*“Like mother, like daughter eh. You had no problem sleeping with a married man, surly your daughter had no regards for an engaged one.”*

The crowd all gasped and whispered.

*“I thought it was weird he moved on so fast after Caroline died. So, he was cheating the whole time.”*

*“Disgusting”*

*“The whole family is trash.”*

*“Clara deserves so much better.”*

The Grangers along with Jason all looked into the crowd with ashen expressions. This night had turned out to be worse than the Gala.

*“So, your daughter was at LexU creating groundbreaking cures and you decided to throw a gala just because your mediocre daughter graduated. How pathetic.”*

Terra stood in the middle of the floor. Suddenly the crowd began to laugh. Sophie could feel her skin setting on fire from rage!

*‘How dare they all laugh and call me mediocre!’*